Literary Analysis of Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” is narrated in the first person by an unnamed African American male who struggles to find his identity and succeed in a racially-divided society that works to constrict him to stereotype and prejudice. The readers witness the narrator’s growth from a naive and blinded ignorance to consciousness of his individuality. The narrator attempts to define himself through the standards and presumptions prescribed to him. He later recognizes that each time he works to conform to an identity, his ability to be an individual is limited and it forces him to play an inauthentic part. The author uses metaphors, symbolism, and characterization to portray the literal and figurative blindness …show more content…
He is invited to give the same speech at a local hotel to the town 's leading white citizens. However, when he arrives at the hotel, the narrator is forced to participate in a blindfolded battle royal with nine of his classmates. This event exhibits one of the recurring themes of the novel: blindness shields from reality and fosters ignorance. The white men watching this boxing event were figuratively blinded as they saw a racial stereotype: the African American boys as savage animals only providing them entertainment. The blindfolds also represent the boys’ figurative and literal blindness as they were unable to see through the false benevolence that concealed the men’s racist motives. He faintly recognized their ulterior motives when the boys were fighting for what appeared to be gold coins on an electrically charged rug, “Suddenly I saw a boy lifted into the air and dropped on his back landing flush upon the charged rug, heard him yell and saw him literally dance upon his back”. This scene represents the servility of blacks toward whites, an image that emphasizes powerlessness and conformity. After this humiliating scene, the narrator is allowed to give his speech in front of the drunken white men who disregard him until he accidentally uses the phrase "social equality" while presenting Booker.T.Washington 's 1895 Atlanta Exposition address, urging blacks to accept "social …show more content…
Bledsoe after being expelled from the college and sent to New York, a fruitless attempt to find a job. The supposed letters of recommendation turned out to entail the exact thing he was worried about in his dream. The narrator finds a job at the Liberty Paints Plant, serving as a metaphor to represent the social construct, racial inequality, and white superiority in this society. One of the workers says, “Our white is so white you can paint a chunka coal and you’d have to crack it open with a sledgehammer to prove it wasn’t white clear through.” By emphasizing that even the blackest of black can be covered up, it symbolizes the ideology that black identity is modified by white culture. As a result, their sense of individuality is concealed and belittled as black women and men conform in efforts to gain acceptance and economic advancement. Brockway, one of the workers at the Liberty Plant, perpetuates this ideology. He fights against the efforts of the labor union to gain equality, as he is blinded by the hopes of retaining his
Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” is narrated in the first person by an unnamed African American male who struggles to find his identity and succeed in a racially-divided society that works to constrict him to stereotype and prejudice. The readers witness the narrator’s growth from a naive and blinded ignorance to consciousness of his individuality. The narrator attempts to define himself through the standards and presumptions prescribed to him. He later recognizes that each time he works to conform to an identity, his ability to be an individual is limited and it forces him to play an inauthentic part. The author uses metaphors, symbolism, and characterization to portray the literal and figurative blindness …show more content…
He is invited to give the same speech at a local hotel to the town 's leading white citizens. However, when he arrives at the hotel, the narrator is forced to participate in a blindfolded battle royal with nine of his classmates. This event exhibits one of the recurring themes of the novel: blindness shields from reality and fosters ignorance. The white men watching this boxing event were figuratively blinded as they saw a racial stereotype: the African American boys as savage animals only providing them entertainment. The blindfolds also represent the boys’ figurative and literal blindness as they were unable to see through the false benevolence that concealed the men’s racist motives. He faintly recognized their ulterior motives when the boys were fighting for what appeared to be gold coins on an electrically charged rug, “Suddenly I saw a boy lifted into the air and dropped on his back landing flush upon the charged rug, heard him yell and saw him literally dance upon his back”. This scene represents the servility of blacks toward whites, an image that emphasizes powerlessness and conformity. After this humiliating scene, the narrator is allowed to give his speech in front of the drunken white men who disregard him until he accidentally uses the phrase "social equality" while presenting Booker.T.Washington 's 1895 Atlanta Exposition address, urging blacks to accept "social …show more content…
Bledsoe after being expelled from the college and sent to New York, a fruitless attempt to find a job. The supposed letters of recommendation turned out to entail the exact thing he was worried about in his dream. The narrator finds a job at the Liberty Paints Plant, serving as a metaphor to represent the social construct, racial inequality, and white superiority in this society. One of the workers says, “Our white is so white you can paint a chunka coal and you’d have to crack it open with a sledgehammer to prove it wasn’t white clear through.” By emphasizing that even the blackest of black can be covered up, it symbolizes the ideology that black identity is modified by white culture. As a result, their sense of individuality is concealed and belittled as black women and men conform in efforts to gain acceptance and economic advancement. Brockway, one of the workers at the Liberty Plant, perpetuates this ideology. He fights against the efforts of the labor union to gain equality, as he is blinded by the hopes of retaining his