The Weary Blues And Invisible Man

Invisible Man, a novel by Ralph Ellison stands among the famous writings to come from the Harlem Renaissance and shares similarities with both “Oblivion” by Jessie Fauset and “The Weary Blues” by Langston Hughes through using a sleep as a release motif, and promptly using it after the resolution to an ongoing problem for the characters in each. The narrator and main character of the excerpt “Battle Royal” from the novel Invisible Man desired to give a speech from a school event at a conference but became entrapped in a substantial fight for the entertainment of others beforehand. “I wanted to deliver my speech more than anything else in the world…” The young boy was laughed and hooted towards at for the duration of the brawl “The men roared …show more content…
“And I should never hear the note of jealousy or hate…” (Line 7) The words of those who disliked her befell as one of the major issues Fauset was facing and despised with vigor. “… futilely bring torture to the dead and dying ears…” (Line 10) Fauset merely wanted was to be forgotten in death, not insulted, and this feeling led to Fauset’s quote “I should like to sleep in some neglected spot… by everyone forgot…” (Line 3) Connecting the release of sleep and “Oblivion” to both of the Renaissance writings. Similarly, “The Weary Blues” held a distressed character that endured a tough life and felt like he was alone. “Ain’t got nobody but ma salf…” (Line 20) With his painful emotions released through song, the man felt like he had no way out of his problems. “I wish that I had died.” (Line 30) In the end the man slept soundly symbolizing the release of his pent up emotions, and that they no longer held any power over him. “He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.” (Line 35) Using sleep as a symbol of a release of an issue or emotions remains a prominent theme in Harlem Renaissance literature and occurs as one of the concepts that connects “Battle Royal”, “Oblivion”, and “The Weary