In this world, mankind has developed the tendency to develop self meaning through social views. Through Ralph Ellison’s novel, Invisible Man, the author conveys to us the danger of such views. Ellison’s protagonist, who remains nameless, is searching for a context in which to identify with. In the prologue, he proudly states, "I am an invisible man. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination--indeed, everything and anything except me." But as we soon learn, the quest for our narrator to obtain this knowledge is vast with hardship and years of suffering.
In the beginning, our narrator is banished ‘temporarily’ from his southern all black college for a terrible mishap with one of the white supporters of the school. After the trustee was mistakenly acquainted with an incestuous farmer and a southern brothel, the college director chastises him with a significant line; "Why, the dumbest black bastard in the cotton patch knows that the only way to please a white man is to tell him a lie! What kind of an education are you getting around here?" In this line, we see Ellison’s idea of race roles in society. He depicts the white race as a blind and greedy being that must be constantly be appeased by the resourceful but underpowered black race.
The narrator, unsure of his faults, travels north to New York where his hopes are ruined when he learns that the headmaster has not sent him to work for a summer, but has instead effectively expelled and abandoned him to a new world in the north.
In learning of his fate, the narrator eventually becomes committed to discerning the truth in his world, which proves to be very much indefinable. The narrator becomes a spokesman for a mixed-race band of social activists called "The Brotherhood" and believes he is fighting for equality. After a long period of service he eventually concludes, "They were blind, bat blind, moving only by the echoed sounds of their voices. And because they were blind they would destroy themselves.... Here I thought they accepted me because they felt that color made no difference, when in reality it made no difference because they didn't see either color or men." From these lines, we see that narrator has transformed into a cynical realist of his environment. His disparagement of the group leads him to a new insight. He no longer wishes to serve toothless idealists who have little purpose except to hear themselves speak for self gratification.
Invisible Man not only explores the darkest portions of racism in America, but it is a book that portrays the human race crawling to some form of identity. No man can ever discover the truth beyond their own conscious and perceptions, and therefore every man must create his own judgment; "And it is this which frightens me: Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?"
In the beginning, our narrator is banished ‘temporarily’ from his southern all black college for a terrible mishap with one of the white supporters of the school. After the trustee was mistakenly acquainted with an incestuous farmer and a southern brothel, the college director chastises him with a significant line; "Why, the dumbest black bastard in the cotton patch knows that the only way to please a white man is to tell him a lie! What kind of an education are you getting around here?" In this line, we see Ellison’s idea of race roles in society. He depicts the white race as a blind and greedy being that must be constantly be appeased by the resourceful but underpowered black race.
The narrator, unsure of his faults, travels north to New York where his hopes are ruined when he learns that the headmaster has not sent him to work for a summer, but has instead effectively expelled and abandoned him to a new world in the north.
In learning of his fate, the narrator eventually becomes committed to discerning the truth in his world, which proves to be very much indefinable. The narrator becomes a spokesman for a mixed-race band of social activists called "The Brotherhood" and believes he is fighting for equality. After a long period of service he eventually concludes, "They were blind, bat blind, moving only by the echoed sounds of their voices. And because they were blind they would destroy themselves.... Here I thought they accepted me because they felt that color made no difference, when in reality it made no difference because they didn't see either color or men." From these lines, we see that narrator has transformed into a cynical realist of his environment. His disparagement of the group leads him to a new insight. He no longer wishes to serve toothless idealists who have little purpose except to hear themselves speak for self gratification.
Invisible Man not only explores the darkest portions of racism in America, but it is a book that portrays the human race crawling to some form of identity. No man can ever discover the truth beyond their own conscious and perceptions, and therefore every man must create his own judgment; "And it is this which frightens me: Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?"
-John
