Invisible Man Essay, Research Paper

?Invisible Man? is about a black man and his struggles until he eventually

becomes ?invisible? to society 1. Youth-given a chance for an education 2.

New York- finding a job and joining the Brotherhood 3. Becoming invisible B.

Characters 1. Ellison a. never describes himself b. well educated, tries to

become white 2. Mr. Norten- rich man, says Ellison is his ?destiny? 3. Dr.

Bedlose- head of the University, kicks Ellsion out 4. The Brothers- Brother

Clifton C. Major issues in the book are the ways that Ellsion?s character

oppresses himself rather than other people doing to for him II. Novel is a

primary example of the hesitance of the blacks to feel confident in American

society A. Author wrote book to confuse me- had to read pages many times-

didn?t describe people or places, just things- didn?t read in to he nuances

B. Book will help me when we start to study the Black movement because it shows

where the begingings started C. Ellison?s Character ?speaks? while being

invisible, pg 576-581 III. Had and impact on the way I look at my place in

society A. Think of it not like a ?black novel? but as one big analogy B.

Every one is an ?invisible man? in one way In Invisible Man, Ralph

Ellison?s narrator recalls to us how he became ?invisible? to the world.

Since the name of the narrator is never known I wlll refer to him as Brother X.

The novel opens with Brother X describing what it is like to be invisible: ?I

am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edger Allen

Poe…I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids00and I might

even go said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because

people refuse to see me..That invisibility of which I refer to occurs because of

a peculiar disposition of the eyes of those with whom I come in contact. …

those eyes with which they look through their physical eyes upon reality… In

the introduction, Brother X shares with us the advantages of his being

invisible; he also explains to us that he lives in a ?pit? that is damp and

dark, yet full of light. Living in this pit makes him realize that he is black

and blue. ?I was born black, but what did I do to become blue? Bear with

me.? During the first couple chapters of the book, Brother X tells us about

his education. He attended a prestigious collage in the South and was a top

student. While at the University, he met a prominent white man named Mr. Nortan.

He was Mr. Nortan?s driver during his stay. Although we only hear about Mr.

Nortan for a few chapters, and he doesn?t show up again until the end of the

book, he plays a very important role. He said that he didn?t have a destiny,

that Brother X and others like him were is destiny. Brother X often refers to

being Mr. Nortan?s destiny for the rest of the book. After a violation of the

rules, Brother X is kicked out of school. Thinking he will be able to return

next term, he heads off to New York to find a job. He has with him references

from Dr. Bedlose, the dean who kicked him out. He was told not to open the

letters, but after not hearing back from any of the jobs, he opens one. The

letter explained to the potential employers that Brother X had been expelled

from the University and it would not be wise to employ him. After several blue

collar jobs, Brother X ends up giving and impromptu speech at an eviction and

catching the attention of several leaders in the Brotherhood movement. He is

employed by the Brotherhood and given a new ID, which we never learn. The

Brotherhood was an organization in Harlem that focused on unity through peace.

Brother X finds himself giving speeches all over Harlem and invading the

territory of Ras, the Exhorter?s group of black Nationalists. After a while

with the Brotherhood, the Youth leader, Brother Clifton disappears. The

Brotherhood movement starts to lose its force and they start to talk of shutting

down. One day, while Brother X is walking down the street, he spots Clifton

illegally selling dolls which were demeaning to blacks. Clifton refuses arrest

and ends up being shot. At Cliftons funeral, Brother X is asked to speak. When

Brother X crosses the line by insulting the law enforcement and trying to rally

the black community together, he is asked to leave the Brotherhood. A series of

events forces Brother X into his sunless ?pit? where he finds the advantages

of being invisible. Invisible Man is by far the hardest book I have ever tried

to read. Every time I flip through it, I understand more, but become more

confused. This book is full of more nuances than 1984, The Giver, Fahrenhiet

451, Brave New World, and Lord of the Flies put together. There is no way I can

even try to pinpoint where the novel fits in to American society and history. On

the surface, the book talks about the general feelings of frustration and false

hope that the blacks faced trying to fit into society, but the book can be

adapted to any stage of history and social development. Everything in the book

has a deeper meaning that I can only begin to read into, the subtly of some

things and vivid description of others is hard to understand. I am in no place

to try and guess Ellison?s reason for writing Invisible Man. The novel was

very hard to read, yet it intrigued me from the first line of the book. The fact

that Brother X ?speaks? to us by being invisible is the idea that related to

me the most. I have to remind myself to step back and realize that we are all

?just another brick in the wall? and that when we try too hard to make

ourselves heard, we find out that sometimes the best way to be heard is when

people don?t think that they are listening. When I first started to read

Invisible Man, I thought it was going to be a ?black novel?, like Black Like

Me, or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The novel became not a book about being

black, but being unseen . After I was finished with the book I realized I should

have read the Epilogue first. I will pick out some of the pieces that help

explain being ?invisible?. ?So there you have all of it that?s

important. Or at least you almost have it. I?m an invisible man and it placed

me in a hole–or showed me the hole I was in, it you will–and I reluctantly

accepted the fact. …There is , by the way, and area in which a man?s

feelings are more rational that his mind,and it is precisely in the area that

his will is pulled in several directions at the same time. You might sneer at

this, buy I know now. I was pulled this way and that for as long as I can

remember. And my problem was that I always tried to go in everyone’s way buy my

own. I have also been called one thing and then another while no one really

wished to hear what I have to call myself. So, after years of trying to adopt

the opinions of others, I finally rebelled. I am an invisible man. Thus I have

come a long way and returned and boomeranged a long way from the point in

society toward which Ioriginally aspired…You go along for years knowing

something is wrong, then suddenly you discover that you?re as transparent as

air. At first you tell yourself that it?s all a dirty joke, or that it?s due

to the ?political situation? But deep down you come to suspect that you

yourself are to blame, and you stand marked and shivering before the millions of

eyes who look through you unseeingly. That is the real soul sickness….Being

invisible and without substance, a disembodied voice as it were, what else could

I do? What else buy try to tell you what was really happening when your eyes

were looking through? And it is this which frightens me: Who knows ,but that on

the lower frequencies, I speak for you?? I think that that last paragraph in

the book summed up the basis of the novel. Ellison tried to show us that in the

end, we will all come to realize that were are just as invisible as the next

man. But that is not a bad thing, because it is the invisible man that speaks

for us.