The Invisible Man Essay, Research Paper

The novel, Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison explores the issue of life,

liberty, and the pursuit of happiness through the main character. In

the novel, Invisible Man, the main character is not giving a name. In

our paper we will refer to him as the Protagonist. Ellison explores

how unalienable rights cannot be obtained without freedom from the

obstacles in life especially from one’s own fears. In the novel

Invisible Man, several major characters affect the Protagonist. One of

the major characters is Dr. Bledsoe, who is the president of the

school. Dr. Bledsoe had a major effect on the main character, because

the Protagonist idolizes him. “He was every thing that I hope to be,”

(Ellison 99), but the Dr. Bledsoe degrades him when we says “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” (Emerson 137) and calls him a

Nigger. In addition, the Protagonist grandfather had a major effect on

him. The ! Protagonist’s grandfather last word, “Live in the Lions

mouth” (Ellison 16) has a lasting effect on him throughout most of the

novel. Finally and most important, Ras the Destroyer, whom the

Protagonist fears whom along with Dr. Bledsoe in a separate

encountering calls him “a educated fool” (Ellison 140). The first

encounter of the Protagonist own fears is introduce when his

grandfather’ s tells the Protagonist to go against the white man by

“overcome ‘em with yeses” (Emerson 16). These words haunts the

Protagonist when he is kicked out getting kicked out of college. When

Dr. Bledsoe kicks him out of college, the Protagonist reflects on his

grandfather last words “undermine ‘em with grins, agree ‘em to

death^”(Emerson 16). For a moment, the Protagonist wonders if his

grandfather might be right. However, due to the Protagonist fear of

failure, the Protagonist doubts his grandfather wise words, because he

does not want to believe that his role in life is to undermine the

white man. So, the Protagonist convinces himself that the Dr. Bledsoe

and the school is right and goes to New York. The second encounter, in

which the Protagonist reveals his fear and not being accepted, is in

the Battle Royal. The Battle Royal is a boxing match involving nine

other African American boys who have to fight until the last man is

standing. The protagonist endures this degrading act as ploy, so that

he can be able to read his speech, in the hope of impressing the elite

white men of the town. The Protagonist fear of not being looked upon

as an uneducated cause him to be the subject of a brutal beating, which

knocks him out and torturous electrical shocking. In addition, the

Protagonist fear of not being acceptance is his denial of being a

“Negro”. The Protagonist encounter with Dr. Bledsoe exemplifies his

denial. The Protagonist looks up to Dr. Bledsoe as a model of what he

wants to be. However, when Dr. Bledsoe called the Protagonist an

“educated fool” (Ellison 140) and an Nigger; the Protagonist ignores it

because of his denial of being a Nigger, but under normal circumstances

a person would get angry and upset. Dr. Bledsoe name is also a play on

word, because when he calls the Protagonist a Nigger, he bleeds his

people so. Dr. Bledsoe bleeding of the Protagonist shows his disregard

for his own people. The Protagonist fears of not being accepted is

also evident when he continues to believe that he would get back into

the college even after getting kicked out. The third situation that

the Protagonist encounters is with Ras the Destroyer. Ras character is

one of a total opposite of the Protagonist. Ras’s goal is the

destruction of the white man. As the Protagonist, enter a brotherhood

of both white and black people, he finds himself at odds with Ras, who

refuses to have a brotherhood with white people. Although the

protagonist is able to avoid any real conflicts with Ras, he is called

an “educated fool” (Ellison 292) once again this time by Ras, when the

Protagonist comes to the aid of his friend Clifton. The Protagonist

holds his education in high esteem and is in a complete state of shock,

by being called a “educated fool” once again. However, the greatest

impact that Ras has on the Protagonist is at the end of the Novel.

This occurs when the Protagonist is attacked by Ras. The Protagonist

calls out that “They want this to happen”. The Protagonist refers this

statement to the brotherhood, which is not a brotherhood at all!

But it is too late. Ras is intent on killing the Protagonist. When

the Protagonist finally escapes, the Protagonist is desperate and wants

to hide. In the end, this leads him to a hole where the Protagonist

feels that he is invisible, which we find him in the beginning. To

conclude, the Protagonist realized even being underground away from

society, his mind would not let him rest. He states that “I’m an

invisible man and it placed me in a hole- or showed me the hole I was

in^.”(Ellison Epilogue). This is an effective metaphor, because that

is where life left him. As stated by a German Philosopher, Friedrich

Nietzsche, “A snake that does not shed its skin will perish”. The

Protagonist realized he must shed his metaphorical skin of fear and

denial of being a Negro in order to obtain his unalienable which are

rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The freedom he

obtains through shedding his skin is that he knows he is free to be

himself without fearing not being accepted.

Bibliography

1.Ellison, Ralph. The Invisible Man. New York, Vintage Books

2.Latu, Susan. School Web Site. 1998. Phillips,

3.Elizabeth C. “Monarch Notes” Ralph Ellison Invisible Man. New York, Monarch