Invisible+Man

=**Title of the Work**= __Invisible Man__ =Author= Ralph Ellison =Nationality/Ethnic Background= United States (African-American) =Genre and Sub-genres= Bildungsroman, Social Protest novel, Existentialist novel, African-American Fiction =Pertinent Biographical Information=

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Ralph Waldo Ellison was born on March 1, 1914, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Named after the great writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ellison’s parents knew that he bound for great success. When Ellison was young, his mother volunteered with the local Socialist Party in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His mother, Ida Ellison, was a member of the Brownies and had been arrested several times for violating the segregation orders. Later in 1933, Ralph Ellison attended the Tuskegee Institution in Macon County, Alabama on a music scholarship. Afterward Ellison dropped out in 1936, and with the support of Richard Wright. Ellison was encouraged to join the Federal Writers' Project. There Ellison wrote essays, reviews and short stories. In 1952 Ellison published the Invisible Man where he references his Oklahoma background of African-American folktales, songs, the blues, jazz, and black traditions. ====== =Literary Historical Period/Movement and Pertinent Background= The Harlem Renaissance was an art movement that lasted from the 1920’s to 1930’s. It was a way for the Black culture to create an identity and change the way other Americans perceived them. During this period Ralph Ellison became friends with writer Langston Hughes and jazz artist Albert Murray. The Harlem Renaissance was a way for African-Americans to express their culture and create a better appreciation for it. These people and this period are what influenced Ralph Ellison's book the __Invisible Man,__ and the narrator’s existential dilemma. =Major Characters, Their Relationships, Their Conflicts= =Brief Plot Summary= __Invisible Man__ begins with a free-for-all boxing match between several young black men, including the narrator. They are forced to fight each other blindfolded and are constantly humiliated and harassed by the whites who have forced them to fight. After the fight, the narrator gives a speech that catches the attention of one of the whites in the audience who helps the narrator get into college. While attending the college, the narrator is told to give Mr. Norton, a wealthy white beneficiary of the college, a tour of the school grounds. Upon Norton's request, the narrator takes him to the residence of Jim Trueblood, who was expelled from the school because he had an incestuous relationship with his daughter. After meeting Trueblood, Norton becomes sick and orders the narrator to take him to the Golden Day tavern for a drink. Because he could not exit the tavern with a drink, the narrator is forced to bring Norton inside the tavern where a brawl ensues. When the narrator returns to the college, he is called to Dr. Bledsoe's office where he is criticized for simply following orders. Although Norton tries to vouch for the narrator and convince Bledsoe that the narrator was only following orders, Bledsoe decides to expel the narrator and send him to New York. After losing many job opportunities, the narrator is able to find a job at Liberty Paints, where he is caught in a boiler room explosion. The narrator is then sent to the factory hospital, where he received experimental shock therapy. After leaving the hospital, the narrator gives a speech at the site of an eviction where and elderly black couple is being put on the street by whites. After his speech, the narrator is approached by Brother Jack, who makes the narrator spokesman of The Brotherhood, a civil rights group. The narrator gives many great speeches but is always criticized for not saying exactly what he is expected to say by the members of The Brotherhood. The narrator then is in opposition to Raas the Exhorter, who is the leader of a violent civil rights group that is opposed to the brotherhood's equal treatment of whites. Raas often starts violent riots where The Brotherhood's speeches are given. After Raas nearly kills Tod Clifton, a Brotherhood member, it is discovered that Clifton has been selling Sambo dolls. Clifton is pursued by the police for selling things on the street and is shot and killed by a policeman. During the narrator's speech at Clifton's funeral march, Raas starts another riot and chases the narrator, who takes refuge in a manhole, where the novel ends. =Motifs (Recurring Images, Ideas, Figures of Speech, Symbols, Colors) & Their Thematic Significance= =Other Significant Thematic Elements (Significant Character's Names, Significant Quotations, Significant Actions/Events)= =Major Themes=
 * The Narrator- A young African American male who is expelled from college and moves North in the hope of finding a job, gaining experience and returning back to college in a year. Once in New York he realizes that he won't be able to return to school again and joins an African American rights group where he serves as a sepaker. After a while of working this job he recognizes that he has just become a weapon and is not helping advance the races into an intergrated society like he thought he was doing. The narrator struggles to find meaning in life throughout his journey. He has to deal with many problems and by the end of the novel he decides that he cannot change anything and that he is ahead of his time so he stops trying to make a difference because it doesn't matter what he does.
 * Mr. Norton- A benefactor to the school that the narrator attends who is taken on a tour of the college. The narrator takes him to Jim Trueblood's residence and also to the Golden Tavern where the two run into a group of people that Dr. Bledsoe, the president of the college, disapproved of. Mr. Norton attempts to defend the narrator's actions but Bledsoe decides that the narrator should have coem up with an excuse to avoid that part of campus no matter what Mr. Norton asked him to do. Mr. Norton runs into the narrator at the end the end of the story and Mr. Norton does not recognize or remember who the narrator is.
 * Brother Jack- The leader of the Brotherhood who cares more about the Brotherhood than the lives of those that are in it. He discovered the narrator and decide he was the right man to be the spokesman of the brotherhood.
 * Dr. Bledsoe- The president of the college who expels the narrator and sends him to New York. Bledsoe believes that he is all-powerful and can do as he pleases.
 * Raas the Exhorter- Leader of a violent African American group that opposes the Brotherhood's equal treatment of whites. He does not trust the whites and believes that they will always try to be over top of the African-Americans. He preaches that the African-Americans in the community should revolt against the white society in stead of being peaceful.
 * Blindness- Blindness appears multiple times throughout the novel including in the speech that the blind preacher gives, the fact that Brother Jack has a glass eye, and the battle royal participants being blind-folded. Blindness represents people's unwillingness to see people for who they truly are. Brother Jack fails to see the narrator for who he really is but instead as a tool to help his cause. Blindness also represents failure to see the truth. The battle royal participants are blind-folded and they fail to see that they are being exploited for the amusement for the white people.
 * Liberty Paints Sign- The Liberty Paint factory advertised that their white is better than any other white. Their slogan is, "Optic White can cover up any tint or stain." This symbolizes racism by the corporations. The slogan implies that white is superior to black.
 * Sambo Doll- The Sambo Doll Bank symbolizes the stereotypes of the African American population at the time. The doll is made in the image of a slave who takes insignificant tokens (coins) from their "masters". The dancing doll shows that African Americans are being controlled by someone else and societies belief that they couldn't act for themselves.
 * Jazz-Jazz is a recurring motif throughout the work. In the beginning Ralph Ellison introduces the jazz piece (What did I do) "To be so Black and Blue" by Louis Armstrong. Jazz was started by the African-American culture, and it is made of different improvising, solos, and interpretation. Throughout Jazz, the music has many ups and downs. Ellison uses Jazz and Armstrong's song to express this element in his book. Armstrong's song was a way of commenting on Blacks struggle in society. Because Jazz is built on individualism, Ellison uses jazz to show black identity throughout his book, and the many challenges and successes African Americans face in everyday life.
 * Invisibility- In the prologue of the novel, the narrator is bumped by a man who doesn't see him. The narrator beats the man and nearly kills him, but the man still doesn't see him. This makes the narrator believe that he is a phantom and only a nightmare that is present in the minds of others. This is also demonstrated throughout the novel by people bumping into him or just not knowing his true identity. At one point in the novel, he is mistake for a man named Rinehart who has many identities.
 * The Grandfather- The narrator's grandfather plays a major part in the novel. On multiple occasions, the narrator is haunted by his grandfather's advice which was to overplay inferiority to get ahead in order to advance in society.
 * Light- The narrator refers to his hole as brighter than the Empire State Building towards the end of the novel. Unlike those at the Empire State Building, the narrator is able to see others for who they really are.


 * **__Racism is an Obstacle to Identity__**- Throughout the novel, the narrator struggles to find his identity. However, others continue to define him by his race, such as Brother Jack, who just saw the narrator as the African American face of the organization. Because people continue to define him and restrict him because of his race, the narrator decides to give up his search for identity.
 * **__People are not always what they seem:__** During the novel, the narrator puts his faith in multiple people that end up letting him down. He beleives at first the Dr. Bledsoe, Mr. Norton, and Brother Jack have his best interest at heart. However he finds out that they all have their own ultimatums. They cast him asside for their own selfish purposes. He finds that it is risky to trust people.
 * **__You can't fight power without power:__** The narrator starts out with high hopes at the beginning of the novel to become successful despite his race. He finds that he needs cooperation from Bledsoe to be successful at the school. However he does not get that cooperation. He then needs help from the brotherhood to be successful there, however they turn against him. The narrator finds that the only thing he can count on is himself and he cannot succeed on his own so he gives up and goes underground to live alone.