The narrator, who throughout the novel remains anonymous, comes from a Southern family who believes that there is truth is the phrase "separate but equal." On his graduation day he gives a speech stressing Black submission as a way to gain advancement. His eloquence, scholarship and humility wins him a place in college. He goes on to a prestigious Southern Black college where he is taught that the key to success is not to be too Black. He is chosen to show Mr. Norton, a wealthy trustee who looks at the narrator as a point on the score sheet of his success, around campus. During the tour, the narrator mistakenly exposes Mr. Norton to Jim Trueblood, a farmer who impregnated his daughter, and a mental health patient who shocks both he and Mr. Norton by telling them of their blindness. When he returns to campus, he is informed by Dr. Bledsoe, the head master of the school, that as he is to be expelled. Dr. Bledsoe is what the narrator seeks to become, a powerful Black man in the white world. Bledsoe sends him to New York with letters of recommendation addressed to trustees.

The narrator gets an emergency call from a Brother requesting he come immediately. He starts toward Harlem and gets caught up in a riot. He finds that Ras is driving it and that this is the result that the Brotherhood had been working toward. Trying to flee from a spear-carrying Ras, and then from police he falls into a manhole. The police cover it trapping him. For light, he burns the contents of his brief case. This includes his high school diploma, and one of Clifton's dolls, he finds the paper Brother Jack wrote with his brotherhood name and matched the handwriting to that of the anonymous letter. He falls asleep and dreams of Bledsoe, Norton, Jack and Ras all mocking him. He decides to stay underground. Because he is invisible and won't be missed. He only exists as people thought he did. He is a mere reflection of the world's opinion of him.

With the sunglasses on people continuously mistake him for Rineheart, a local man with a seeming myriad of identities. This fascinates the narrator: that Rineheart can be known to so many but never really known. He then goes to Hambro's apartment where he learns that the Brotherhood plans to sacrifice Harlem's success for wider political goals. He leaves angry and prepares for revenge.

The narrator's first task is to deliver a speech at a rally. He speaks using the metaphor of blindness (which is fitting because he is blinded by the spotlight). He receives applaud from the crowd, but critizism from the other Brothers who insist he be trained in the Brotherhood doctorine. After his training, he is appointed spokesperson of Harlem Brotherhood and meets Tod Clifton, another young black Brother, and is informed of Ras, a Black Nationalist and rival of the Brotherhood. He and Clifton later get in a street fight with Ras. Ras warns them that the Brotherhood will eventually betray them. Still, he does his job as best he can.

The narrator goes to a Brotherhood party and finds that the goal of the brotherhood is to make

Some common words found in the essay are:
Dr Bledsoe, Jack Brotherhood, Harlem Clifton, Brothers Wrestrum, Ralph Ellison, Booker Washington, Brotherhood Trying, Southern Black, Jim Trueblood, Jack Ras, narrator goes, shock therapy, brotherhood community, york letters, factory hospital, dr bledsoe,
Approximate Word count = 1332
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)