Invisible Man Theme
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is a novel which embodies the universal theme of self-discovery, of the search to figure out who one truly is in life which we all are embarked upon. Throughout the text, the narrator is constantly wondering about who he really is, and evaluating the different identities which he assumes for himself. He progresses from being a hopeful student with a bright future to being just another poor black laborer in New Your City to being a fairly well off spokesperson for a powerful political group, and ultimately to being the "invisible man" which he eventually realizes that he has always been. The deepest irony in this text is that for a significant portion of the story, the narrator is unaware of his own invisibility, in believing that others can "see" him, he is essentially invisible to himself. Only through a long and arduous journey of self-discovery which is fraught with constant and unexpected tragedy and loss does he realize the truth, that his perceptions of himself and of how others perceived him had been backwards his entire life. The story opens with the narrator participating in a "battle royal" prior to delivering a speech on humility, and on the progress of th
Deeply shaken by this turn of events but far from broken, and taking hope in returning to school after a year, the narrator heads to New York City armed with seven letters from Dr. Bledsoe addressed to some prominent white people which he believes will help him in attaining a job. This couldn't be further from the truth however, and upon delivering the seventh letter, he is informed that the letters state that his expulsion has been permanent, and that the men which he has been referred to will do nothing other than "help him continue in direction of the promise which...recedes ever brightly and distantly beyond the hopeful traveler," in short, that all they will do is keep him chasing after a false hope. It is here that the narrator sees that his dreams of being the "next Booker T." will go unrealized, and that he may never return to the life which he has abandoned. This is also where he begins the journey to finding his true identity. Following a tip from the son of the seventh addressee, the same person who revealed the true contents of the letters, the narrator takes a job at a paint factory, but ends up caught in a furnace explosion on his first day. At the factory hospital, he is subjected to shock therapy and then released and given some compensation money from the company. While walking the streets in a dazed and confused state, he runs into a lady named Mary who offers to let him rent a room in her house, and he took up her offer after attacking a man whom he mistook for Dr. Bledsoe in his previous place of residence. Throughout the story, the protagonist was constantly searching for his true identity, and in the end he realizes that he has no true identity. He is invisible, or more appropriately, he is a mirror which reflects only what other people want to see. The story of how he comes to realize his invisibility deals with a theme of self-discovery, of how other people cannot tell you who you really are, though they will try if given the chance. The narrator's efforts to find out who he is represents the way in which we all must strive to define ourselves. Defining oneself is one major theme (though not the only one) that is present throughout the novel, as well as one that is constantly reinforced by the events in the story.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Dr Bledsoe, Outraged Clifton's, Ralph Ellison, Wrestrum Brotherhood, Jack Brotherhood, Booker Washington, Tod Clifton, Jim Trueblood, Afraid Norton, Golden Day, true identity, dr bledsoe, people harlem, true identity invisible, compensation money, identity invisible, entire life, story narrator, life abandoned, brotherhood council, battle royal,
Approximate Word count = 2039
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
