a White culture. The narrative starts during his college days where he works hard and

earns respect from the administration. Dr. Bledsoe, the prominent Black administrator of

his school, becomes his mentor. Dr. Bledsoe has achieved success in the White culture

which becomes the goals which the narrator seeks to achieve. The narrator's hard work

culminates in him being given the privilege of taking Mr. Norton, a White benefactor to

the school, on a car ride around the college area. After much persuasion and against

his better judgement, the narrator takes Mr. Norton to a run down Black neighborhood.

When Dr. Bledsoe found out about the trip the narrator was kicked out of school

because he showed Mr. Norton anything less than the ideal Black man. The narrator is

shattered, by having the person he idealizes turn on him. Immediately, he travels to

New York where he starts his life anew. He joins the Brotherhood, a group striving for

the betterment of the Black race, an ideal he reveres. Upon arrival in the Brotherhood,

he meets Brother Tarp and Brother Tod Clifton who give

that he has been used by people all his life and that this has stripped him of his

now he is passing the chain onto the next generation who will take up his mission. Not

link to the past. Brother Tarp carries it around to remind himself of his imprisonment and

his situation more clearly and ultimately comes to terms with his identity. Unlike Clifton

who feels completely alone and lets himself be killed the narrator decides to, "shake of

becomes a symbol of the link between the two generations, passing on the legacy and

at the injustice that he has seen. He ultimately discovers that he and the people of

Some common words found in the essay are:
Whites Clifton, Dr Bledsoe's, Dr Bledsoe, Tod Clifton, Clifton Brotherhood, Harlem Brotherhood, Ellison Invisible, Bledsoe Brotherhood, Norton White, Unlike Clifton, dr bledsoe, meets tarp, identity narrator, chain symbol, emphasis harlem, reminds narrator, life stripped, symbol link, paper doll, tool exploited,
Approximate Word count = 1333
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)