im_review_1

=__**Invisible Man**__= By, Ralph Ellison Published in 1952

__**Historical Context**__ Many of the parts in Invisible Man have been taken from Ellison's life, he was born in 1914 to slaves and was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When he was young, Ellison took up a strong interest in jazz music, both listening and playing it and decided that he wanted to go to college for it. He attended Tuskegee Institute which was founded by Booker T. Washington and was a very important African American college during this time. In 1936, Ellison moves to Harlem in New York City, which follows the trend of his novel. It was finally in New York, after he met many African American poets and writers that Invisible Man was finally published.

During this time period however, Harlem was full of jazz music and musicians which can be seen through his novel with the use of fragmented sentences and the influence of jazz on the Invisible Man himself. During this time period, two contrasting views were surfacing and Ellison found a way to bring them together. There was a lot of prejudice and oppression of African Americans during this time period and they started to band together in order to protect themselves and fight against a common goal so that they could achieve more equality. Also during this time, famous French writers such as Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre were writing about existentialism which is the search for individuality and meaning in the world. Ellison brings both of these occurrences together by writing the Invisible Man, a story of a black man that feels the need to ban with people like him and yet be an individual among them.

__**Literary Movement and Textual Evidence**__ Invisible Man is most closely related to the literary movement of realism. Ellison very accurately depicts real-life situations with realistic reactions of the people involved. Rarely will he use euphemisms in describing scenes or actions as he would rather focus on the characters' actions as though they were real people. The most effective way to capture an audience and make them reexamine their own lives is to show them a story with realistic people and realistic scenarios. The contrasting though realistic characters in this piece provide a depth which is rivaled by few and allow the themes of the story to resonate deeply through all those who read it.

One quote, found toward the end of the story, can truly summarize the realistic, introspective undertone of the entire novel. "Perhaps to lose a sense of where you are implies the danger of losing a sense of who you are." (pg. 577) Here, the Invisible Man has encountered Mr. Norton some years later in a subway station. The Invisible Man watches from afar as Norton appears lost, but isn't asking for help. The Invisible Man then concludes that Norton, and all men alike, are afraid to become physically lost because it can only imply that they are mentally lost as well. This approach to thinking is most definitely one influenced by realism as it examines the human mind without making unrealistic suggestions.

__**Major Characters**__ The Narrator - He is also the Invisible Man and is reflecting back on his experiences on his way to figuring out that he is invisible. He is a man of color and is very well spoken. He prides himself on being a moving speaker and uses this to his advantage when he joins the Brotherhood. In the beginning of the novel, he is very naive and inexperienced, he believes in the good in all people and gets let down consistently, first with the Battle Royal and second with Dr. Bledsoe. As the story goes on, he is used by various people to their own benefit, and the Invisible Man goes along with this, not realizing their true motives. He finally realizes the many identities that have been given to him throughout the years and becomes invisible by wearing a disguise in which he looks like Rinehart. He finally realizes that he needs to let go of his past and become an individual, which he chooses as being invisible.

Brother Jack - At first Jack seems very caring and intelligent by taking the Invisible Man in and giving him an education and a well-paying job. He is the Invisible Man's mentor while he is in the Brotherhood and respects him. Jack is using the Invisible Man for his speaking skills in order to advance himself in the community, past Ras the Exhorter. Brother Jack has a glass eye which he shows to the Invisible Man when he proves his true prejudice against him and turns his back on him. This glass eye is supposed to represent the blindness that he has towards what truly needs to be done, instead of brainwashing these people for his own good. Brother Jack and the Brotherhood represent the Communist Party that had betrayed the African Americans during Ellison's lifetime.

Ras the Exhorter - He is very powerful and is very dangerous. He believes in very strong African American nationalism and doesn't believe that any white people would be able to help their benefit, he thinks that white people are all against his race. He believes that the only way for equality to be accomplished is by destroying the black race so that they cannot oppress him or his brothers anymore. He would wear radical and ridiculous costumes that went well with his speeches and arguing against the integration of the races.

Tod Clifton - He is part of the Brotherhood and is handsome, well-spoken, and intelligent, he was always told that he would make a great leader and that people were born to follow him. He quits the Brotherhood and starts to sell Sambo dolls on the sidewalks. These dolls represent the stereotypes placed on African Americans during this time. When the Invisible Man witnesses Clifton's death, he starts to understand his individuality in the world.

Dr. Bledsoe - He was the head of the black college that the Invisible Man attended and was his role model. He represented what the white man wanted black people to act like. He is driven by money and power in order to obtain the status and recognition of a white man. He is deceitful and selfish when he kicks the Invisible Man out of school and gives him the advice to get a job in New York City and come back to school the next year. Bledsoe gave him "recommendation" letters for a job and told him not to read it, it proved to be a letter telling the companies not to hire him.

__**Central Themes**__ Throughout the novel, racism made it extremely difficult for the Invisible Man to overcome various stereotypes in order to define himself. His goal was to make a difference, to inspire others, and to incite change in the community yet he was often blocked by the color of his skin. The Brotherhood used him to reach out to the African-Americans of the area as they attempted to unite all people of the community. Meanwhile, Ras the Exhorter was pressuring the Invisible Man to cease his work in unification and concentrate only on improving life for the blacks. In some way, shape, or form his race was a constant hindrance to his social work. As seen in a majority of literary works, the influence of a family member is paramount to the development of a character throughout the length of the novel. In //Invisible Man//, the character which influences the main character the most is his grandfather, although both of his parents have some influence in the life of the Invisible Man as well. The grandfather exerts this influence on his death bed when he states: //"son, after I’m gone I want you to keep up the good fight. I never told you, but our life is a war and I have been a traitor all my born days, a spy in the enemy’s country ever since I gave up my gun back in the Reconstruction. Live with your head in the lion’s mouth. I want you to overcome ‘em with yeses, undermine ‘em with grins, agree ‘em to death and destruction, let ‘em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open."// The Invisible Man spent the entire novel trying to please his grandfather, and when he wasn't sure if he was acting in a proper manner, he always thought about whether or not he was being a traitor as his grandfather had warned him about. His entire life since his grandfather's death was, in essence, a quest to find the true meaning to his words; along the way, he learned about himself and developed into the person he is when the novel comes to a close. He also speaks of his parents on occasion and how certain actions, such as dropping out of school, would disappoint them. It is at their implicit insistence that the Invisible Man goes to New York to look for a job, which is where he comes in contact with Liberty Paints and where his 'new life' begins. Because of the influence of his parents, he was pushed in the direction of further self-knowledge and several epiphanies which enlightened him on both his faults and the nature of humans, both blacks and whites, in the society he lived in.

In this work, blindness was used as a catalyst for later epiphanies. Countless times throughout the novel the Invisible Man refers to himself as being invisible. Strangers are constantly passing him on the streets yet he comments that they seem to look right through him without really seeing him. For most of the novel he is angered and often puzzled by this as most people would be. However, his final moment of recognition comes at the end of the novel when he falls into the hole below the street. The Invisible Man at last realizes the beauty behind being "invisible." Even though the actual epiphany doesn't occur until later in the story, he is first exposed to the idea of complete fluidity of character when he is first mistaken for the mysterious Rinehart. After unearthing the shape-shifting capacity of Rinehart the Invisible Man comes to realize the endless possibilities that come along with being invisible.

In literature, the characters who are considered crazy or a fool are often the ones who tell the greatest and most pertinent truths; this is not debated in //Invisible Man//. Three characters - the grandfather, the vet, and Ras the Exhorter/Destroyer - are the characters whose words hold the greatest amount of truth; when these truths are spoken, the Invisible Man either refuses to believe them or does not understand them until the time for greater understanding comes. With the grandfather, he is considered both odd and crazy by the members of the family due to the truths he speaks. On his death bed, he says "//I want you to overcome ‘em with yeses, undermine ‘em with grins, agree ‘em to death and destruction, let ‘em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open."// Nobody in the immediate family wanted to hear this, so they deemed him crazy. And his craziness, conversely, was what allowed him to say these words with any inhibitions. This is a truth that the Invisible Man didn't understand until the ending of the novel, but when he //does// realize and understand the meaning of his grandfather's words, he realizes that his grandfather spoke the truth which he had been searching for his entire life. Further in the novel, the vet, who is characterized as crazy due to the war, speaks of several truths which either foreshadow or exemplify events in the novel. //"He registers with his sense but short-circuits his brain. Nothing has meaning. He takes it in but he doesn't digest it. Already he is--well, bless my soul! Behold! A walking zombie! Already he's learned to repress not only his emotions but his humanity. He's invisible, a walking personification of the Negative, the most perfect achievement of your dreams, sir. The mechanical man!"// In the previous quote, the vet is summarizing the faults of the Invisible Man, the faults which the reader is aware of but the Invisible Man is not. He refuses to believe that he follows the white man blindly, only doing what he is told so that he can succeed in the world. He doesn't learn from his mistakes, because he continuously puts his trust in the white man. It is only when he comes to one of his greatest epiphanies towards the end of the novel that he realizes that he shouldn't follow the white man blindly and that he should use his grandfather's advice to his advantage. This 'fool' or crazy man, with these words, showed the Invisible Man his major faults, faults which the Invisible Man refused to see until the end of the novel. //"Play the game, but don't believe in it - that much you owe yourself.... play it your own way - part of the time at least"// This quote is similar to the grandfather's advice about yessing the white men; it is something that took the Invisible Man nearly the entire novel to realize after he had been told this a considerable time before the climax of the novel. The vet spoke of several other, extremely similar truths which all can also be used to support the notion of the crazy person or the fool telling the truth that the main character does not know or refuses to believe. Lastly, Ras the Exhorter/Destroyer speaks several similar truths about the nature of the black man. He speaks about how the black man fights with the black man because of the influence of the white oppressor, which is a truth which is exemplified in both this novel and other similar novels such as //Their Eyes Were Watching God//. He also speaks about how the white man attempts to lie to the black man and trick the black man so that the white man can continue to hold a superior place in society. This too is seen later in //Invisible Man// when the Invisible Man realizes he was betrayed by Brother Jack who is one of the white members of the Brotherhood. With all three characters, the truths which these crazy people or fools speak are not immediately realized or believed; it takes the Invisible Man a majority of the novel to come to terms with the truths which the aforementioned crazy people spoke earlier in the novel.

There are two main conflicts in this novel: man vs destiny and man vs self. Granted, there are smaller conflicts such as blacks vs whites, but the two aforementioned conflicts are the ones to be focused on. The concept of man grappling his with his destiny is apparent in this novel. At first, the Invisible Man thinks that it is his destiny to go to college and make changes in the world. He thinks he is destined to become a faculty member of the school and teach others in the ways which he, at that time, was being taught. His destiny is what moves him from one place to another; it's what causes him to get kicked out of school, to get harmed at Liberty Paints, to join the brotherhood, and then to find out the truths of his life. And yet, his destiny can also be the destiny of every other black man. His destiny, as a black man, is to become a puppet for the white man; due to his race, he is to become invisible, indistinguishable from any other black man who roams the streets. In an attempt to fight his destiny, in an attempt to become someone who is known, someone like Booker T. Washington, he becomes a caricature of the destiny he was trying to avoid. Not only did he become invisible, but for a long time, he was the ultimate puppet of the white man; he was such a puppet that the reason he got expelled from school was because he //only// listened to the white man, Mr. Norton, instead of to his instincts. Not only did he have to grapple with the notion that his destiny might not be controlled by his actions but by another force, but he had to grapple with the unchallenged notion that the destiny of a black man was to become not only invisible but the puppet of the white man as well.
 * __Central Conflict__**

The Invisible Man also had to grapple with himself as the main character often does in works of literature. He is constantly in a battle between what he knows is right and what he needs to do. Towards the middle of the novel, the two blend together. Initially, during the Battle Royal, he has an internal battle revolving around whether or not he should partake in the fighting. He knew that he //should// for the sake of appearances, but he didn't want to. That is the essence of the novel. He is conflicted on what to do with Norton throughout the entire exchange. He is conflicted as to whether or not to listen to his grandfather's advice or to listen to the crazy words of the other fools. He struggles to find the difference between what the whites want him to do and what //he// wants to do. His violence, in general, is a manifestation of this conflict; his confusion as to what to do leads to violence which often helps him assert himself as a valuable person. though the roots of the violence are based off of if the question of whether he should be subordinate because it's where society dictates he should be or if he should be himself, whether he should believe and say what he wants, when he wants.

__**Key Quotations**__ "That's a good word, 'Dispossessed!' 'Dispossessed,' eighty-seven years and dispossessed of what?" (pg. 279) Here, the Invisible Man is outside the home of the elderly black couple and is watching as they are getting "dispossessed." However, this excerpt is taken from the most powerful section of the Invisible Man's speech as he is making the connection between these two individuals and the entire black race. This quote is significant to the text as a whole because it ties into the theme of racism serving as an obstacle. The Invisible Man is commenting and preaching on the subject of racism as he points out the comparisons between these two people and the misfortunes that people of color have had to deal with for centuries.

"Live with your head in the lion's mouth" (pg. 16) This excerpt is taken from the grandfather's last words that resonate through the Invisible Man for the duration of the novel. He consistently reverts back to the grandfather's way of agreeing with the white man yet never really meaning it. This policy of appeasement doesn't do much good for the narrator as he keeps finding himself in unfavorable circumstances. Conversely, this method of action eventually helps the Invisible Man find inner peace and not only accept, but embrace his invisibility. The importance of the guidance of family is certainly one theme that follows through in this quote. The grandfather is imparting his knowledge and wisdom to the Invisible Man by explaining how to act in order to get ahead in life.

"Perhaps to lose a sense of where you are implies the danger of losing a sense of who you are." (pg. 577) The Invisible Man makes this sudden epiphany when he meets Mr. Norton on the subway many years after their initial introduction which led to the Invisible Man's expulsion from the university. This prophetic, introspective statement is significant to the work as a whole because it parallels the theme of blindness being used as a catalyst for realization. However, the difference here is that it is Mr. Norton's blindness that leads to the Invisible Man's epiphany. Despite this slight deviation from the norm, this quote is one of the most memorable and profound statements made by the Invisible Man because it truly examines the inner workings of the human psyche.

"He's invisible, a walking personification of the Negative, the most perfect achievement of your dreams, sir!" (pg. 94) This statement came from the mouth of the veteran from the Golden Day. Here he is mocking Mr. Norton by commenting on how the Invisible Man is exactly what the college wants him to be, an unquestioning, obedient black man. This line is important because it works alongside the theme of fools, or so called "crazy people," telling the most pertinent truths. The veteran is perceived by most, including the Invisible Man, to be insane. Contrarily, he is just the opposite as he demonstrates on this occasion as well as others. The veteran is quite an insightful individual who keeps his eye on the Invisible Man and attempts to bestow wisdom on him, almost like a guardian angel.

Although much of the novel is important, the following scenes are extremely significant and contribute greatly to the greater meaning of the work. Some quotes or instances above, which will not be mentioned below, //are// still significant scenes and should not be overshadowed by those which are to be mentioned below.
 * __Pivotal Scenes__**

//__Pages 16-17__// This passage is the passage in which the Invisible Man's grandfather gives him and his father advice. //“On his deathbed he called my father to him and said, ’Son, after I’m gone I want you to keep up the good fight. I never told you, but our life is a war and I have been a traitor all my born days, a spy in the enemy’s country ever since I gave up my gun back in the Reconstruction. Live with your head in the lion’s mouth. I want you to overcome ‘em with yeses, undermine ‘em with grins, agree ‘em to death and destruction, let ‘em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open.’ They thought the old man had gone out of his mind."// He then goes on to speak about how he was treacherous because of how he acted throughout his life. These are the words which haunt the Invisible Man until he realizes the true meaning behind these words. It sets the stage for the rest of the novel and attributes to three of the four aforementioned themes. It speaks about what he should do as a black man by 'yessing 'em to death', forcing him to consider fitting the stereotypes of the black man since that is initially how he interpreted the words. Those experiences due to his misinterpretation caused him to begin a journey which would only lead him to self discovery. The reader is also introduced to the theme regarding how family members or relations shape the development of the main character. These words are the words which the Invisible Man uses to constantly evaluate himself and the position with him. His quest, in essence, was to discover the true meaning of his grandfather's words; because of this, his grandfather was the main force in the development of the Invisible Man over the course of the novel. Lastly, this section addresses the idea of the fool or the crazy person speaking truths which the main character is ignorant of. This truth eludes the Invisible Man throughout the entirety of the book, and yet, it is still considered a truth in the end. And the truth was spoken by a man who was considered to be crazy and slightly odd in his old age.

//__Pages 231-244__// This section is significant because it is the rebirth of the Invisible Man. The rebirth is initially symbolized by the white walls; white is a symbol of purity and peace, which are both associated with birth whilst black is associated with death. The appearance of white quite often in this chapter is a tribute to that. Secondly, he is in a small box which can be associated with a womb, where he is growing and becoming ready to join the world. It is in this box that he is asked a variety of questions including what his name is, who he is, and who is mother is. When he can't remember, they refer to a child's story, Brer Rabibit or Buckeye The Rabbit. He knew not what to say, but was under the impression that maybe he //was// Brer Rabbit. In essence, though, that is who he became. He became the one who tricked the predators, the more powerful beings, when he needed them to be tricked. He led them to believe that the Brotherhood was still active in Harlem for his own benefit which is similar to the trickery of the Brer Rabbit. //"Left alone, I lay fretting over my identity."// This also gives the illusion of a rebirth, since he no longer knows who he was. Towards the end of this passage, there are significant allusions to rebirth. //"I felt a tug at my belly and looked down to see one of the physicians pull the cord which was attached to my stomach node, jerking me forward."// This imagery is reminiscent of the umbilical cord being cut. He was then released from the box which he was in, which is symbolic of finally leaving the uterus and being free from the mother. This rebirth is an extremely pivotal moment in the plot because it is the moment where he loses the person he once was, the person focused on school and becoming a faculty member, and becomes the person which lead him to the climax of the novel. Without this rebirth, the Invisible Man would never have had the experience to come to the realizations which he came to at the end of the novel. //__Pages 569-570__// This section is limited to the dream he has at the end of the novel. All of the people who had been significant in his suppression were portrayed in the dream. The dream speaks about illusion and plays upon blindness and being able to see. It speaks about how he will no longer be blind, how he will no longer be imprisoned by the views and actions of those who are there in his dream. He won't let others free him when they offer; instead, he makes it evident that he will free himself. When his vision is red with pain and he can no longer see, he states that he //"can see that which I couldn't see."// This relates to the theme regarding blindness and how blindness is necessary for the climax and the epiphany regarding self knowledge. It is also reminiscent of the //Oedipus// trilogy, where the one who was able to tell the future was blind, and when Oedipus realized the truth, he blinded himself. Similarly, the Invisible Man just came in contact with the truth and is now physically blind but can truly see what is going on. This scene, although a dream, is significant because not only are his truths often found in dreams, but it shows the climax and fall of the novel. It shows that he will wake up and see everything; he will begin a new life with the knowledge his dream gave him.

__//Pages 574-576//__ The section restricted by these pages is the most important scene in the entire novel. It is the scene where the Invisible Man comes to the realizations which the entire book has been leading up to. He begins by speaking about affirming the principle on which the country was built instead of affirming the men. This is speaking about fighting for what is right instead of fighting for those who say it's right. He comes the realization that he cannot rely on those who say what is right from wrong to hold the true beliefs in their hands. He has to rely on //his// beliefs and the validity of those beliefs instead of the validity of other people. He comes to the conclusion that his grandfather meant that he should affirm the principle and that's what he eventually learned to do. He then speaks about how his grandfather told him to "agree 'em to death and destruction.' In response to this he states that they were their own death and destruction as well as being the death and destruction of the black man, though they saw the black men fall and not themselves. He then comes to the conclusion that it is the person who creates his or her own destiny. //"But deep down you come to suspect that you're yourself to blame, and you stand naked and shivering before the millions of eyes who look through you unseeingly."// The Invisible Man realizes that he is to blame for where he is right now; he can't blame the whites, he can't blame fate. He can only blame himself. And in the end, he does. His destiny, his invisibility, is due to his decisions and actions. He continues on to speak about the next phase of life, a train of thought which moves into imagination versus reality. //"I'm invisible, not blind."// This shows something else he has learned and brings back the theme of blindness; finally, he is not being associated with blindness. He is considered to not be blind, though everyone else is blind to him. Where he was once blind to the truths of the world, others are blind to his truths and who he is. This section brings into play the major conflict of man vs destiny as well as man vs self. He speaks about how a person is to blame for where they are, which brings back the question of whether or not humans control their own destiny. This also brings out the conflict regarding man vs self, because when man is contemplating blaming oneself for where they end up, it implies internal conflict of where to place the blame before the blame is previously placed. Thematically, this section addresses the finality of several of the aforementioned themes. It addresses the role of a relative in the development of the character; this section begins with a reflection on the meaning behind the grandfather's words which fueled the entire novel. In this section, the Invisible Man finally comes to peace with these words and realizes how his grandfather meant for him to live his life. Blindness was also addressed in this novel; he was blind not only to his faults but also to the way of the world until this moment. It is during this section that he sees the truths that were hiding from him throughout the novel; it is during this section that he knows what he has to do with his life. He is no longer the blind, ignorant man he once was. And his blindness preceding the event only made his epiphanies, which are evident in this section, that much more forceful in meaning, and now, he can truly see. Lastly, the words of the fool, of his grandfather, are finally shown to be true. He realized exactly what his grandfather meant, and realized the truth behind the words.