im_review_2

Invisible Man was published as a whole in 1952. 
 * __ Invisible Man __**
 * By: Ralph Ellison ** 

Slavery was moderately abolished by Lincoln’s **__Emancipation Proclamation__** of 1863, which did not outlaw slavery between North and South in an attempt to keep those states from not taking sides in the war. Reconstruction was a centralized policy to persuade the inclusion of freed African Americans into the national; political, economic and social framework. In the 1870s, the North had grown weary of the enterprise and more concerned with facilitating industrial and corporate development. Prejudice against African Americans in the North severely limited their employment opportunities while local laws and social practices in the former slave states intimidated African Americans, and effectively locked them from participation in the marketplace. Local laws like the Black Codes and Jim Crow as well as brutal Ku Klux Klan violence effectively prevented many African Americans from voting, working or living where they would have chosen. Booker T. Washington reached a wide audience with his message of African-American self-reliance and a seeming acceptance of the segregation boundaries in place throughout the United States. __Invisible Man__ was published just before the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s began to gain momentum. When the novel was written, the admired press used the term Negro to name African American. While intending a kind of respect, the term “Negro” is a clear enforcement of separate identity that included social, political, and cultural implications but that was summed up in the simplistic description of one’s skin color as black or “negro.” The term “colored” also implied this difference. It depicts the segregationist practices of denying African Americans access to stores, lunch counters, and parks, as well as designating areas on buses or specific “colored” drinking fountains, separate from “white fountains,” where African Americans were forced to drink.  The story demonstrates a touch of a sense of white racial superiority and violence that extended back to the practice of slavery. The Black Arts Movement in the 1960s is one example of the way in which African Americans used the term Black to symbolize a cultural and communitarian solidarity and power. While its capitalized form is accepted today, the word “Black” can imply a clearer demarcation between people than exists culturally or biologically. While the forces of racism and prejudice have often enforced severe lines of demarcation in the social world, the reality of people’s lives is often difficult to consider. 
 * __Historical Context __[[image:http://www.lopezbooks.com/images/kl/023194.jpg align="right"]] **
 * **1934:** In October, a conference is held by representatives of the NAACP and the American Fund for [[image:animate3.gif align="left"]]  Public Service to plan a coordinated legal campaign against segregation and discrimination. The director is named Charles H. Houston, Vice-Dean of the Howard University Lay School.
 * **1938:** The Harlem Suitcase Theatre opens with Langston Hughes' play entitles "Don't You Want to be Free?" The play stars Robert Earl Jones who eventually fathers acclaimed actor James Earl Jones.
 * **1940:** About eighty-seven percent of African Americans living in the city of New York would have to move in order to achieve racial integration.
 * **1941:** The Committee on the Participation of Negroes in the National Defense Program meets with President Roosevelt.
 * **1952:** Racial segregation is legal, upheld by the Supreme Court decision of 1896, Plessy v. Ferguson. Schools, housing and employment and businesses in the South maintain separate facilities for Black and white people.
 * **1954:** The Supreme Court reverses the Plessy v. Ferguson decision with the decision, Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas. Declaring that separate facilities are inherently unequal, the court ordered the desegregation of schools throughout the country.

Literary Movement  **__The Harlem Renaissance & __****__Impressionism __**  ** At the beginning of the novel, the Invisible Man is asked to leave his college for one year; however, Mr. Bledsoe, the college's president, has instructed that he be expelled from the college forever. The Invisible Man leaves the college, not knowing that he will never be allowed back, and goes to the place where he knows he will have opportunities. This place is Harlem, New York. ** ** When he first arrives, he comments on the people of Harlem. He notices that in the "South everyone knew you, but coming North was a jump into the unknown". He is appalled by the site of an African-American traffic cop directing traffic in a busy street; he cannot believe that the white people of Harlem actually listen to him and follow his orders. ** ** He goes to integrated movie theaters and integrated clubs. It was these "musical revues, small nightclubs with singing and dancing" that drew many whites into Harlem. **<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> ** <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">On his way to find a job, he meets a man on the street peddling blueprints; the man talks to him about how Harlem can have a profound effect on someone. The Invisible Man should have paid more attention to the man. The man warns him that he will become just like everyone else and go to the clubs and be a part of the nightlife of Harlem; however, he does not think this possible at the time. **<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> ** <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">He calls himself "Jack the Bear," and he accordingly refers to Harlem as "The Bear's Den." **<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> ** <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">Toward the end of the novel, the Invisible Man is mistaken for Rinehart, a man who seems to be a significant figure in Harlem. He wears a white hat and dark glasses. Rinehart is also a runner for the notorious "numbers game." The numbers game was like a lottery; however, it was mainly only played by African Americans hoping to get rich quick. ** <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">** Impressionism occurs when close up a painting appears all jumbled, but far away it forms a complete picture. The idea that everything is not always what it appears to be is in the **__ Invisible Man ____. __** Invisible Man continually finds that his first impression is not always right. From the very beginning of the novel, Invisible Man finds that he is wrong about things. He believes that he had been invited to give his graduation speech to a group of prominent white men. When he arrives, he ends up getting blindfolded and being forced to fight other black men. Throughout the novel, Invisible Man's first impression of things is repeatedly wrong. ** <span style="COLOR: rgb(192,22,22); FONT-FAMILY: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif"> __<span style="FONT-SIZE: 26pt; COLOR: rgb(192,22,22); LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Impact','sans-serif'">Major Characters __<span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">
 * <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">** The Harlem Renaissance was an era of outstanding literary power and creativity that took place in the 1920s. The movement centered in the vast black ghetto of Harlem, in New York city, where aspiring black artists, writers, and musicians gathered, sharing their experiences and providing mutual encouragement. ** <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> ||
 * <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">The term "Impressionism" came about in 1874. A group of painters who called themselves an "association of painters, sculptors, and engravers" opened an art show in the old studio of the photographer named Nadar. The goal was to capture more the essence of nature and a sense of the outdoors. Artists would mix more than one color together and put it on their brushes. **<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">
 * Invisible Man ** - He goes from being a young boy watching his grandfather die to becoming a high school graduate. He is perpetually worried by his grandfather’s last words. It becomes clear that Invisible Man is naive during the Battle Royal scene. Invisible Man is blind to reality, and throughout the novel he struggles to remove the blindfolds.


 * Mr. Norton ** - He is a rich white man and an important trustee of the college. He claims that I.M. is his fate, meets Trueblood, feels faint, and wants whiskey. It is implied that he and his daughter were lovers. He is one of the trustees whom Invisible Man is driving around. When the blame for his injuries falls upon Invisible Man, he half-heartedly attempts to clear up the misunderstanding, but to no avail


 * Trueblood ** - He is a shameful man in the black community because he fathered his daughter's child.


 * Dr. Bledsoe ** - The president at the school. He is black, bald, but influential with wealthy whites and of great importance. In this chapter he gets angry at Invisible Man and proves to be a threat to Invisible Man's college existence.


 * Yam Vendor: ** This man is more significant than at first glance. The vendor interrupts Invisible Man's venting of frustration and presents Invisible Man with elements of his past. These yams, traditionally southern, spark thought leading to the realization of Bledsoe's disingenuousness and of Invisible Man's own identity.


 * Elderly Couple: ** These two do not make a great contribution to the dialogue of the story, but the two stimulate Invisible Man to act on his emotions and voice his thoughts on the dispossession of the Negro race.


 * Brother Jack: ** Brother Jack belongs to the Brotherhood that apparently works for the rights of minorities and other repressed people. Brother Jack has good intentions and treats the Invisible Man decently, but he is very ideological. The Brotherhood's philosophy and Invisible Man's philosophy conflict and cause Invisible Man to refuse the job.


 * Tod Clifton ** - His death results in huge emotional problems for Invisible Man as well as all of the children in the youth movement, which he led. His funeral unites the Harlem community and serves as a symbol of the chaos and unrest which filtrates into the borough.

**__<span style="FONT-SIZE: 26pt; COLOR: rgb(112,48,160); LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Minya Nouvelle'"> Central Conflict __**<span style="FONT-SIZE: 26pt; COLOR: rgb(112,48,160); LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Minya Nouvelle'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Franklin Gothic Medium','sans-serif'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Franklin Gothic Medium','sans-serif'">The Invisible Man depicts the role of African-Americans and struggle in American society; it portrays the blindness that drove the nation to prejudice, and racial pluralism as a discussion for recognizing the interconnection between all members of society regardless of race. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Franklin Gothic Medium','sans-serif'">The Invisible Man struggles to find his place in society. Throughout the novel, he finds himself in "power-struggles". At the beginning of the novel, we see the narrator as a student in an African-American college. He plays a large role in the school as an upstanding student. Later, we see the Invisible Man once again as an important member of an organization known as the Brotherhood. In both situations he is working, indirectly, to have a place in a changing world of homogony. In each circumstance he finds himself deceived in a "white man's world
 * Rinehart - ** He is a character that never actually makes an appearance in the story. All that we know of him we learn about by what others say of him. The Invisible Man is confused for this surreal character when he wears dark sunglasses in Harlem. By walking around Harlem as Rinehart, I.M. realizes that this man, who everyone is mistaking him for, takes on many different identities. These include a pimp and a preacher. I.M. likes the idea of the many identities of Rinehart because it allows him to be whoever he wants to be, but at the same time he also finds the character of Rinehart to be manipulative and corrupt. This character deals with the theme of I.M.'s lack of identity.


 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 36pt; COLOR: rgb(0,176,80); LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Mufferaw">[[image:http://www.320by480.com/images/wallpapers/ce1bmtjpw.jpg width="269" height="324" align="left"]] __Central Themes__ **<span style="FONT-SIZE: 36pt; COLOR: rgb(0,176,80); LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Mufferaw">

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 15pt; COLOR: rgb(32,187,224); LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'">**__The Role of Racism in creating a lack of identity__** **__:__** <span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: rgb(8,7,7); LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'">Racism is a large contributing factor in the I.M's obscured identity. The racial attitudes of others let people see I.M. as they want to see him. Each community that he is a part of in the story uses him for a different purpose. For example, when he is part of the Brotherhood, he is used as someone that other black people could relate to. By using the I.M. as the leader of their movement, they make him a pawn in their ultimate plan, which is to create conflict within the black community. This is when I.M. realizes that he is "invisible" and that people only see him as they want to see him. At first he embraces this invisibility to try to throw people off by accepting this treatment, but he ultimately decides in the end that he must force people to acknowledge him and remove their prejudices. <span style="COLOR: rgb(225,9,33); FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif">__<span style="COLOR: rgb(222,18,18)"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; COLOR: rgb(255,0,3)">Theme of Stereotypes: __<span style="COLOR: rgb(222,18,18)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(3,2,2)">Throughout the story, the I.M. is victim of racial prejudice and stereotypes. The african american people that I.M. interacts with all have different ways to deal with these stereotypes. <span style="COLOR: rgb(8,7,7)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(3,2,2)"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif"> They all have their own idea of the way that a black man should act and what role the african american community plays in society. These people all think that if someone acts contrary to their beliefs, he is betraying the race. For example, the I.M. constantly remembers the advice that his grandfather gave him. He said that in order to overcome the stereotypes and prejudices from whites, one must show servility to the white community. Ras the Exhorter, on the other hand, says that the black people must rise against the white community and show that they are superior. Both points of view believe that those who disagree are traitors to the race. = = __ Power and Freedom within a Society __ : As a black member of society, the Invisible Man experiences the oppression of stereotypes within the society he lives in. First, at his school he is charged with driving around Norton, a wealthy trustee. The narrator believes in trying to further the aims of his college and attempts to impress Norton by taking care of him when he is sick. Unfortunately, the place he pull over to find him Whiskey is a brothel filled with unruly veterans who shock Norton so he wants to be taken back to the college grounds. On this trip, Norton is infatuated with a man named Trueblood who impregnated his daughter. While this act is considered horrific to the black community, white people of status seem to find it interesting and often ask Trueblood to tell his story. In this way, although white individuals may want to fulfill these acts themselves, they cannot because their society doesn’t permit them. However, they see the black community as inferior and because of this they are not punished for such acts. In some way, they are given the freedom to do what they want without as many negative repercussions. The brotherhood also showed us an instance of power struggle. The narrator thought he was working towards a better, equal community with the white men. In truth, the group he was associated with was eventually responsible for mass chaos in Harlem. While the brotherhood recognized the Invisible Man's power of speech, they eventually tossed him aside for their more malicious aims. __<span style="FONT-SIZE: 26pt; COLOR: rgb(255,51,153); LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Hurry Up'"> Important Quotations __
 * __<span style="FONT-SIZE: 15pt; COLOR: rgb(255,153,51); LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'">Theme of self-discovery: __**<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'">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.

"//<span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'">I am an invisible man //" This is the opening sentence of the book that refers the reader to the title. It becomes clear that the title refers to the narrator, and this narrator has no uncertainties or misinterpretations about his status. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'">" //<span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'">...there are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers //" The "sleepwalkers" are society's people who ignore blacks and make IM invisible. Waking them is to be noticed and, as he insinuates, be punished.

<span style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'"> //<span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'">“take this prize and keep it well...some day it will be filled with important papers that will help shape the destiny of your people". //<span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'"> The briefcase becomes an important symbol in the novel. Over time, Invisible Man places numerous items inside it, and its contents become significant.

//<span style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'">"White! It's the purest white that can be found. Nobody makes a paint any whiter. This batch right here is heading for a national monument!" // This is symbolic of how our country searched to cover its true self with the purest white it could find and ignore the black that was also a part of our nation.

<span style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'"> //<span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'">"They got all this machinery, but that ain't everything; we are the machines inside the machine". //<span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'"> This is a basically a summary of the machine motif. It says that the poor black workers are the ones that allow everything to run as it does. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'">"If you're white, you're right". This quotation is representative of the black view of the white society of the time.

<span style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'"> //<span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'">'They're my birthmark,' I said. 'I yam what I am!” //<span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'"> Invisible Man makes this statement to the yam vendor while asking for more yams. This quotation shows Invisible Man's realization of his self identity.

<span style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'"> //<span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'">"a heavy stone, the weight of a mountain" on his shoulders and his "new shoes hurt his feet" //<span style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'"> When Invisible Man gets off the subway, he realizes that his new position is not what it first seemed. He feels uncomfortable and he questions the Brotherhood. He is not sure of his feelings about the Brotherhood and what he is supposed to do; therefore, "his shoes hurt his feet."

=__Pivotal Scenes.... __

=__THE NARRATOR'S GRANDFATHER The very beginning scene of the novel can be considered pivotal. The first chapter is pivotal because it sets a tone and recurring theme that appears repeatedly throughout the novel, In the first chapter, the narrator speaks of his interaction with his grandfather on his death bed. As the grandfather nears death, he speaks bitterly about the narrator's father and himself. This is because he feels like he is a traitor to his fellow black men. The grandfather exhibited meekness toward racist whites and urged his father to "agree 'em to death and destruction." The grandfather's words about his treachery and his feelings as a traitor toward black men repeatedly haunt the narrator throughout the novel. __ = __THE BATTLE ROYALE In the early pages of the novel, the narrator takes part in a "battle royale" with other black men. The narrator was chosen to recite his high school class speech at a gathering of the community's white citizens. However, upon arrival, the narrator begins is forced to engage in a battle with the other African American men at the gathering. This was the "entertainment" for the night. After the battle, the boys are urged to scramble on a rug that is covered with loose change and crumpled dollar bills. This scene is pivotal because it exemplifies the way that young African American boys were used as savages simply to provide entertainment for the white citizens. During the speech, the narrator makes a mistake regarding social equality, which the crowd seriously disagrees with. The narrator then corrects himself (to their pleasure). This is pivotal because it is the first time that the narrator realizes that white citizens will see him as no more than a simple black man, or as an invisible man.__

THE GOLDEN DAY During the third chapter of the novel, the narrator is instructed to take Norton, a wealthy white trustee of the college that the narrator attends, on a tour of the surrounding area. Norton has fallen unconscious and the narrator must revive him with whiskey. However, the bartender refuses to let the narrator carry out the liquor. Norton is then taken inside and revived. In the brothel, they encounter a delirious war veteran who claims to be a doctor. However, the veteran makes a mockery of Norton and his involvement with the college. This angers Norton and demands the narrator to return him to the college. This scene is considered pivotal because the narrator tries to impress Norton to help further his status as a student at the college. However, Norton is extremely offended. This eventually leads to the narrator's expulsion and his further search for an identity throughout the novel.

THE NARRATOR'S "REBIRTH" After taking a job with a paint factory, the narrator encounters an extremely horrible explosion. After the accident, the narrator awakes in the hospital to see a doctor with a "glowing third eye." The doctors then attempt to heal the narrator by implementing a series of electrical shocks to the narrator's body (meant to replace a lobotomy). After the procedure, the doctor asks the narrator his name. However, he is unable to remember his name. This scene is pivotal because the awakening in the hospital signifies a rebirth. The narrator has no recollection of his name or identity. This rebirth signifies the narrator's continuation into another phase of his life. After losing his job at the factory, the narrator can now take on a new identity.

THE NARRATOR AS THE BROTHERHOOD'S SPOKESPERSON During this period in the novel, the narrator begins to study the Brotherhood's ideology intensely for months. The narrator is then elected as the chief spokesperson for the Harlem District. This is considered pivotal because this is yet another role or identity that the narrator inherits. Throughout the novel, the Brotherhood causes many riots in the streets in response to racism.

THE NARRATOR FALLS AND REMAINS IN A MANHOLE At the end of the novel, Harlem falls into mass chaos, resulting from the work of Ras, who encourages the violent destruction. The narrator then realizes that the Brotherhood had planned the race riots all along. The narrator tries to retrieve his briefcase from a burning building but encounters Ras, who aims to kill the narrator. He tries to explain that the black community has turned against itself and has fallen into a trap that the Brotherhood had planned all along. The narrator flees and falls into a manhole. In order to obtain light, the narrator must burn the contents of his briefcase (light is a recurring motif throughout the novel). This is a pivotal scene because the narrator comes to his ultimate realization that he is an "invisible man." He is invisible because he had allowed his identity to be limited as a result of the prejudice and racism of others. He realizes that his own identity, unchanged by those around him, is the ultimate key to freedom. He realizes and accepts the fact that he is an invisible man.

__<span style="FONT-SIZE: 28pt; COLOR: rgb(0,255,153); LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Hurry Up'">

REFERENCES __<span style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'"> 1.)  reference   .howstuffworks.com/ invisible-man-encyclopedia.htm   2.)  Ellison, Ralph. __ Invisible Man __. New York: Random House Inc., 1952. 3.) __Invisible Man__: Major Themes, Wikipedia, [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_Man</span]> 4.) Rovira, Carlito. "Recontruction and African American Political Power." __Socialism and Liberation__ 05 002 2007 5) "Harlem Renaissance," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007 [|http://encarta.msn.com] © 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 6) Reuben, Paul. "Chapter 9: Harlem Renaissance - A Brief Introduction ." __PAL: Perspectives in American Literature - A Research and Reference Guide - An Ongoing Project__. FEB 2008. 3 Mar 2008 <[|http://web.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap9/9intro.html>.] 7) Cultural Heritage Initiatives for Community Outreach (CHICO), "Harlem 1900-1940." __Schomburg Exhibition__. 29 Apr 2008 <http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/Harlem/index.html>.