Ralph+Ellison's+Invisible+Man

**//Invisible Man//**
Please respond to **one** of the following questions. Afterwards, write your name and grade. Thanks, Mr. Moore.

1. What is the relationship between Ellison’s Narrator invisibility and other people’s blindness—both involuntary and willful? Is the protagonist’s invisibility due solely to his skin color? Is it only the novel’s white characters that refuse to see him?

The theme of blindness appears frequently in the novel //Invisible Man//, beginning with the opening scene of the Battle Royal, in which the IM’s blindfold is a symbol of his naïveté. Still believing in his “destiny” according to the white man, the IM attends college on a scholarship; some of his illusions are shattered during his disastrous visit to the Golden Day. After this debacle, and as the IM apprehensively waits for Bledsoe to decide his fate, he listens to a speech from the Rev Homer A Barbee: a panegyric on the Founder’s mission. Yet the narrator learns at the end of the speech that Barbee is blind. Barbee’s blindness represents his sycophantic nature and his lack of self-awareness. With “distorted vision” (147) himself, the IM is soon after forced out of his secure college environment to New York City, where his true search for his identity begins. The narrator assimilates himself into the Brotherhood, but the eventual revelation of Brother Jack’s glass eye again reinforces the fact that in this movement the IM is not seen as an individual, but instead as a tool for the “scientific use” of the Party. Later, though, after the blackness of his underground hibernation, in which he is for a time “paralyzed in every part but his eyes,” (568) the narrator begins to see—to understand—that he wishes to rejoin society, and that he is a man of contradictions—one who both “hates and loves” (580) -- but even so who wishes to play a “socially responsible” role. Anna Smith

The theme of invisibility, so it seems, exist only as a direct result of blindness in //The invisible Man.// The theme of blindness describes the characters such as the white men who gave the narrator his scholarship. Although, they gave him a scholarship they severely humiliated him first by making him "battle royal" where he was blind folded along with other blacks and told to fight one another. These white men made him feel "invisible" and feel as if his opinions and beliefs were not important. Dr. Bledsoe, a black man, is the epitome of one of these "blind" characters he expelled the narrator for not showing Mr. Norton a cultured part of the campus when showing him around. This shows that Dr. Bledsoe wishes to keep some things "invisible." He then sent the narrator to New York to look for a job and wrote him seven letters of reccomendations, however the letters actually said he was dishonest and worthless. Invisibility has nothing to do with skin color; it is a way of being removed from society and can happen to anyone not only blacks. -Payne 10th grade

The codependent themes of blindness and invisibility are pervasive throughout __Invisible Man__. The novel traces the events of a black man struggling to find his identity in a 1930's predominantly white ruled society. The narrator describes himself throughout the novel as "an invisible man". He further explains that the source of his invisibility is not a genetic mishap, but rather an inherent perception embedded within the foundations of the society that he lives in. The invisibility cast upon the narrator is a social stigma that essentially originates from the color of his skin and represents an inherent blindness found in the whites of his society. A social stigma that all African Americans of the time were burdened with. Yet, rather than fight the preconceived social conformities of the society, the narrator seems to conform to the whites' socially accepted ways of life. The narrator, himself, seems to shed light on his own blindness. For instance, when the wealthy white men force him to fight in a battle royal and then pursue to scoff at and ignore his eloquent speech, he does not get angry or tag them as racist buffoons, but rather accepts their scholarship with much gratitude and thanks. He is not able to see through them at this early point in the novel, and see the satisfaction that the men received by making a mockery out of him and a group of other black boys. This blindness and invisibility, though, is not only confined to the white man's mind. Dr. Bledsoe proves a more than satisfactory example of a black man that proves to be blind and perceive some blacks as invisible. After the narrator returns Mr. Norton to the college following their tumultuous afternoon drive, Dr. Bledsoe is irate and scolds the narrator. He exclaims that the narrator ought to have shown the white man an //idealized// version of black life. This statement reveals Dr. Bledsoe's desire to keep certain elements of black life invisible and perhaps his own innate blindness towards certain African Americans. Henry Oelsner - 12th Grade

In Ralph Ellison's novel //Invisible Man,// racism during the early 20th century is explored using various themes. Going along with the title of the book invisibility is a major theme that our narrator is faced with. The narrator himself feels invisible as a result of the color of his skin. Immediately in the first chapter the reader is faced with a scene in which another major theme, blindness is incorporated in which he, along with a group of teenagers are blindfolded and told to brawl as savages. As the brouhaha eventually terminates the narrator is forced into electrocution as the bystanders jeer the black young men. Society continues on with ignorance and blindness in an attempt to block and ignore the truth and the real image of racism. In New York city the narrator is thrown into a large environment full of prejudice. With extensive search for work, the narrator is often turned down, and the scholarship that is given shows how racist the whites in society actually were. The themes of blindness and invisibility often coincide in Ellison's novel. Yet, it is not only the whites that are portrayed as the blind men as Brother Jack is revealed to have a glass eye. However the narrator ultimately realizes that in order to make an impact some actions must not be in secret; he realizes that he must emerge out of hiding and become a visible man to make a change. George Phillips-12

The themes of blindness and invisibility go hand in hand in Ralph Ellison's // Invisible Man //. The narrator becomes invisible when he realizes that society around him has become blind to the problem of racism in society. Even the narrator suffers from blindness. In the opening chapter of the book he is blindfolded and forced to fight other black teenagers and then is ruthlessly electrocuted while trying to pick up gold coins. He is then given a scholarship to a black college but is blind to the fact that this scholarship is only a way of mocking him more and the obvious racism of the white men. Another example of blindness is Brother Jack. Brother Jack is revealed to wear a glass eye which reveals him to literally blind and figuratively blind to the fact that much of The Brotherhood's ideology advocates more violence and will not solve the problem of racism in Harlem but make it worse. At the end of the book the narrator realizes that while being invisible can hiding from society can have its advantages it is necessary to be visible to actually make a change in the world. In this sense the narrator is reborn and plans to reveal himself to society.

He becomes blind when he finds out how ignorant and "blind" society is regarding the topic of racism. The narrator is blind to the fact that the scholarship given to him was given to him in a way that mocked him as a black man. The fact that it was to a black college shows how racist the white men in the society are. Brother Jacks has a glass eye, meaning he is actually blind not just blind in the way of being ignorant. The Brotherhood does not actually fix anything or work to fix anything beacuse they use violence to attempt to "solve"the problem. I do not think that his invisibility is based solely on hi sskin color. i think that anyone couldve been pegged as he was. Cameron Segal 12

2. Is the reader meant to identify with the narrator? To sympathize with him? How do you think Ellison himself sees his protagonist? Does the narrator’s invisibility go beyond just black and white? Can people in general, of all colors and races, identify with the narrator?

It does indeed seem that Ellison wrote this book in such a way that was meant to identify the reader as the narrator. Therefore, the book is less about reading one man's tales and more about putting yourself in his shoes, sympathizing with him, and even empathizing with his troubles and obstacles. This is precisely why the narrator is unnamed. Ellison meant for there to be a connection between the narrator and the reader; one that would allow for the reader to understand the hardships the narrator has faced and compare them with his or her own hardships. Ellison seems to look upon the narrator with sympathetic feelings. From the Trueblood/Golden Day incident to the paint factory, Ellison highlights the narrator's naivete but also expresses a sort of forgiveness because he, Ellison, understands that situations can be out of control at times and he knows that the narrator has only the best intentions at heart. The narrator's invisibility certainly does go beyond black and white; it applies to anyone who has been considered an underdog. Anyone who has been stereotyped or been the victim of a grudge, even if it wasn't their fault, is able to relate to the cruelty that the narrator has faced. So, yes, anyone can identify with the narrator. It seems Ellison wrote this book not for the sole purpose of highlighting the unjust attitudes of white men towards black, but instead it was written for anyone who has suffered at the hands of others. It is almost as if this book was written to support those who feel down and out because of others cruelty, and to provide a comfort that promises there are other people who have, who are, and who will suffer at the hands of others, and that the most you can do is push on as the grandfather pointed out: "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". Chappell Price, 12th grade