Invisible Man Essay: Identity and Invisibility -- Invisible Man Essays

Identity and invisibility in Invisible Man It is not inevitable to be a racist to impose invisibility upon another person. Ignoring someone or acting as if we had not seen him or her, because they make us feel uncomfortable, is the identical as pretending that he or she does not exist. Invisibility is what the main character of Ralph Ellisons Invisible Man called it when others would not recognize or accommodate him as a person. The narrator describes his invisibility by saying, I am invisible ... simply because people refuse to see me. Throughout the Prologue, the narrator likens his invisibility to such(prenominal) things as the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows. He later explains that he is neither dead nor in a state of hang up animation, but rather is in a state of hibernation. (Ellison 6) This invisibility is something that the narrator has come to accept and even embrace, saying that he did not become animate until he discovered his invisibility. (E llison 7) However, as we read on in the story, it is apparent that the invisibility that the narrator experiences, goes much further than just white people unwilling to acknowledge him for who he is. While searching for his true identity, the narrator frequently encounters different people who each see him differently. Who the hell am I? is the question that sticks with him as he realizes that nobody, not even he, understands who he really is. At some points in his life, identities are given to him, even as he is still move to find himself. While in the Brotherhood, he was given a new identity which was written on a slip of paper. (Ellison 309) He was told to starting opinion of himself by that name ... so that eve... ... Cliffs, N.J. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1971. 45-63. Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. raw York The Modern Library, 1994. Holland, Laurence B. Ellison in Black and White Confession, Violence and Rhetoric in Invisible Man. Black Fiction New Studies in the Afro-American Novel since 1945. Ed. A. Robert Lee. London Vision Press, 1980. 54-73. Klein, Marcus. Ralph Ellison. After Alienation American Novels in Mid-Century. Cleveland World Pub., 1964. 71-146. Langman, F.H. Reconsidering Invisible Man. The Critical Review. 18 (1976) 114-27. Lieber, Todd M. Ralph Ellison and the Metaphor of Invisibility in Black Literary Tradition. American Quarterly. Mar. 1972 86-100. Major, Clarence. American Poetry Review. Nov/Dec. (1973) 17. Morris, Wright. The World Below. The New York Times Book Review 13 Apr.1952 5.