Invisibility In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

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As presented in the novel's title, invisibility is a main theme in Invisible Man, and its meaning on multiple levels. In the beginning of the story, the narrator introduces his invisibility, and explains that he is only invisible because his peers don't bother to acknowledge him. To elaborate on this, the narrator struggles to be seen as an individual by others in his community and is constantly identified by his grouping, whether it be as a black man, a southerner, or a member of the “Brotherhood”. This theme of “invisibility” is represented all throughout the novel and highlights the alienation from the culture that he is living in. Other examples of is invisibility to his society would be him living underground, invisible to the world, even …show more content…
To most of the people he encounters in his story, he isn't a person, he's a representation. Eventually, he begins to experiment with invisibility when he disguises himself for protection against Ras. He is mistaken for Rinehart, a man with multiple identities. The “invisible man” realizes that Rinehart has made the most out of his invisibility and considers emulating his persona for his own life. This is a prime explanation for why the story ends with the “invisible man” disappearing underground to contemplate his …show more content…
The invisible man attributes his invisibility to his struggle to be able to define himself outside of the influence of others. Almost everyone he encounters triesto tell him who he is and how he should be. At the college, Dr. Bledsoe tells the narrator that he should smile and lie to please white people. In New York City, he runs into a girl named Mary who places her hope for the future on him and her generation. She tells him, that he needs to be someone who goes on to do great things. And lastly, the Brotherhood attempts to redefine him by assigning him a new name and identity and by intensely training him to make sure that he adopts the organization's philosophies and
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