Invisibility, And Identity In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man perfectly personifies the struggle of being black in America. Every single action from the words omitted or added or the characters actions have a underlying meaning that allows for interpretation and the seeing of several worlds at once, which can be related to the Dante’s Inferno like high the narrator had in the prologue. It seems that the narrator is actually a personification of the erasure Black history and culture, and the creation of instead an American identity. Through several key components: race, invisibility and identity we are able to have a deeper understanding of the racial struggles that were extremely common in the 1940’s and 50’s. Young man, Boy, Field Nigger, brother, son, Ginger-colored

The mechanical man!”. Ralph Ellison starts his story form the end, allowing us to understand a more deeper meaning for the character before he becomes aware of his invisibility. But I personally believe that his invisibility changes throughout the story at the beginning I believe that is more or so a generalization of the stereotypes of black people becoming nothing more than a stain on the American flag. But later on in the story it is the covering up of his own blackness and hating the others who he has deemed lower on the black list than he is. From how Trueblood lived on the outskirts of town, hidden from sight for his actions to working at Liberty Paints, a place that specializes in covering things in white and living at men’s house. The narrator is living in his mind; Trueblood being a personification of the narrators less than satisfactory actions. Liberty Paints showing his struggle between covering up his identity and his blackness still finding a way to shine through, “a gray tinge glowed through the whiteness”, or even Brockton the black man hidden from view who is the foundation of liberty paints but will never get the recognition he deserves. The Men’s House showcases every single which he has tried to hide from himself and other with religion, fancy clothes, menial jobs, and education, the reverend being the prime example a Bledsoe look alike who may

Every single description of color when related to white or black is a description of the environment the book is set in. “The good white bread of breakfast, the rolls dripping with yellow butter that I had slipped into my pocket so often to be munched on later in my room with wild blackberry jam from home”. (136). At that moment, he was still under the veil of his negro college. The one that was controlled by the good white trustees as a way to make them feel less guilty for their actions. His education being used as a way for him to disassociate himself from the wild blacks back at home and his southern heritage. Even at the battle royal in chapter, one that emphasizes the high standing position of the whites and the latter being equal to dirt or a token for a nearby car dealership. We see the description of the blindfolds as white, pertaining to the blindness forced upon not only the narrator but every single black person through propaganda society and media. We can see this evident even in Harlem where the windows were filled with skin lightening cream. Similar to Liberty Paints, perfect white, Optic White, “so white you can paint a chunka coal and you’d have to crack it open with a sledge hammer to prove it wasn’t white clear through” And them covering up black culture, to make it “American”. “If you’re white, you’re