Invisible Man By Ralph Ellison Rhetorical Devices

Imagery Guide
Kushal Shah
Masks:
“‘Oh, damn! What I mean is, do you believe it possible for us, the two of us, to throw off the mask of custom and manners that insulate man from man, and converse in naked honesty and frankness?’”(Ellison 186).

This quote was said by Mr.Emerson during the narrator and his exchange over the narrator's letter. Mr. Emerson wants to tell the narrator that Dr.Bledsoe’s letter says that the narrator can never return to college. This quote clearly represents the mask since Mr.Emerson acknowledges that talking to a stranger is difficult primarily because it is uncustomary to be truly honest with a stranger. He has to put on a “mask” to censor his true thoughts. This is why it took Mr.Emerson so long to tell the narrator

He says that the invisible man is an automaton to God, Mr.Norton. Right before the vet said this Mr.Norton said that his destiny relied on the success of the invisible man. The vet was clearly inspired by this saying that the invisible man's success would only be another check on a card. The vet’s opinion is that Mr.Norton does not see the invisible man as a man, just as a physical manifestation of his own achievement. While this quote has can be applied to many other purposes, Ellison added this quote primarily to depict black experiences in America. Ellison want to get across this idea that the black population is not equal still. They may be treated the same, but mentally the white folk only consider them as an achievement. The white people helped the southern black population not for the betterment of society, but for their own satisfaction and the feeling of moral

On the bus to New York the invisible man talks to the vet about his job prospects in New York. The vets caretaker, Crenshaw, asks the vet about his repeated use of “they” in all of their previous conversations. The vet’s response was the quote above. He says that “they” is the white folk. He also mentions that the white people are authority, gods, and fate. Then he goes on to say that the white folk control you just like someone would control a puppet, through strings. Clearly since Ellison compared white people to gods who control others just like a puppet, he wants to get across the message that the black population is not independent and are still servants to the rich white people. This relates to his purpose to chronicle the black experience in