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Invisible Man Rhetorical Analysis

614 Words3 Pages

Identifying the Invisible Man

“I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me" said Ralph Ellison.The narrator identifies himself as invisible because others do not see him.When the narrator is around whites ,they see only his surroundings not him. In Invisible man, the narrator's invisibility is due to his skin color. In society,skin color can impose many limitations on the things a man wants to accomplish, and how he wants to be seen.The narrator is not the only African American that have endured the limitations of racist stereotypes. The complex attitudes in this narrative is the disadvantages and advantages of being invisible. In Invisible Man, the narrator represents Blacks in society.Blacks are not noticed because of their skin complexion.According to the text, “Nor is my invisibility exactly a matter of a biochemical accident to my epidermis” from this we can look at the syntax, it is well written which indicates even though a black can be well educated , his skin color makes him invisible in the eyes of society.Everyone wants to be seen but skin complexion is …show more content…

He includes many different perspectives as to show how one is confined to ideologies that society placed. “Once I saw a prizefighter and a yokel” this signifies two types of fighters. The prizefighter is amazingly scientific and swift while the yokel was weak. The prizefighter represents an educated and fully knowledgeable person and the yokel would represent an uneducated person from the countryside. Purpose of the boxing match is the narrator as the yokel in the narrative who is beaten round after round until he recognizes his ability to exist outside of the stereotypes world he lives within. No matter the skin complexion, one can never meet the standards set upon by

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