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Mutual Invisibility And Blindness In Invisible Man By Ralph Ellison

954 Words4 Pages

Mutual invisibility and blindness between the two races is also an issue talked about in the Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man. In both novels, the problem lies on both sides. When whites are blind because they consider blacks as a mass, never individuals, African Americans are blind for the same reason. They are unable to perceive any whites as entities for they labeled them all as “oppressors”. Moreover, abused African Americans are often times blind because they refuse to see their surrender to the superior white group. They allow themselves to be dishonored as a race.
In Invisible Man , we come across metaphorical as well as physical blindness during the scene of Battle Royal where the boys let themselves be blindfolded. This act was …show more content…

He forced the company to acknowledge his existence, as a person who was stealing their resources. By remaining invisible to them, he let them knew about his existence though he managed to escape their control. Symbolically that could mean his long desired aim of being a person who was judged and acknowledged for his actions, not for the color of his skin. The narrator throughout the novel struggled to find his identity, fight against being invisible to others and be able to express and be noticed as an individual. The following quote is taken from the Epilogue and talks about the protagonist’s coming to terms with his identity. He finally understood words of the vet, we have talked about earlier. He noticed that “my problem was that I always tried to go in everyone’s way but my own. I have also been called one thing and then another while no one really wished to hear what I called myself. So after years of trying to adopt the opinions of others, I finally rebelled. I am an invisible man.” He realized that the sources of his struggles had always been that he was not himself. He let himself be restricted by society’s expectation towards him, by prejudices and stereotypes that were assigned to his black skin. Invisible Man realized that his own identity was lost for the very reason of doing what others wanted or expected of him. At the end, however, the narrator found the key to his freedom, and it was the very identity that he had, his inner self, his authenticity was the key. And although he knew that others were still blind to him, he came to peace with himself and was finally starting to break

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