Abeku Wie-addo

Ms. Selvaggi
ENG 4C1
Sept 24, 2014

Wie-Addo 1

The Invisible Boy

Unit One-Fictional Essay

Analysis of Alden Nowlans The Invisible Boy shows many conventions of a myth.
When power, gods, creation, spirits and secondary characters help in a very significant
way you can easily tell that the story youre reading is a myth. One of the many
conventions listed is power. Power is entrusted with many characters in original and
modern myths. One day a daughter was born to the parents of the Invisible Boy and to
everyones astonishment it was discovered that she was the only person in the world who
possessed the power to see him. (Nowlan, pg.40) Similar to other myths such as Greek
mythology or vampires one of the characters must posses a power to either obliterate or
aid. The second convention of the many is gods. Probably the biggest giveaway for a
myths genre is the incorporation of gods. She dared not to reveal her plan to her father;
it would only have confirmed his belief that the gods had made her mad. (Nowlan pg.41)
The gods in the Invisible Boy didnt have as much to do in the story as other myths, but
were referred to as gods just for the simple reason to show the story fell into the myth
genre. But since they could not see him they were free to make pictures of him in their
minds. (Nowlan, pg.40) is a prime example of creation in a general myth. Without some
sort of creation within a myth, myths wouldnt have the history of being jam packed with
action or known to keep you on your toes. With gods in the mix, it only makes sense for
spirits to be incorporated. Or perhaps she is possessed of an evil spirit. She hurts
herself in spite of everything we do to protect her. (Nowlan, pg.41) Spirits and gods in

Wie-Addo 2

the Invisible Boy both dont take on a big part of the story but are there to show the major
conventions of a myth. Lastly, the most unfamiliar of all conventions is the aid of the
secondary character. Dont mock me, Oochihwaskw pleaded, for you can see my
sister have cut off my hair. Hush, she replied the sister of the Invisible Boy. And, lo,
under the touch of her comb the little ones hair grew long and beautiful. (Nowlan,
pg.42) In many stories comparable to such, the secondary character tends to come to the
aid of the person trying to reach a goal. (Protagonist) often seen in classical movies such
as The Beauty and The Beast and Lion King. In conclusion, Alden Nowlans The
Invisible Boy shows many conventions of a myth.