Song 1

Joseph Song

Mr. Canek

Political Studies

25 February 2019

Analysis on The Invisible Man: Understanding Who is Invisible in Society

The beauty of written word, as opposed to the spoken word, is that it can be analyzed. Many individuals

that read the text can interpret the purpose and message of the text in a different way. The novel, Invisible Man,

offers a definition of “invisibility”:there has been much debate about what the true definition of invisibility is.

Just as it is the case of many written works, there is no clear answer. In the novel, Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison

seems to convey the messages invisibility as the condition of not being acknowledged as an equal; invisibility

can only be escaped through empathizing with other invisible folk. Through the experiences of the invisible

man, Ellison also implies that women are still invisible in society. Evidence of Ellison’s implications can be

found directly in the novel.

Invisibility may take many shapes and forms;In the context of this novel, to have the condition of

invisibility seems to be when an individual is undermined and not seen as an equal. Despite Mr. Norton’s

pardon of the invisible man, Dr. Bledsoe continued to press charges against him. Bledsoe expressed his intent to

lay heavy discipline on the invisible man. The invisible man threatened to turn to Mr. Norton for help, only to

realize that even Norton would be unable to help. Dr. Bledsoe says to the invisible man, ¨Youŕe nobody, son.

You don't exist- can't you see that? The white folk tell everybody what to think...¨ (Ellison 143). The white race

has deemed the black people to be unworthy of being able to think for themselves. They are seen as less and

inferior intellectual beings. White men like Mr. Norton may offer lip service and seem to care. However, the

truth of the matter is that when the invisible man most needed to be heard, he was not taken seriously and was

as good as being invisible. Norton and Bledsoe’s act of not taking the invisible man more seriously meant that

they did not view the invisible man as an equal. This is in direct connection with Ellison’s implied definition of

invisibility; to be invisible is to not be acknowledged as an equal. This condition of invisibility, however, is not

always so obvious. A group is often made invisible in complex situations that require the “oppressed” to realize

that they are “invisible” in order for them to escape.

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Invisibility can be escaped by empathizing with the dispossession of other invisible people and

recognizing that there is oppression taking place. On his way home, the invisible man stumbled across an

elderly black couple being evicted from their home. Those sent by management to force the eviction, were

throwing the elderly couple’s belongings out onto the street. As the invisible man was observing the eviction, he

describes his emotions, ¨And it was as though I myself was being dispossessed of some painful yet precious

thing which I could not bear to lost; something confounding… And why did I, standing in the crowd see like a

vision my mother hanging awash on a cold windy day¨ (Ellison 273). Ellison was able to empathize with the

elderly black couple that was being evicted from their apartment. The elderly couple’s belongings and articles

reminded the invisible man of his family. For most of his life, the invisible man had heeded the advice of his

grandfather and had played the role of an Uncle Tom: as a conformist. However, by empathizing with the

evicted couple, he was able to get in touch with his culture and his place of origin once more. This allowed him

to realize that there is an inescapable oppression and inflicted invisibility taking place. This realization and act

of empathizing with another invisible people actually granted a sense of identity. Now there were people that

had something in common with him: oppression. Realizing that he held identity of an oppressed person of an

oppressed people was the first step in escaping oppression at all. Ironically enough, the invisible man seems to

inflict invisibility on women.

Through the actions of the invisible man and his treatment of women, Ellison seems to allude to the

invisibility of an another oppressed group: women. The invisible man had attended a ceremony under the

impression that he was going to give a speech. However, the invisible man ended up being forced to participate

in a boxing match that was used to entertain the guests. While waiting for the match to start, the invisible man

laid eyes on the women that would hold the sign with the number of rounds into the match. “I wanted at one and

the same time to rum from the room, to sink through the floor, or go to her and cover her from my eyes and the

eyes of the others with my body; to feel her soft thighs, to caress her and destroy her, and murder her...” (Ellison

19).

Needless to say, the invisible man was objectifying this woman. This though process of the invisible man

reflects the view of women at that time. Even now, women receive less pay on average than men, despite

holding similar occupation. Things have gotten so bad that women have banded together to create the #MeToo
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movement. The invisible man’s thoughts and lust towards women are parallel with what is going on with

women today. It's worth noting that though the invisible man himself is invisible, he is unable to realize that he

is contributing to another person’s invisibility. An example of this can be seen in both the novel and in the real

world.

Critics of the novel say that that Ellison’s own opinions of women are reflected in this piece. Many

readers feel uncomfortable with how the women are objectified by the invisible man. Ellison’s portrayal of

women is a literary device used to express the complexity of invisibility and how deeply rooted this cycle is in

society. According to an analyst of the novel, Madison Elkins, “This flaw in the protagonist extends the novel

beyond a criticism of the social discrimination the narrator alone encounters from an individual problem to a

pandemic one. It shows instead that this is a societal epidemic, internalized even by its victims and extended to

every minority group”. The point that Ellison is trying to make is that the cycle of invisibility goes beyond the

experiences of the invisible man. Invisibility in essence, affects everyone. Examples such as this reflects just

how intentional Ellison is in his writing.

The invisible man is truly a thought provoking novel. It often cause readers to question the legitimacy of

the author’s message of invisibility, while it allows other readers to truly see the complexity of invisibility in

society. Despite the opinions of critics, Ellison seems to convey the message that invisibility is the condition of

not being acknowledged as an equal; invisibility can only be escaped through empathizing with other invisible

folk. While doing this, Ellison also implies that women are a group that does not receive enough attention for

being invisible. All in all Ellison made his message clear; there is a vicious cycle of invisibility that everyone in

society is guilty of.

Works Cited Page

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Elkins, Madison. The Blindness of an Invisible Man: And Exploration of Ellison’s Female Characters. Pursuit

- The Journal of Undergraduate Research at the University of Tennessee 5 (2014). Print.

Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. New York: Vintage International, 1995. Print.

Written Communication
Domain Grade (E, D, P, A) Comments

Development A

Organization A

Language Conventions A

Knowledge & Thinking

Domain Grade (E, D, P, A) Comments

Argument/Thesis A

Claims/Supporting Ideas A

Counterclaims A

Evidence A

Analysis of Evidence A