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Invisible Man

86 pages • 2 hours read

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Chapter 1

Chapters 2-6

Chapters 7-12

Chapters 13-16

Chapters 17-21

Chapter 22-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

Invisible Man was published in 1952 and written by African American author Ralph Ellison. It won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1953, and Ellison was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1985 for his contributions to American literature. In addition to his fiction, he wrote essays and was a professor, teaching at several prestigious American universities including Yale University, Bard College, New York University, the University of Chicago, and Rutgers University. He also received medals from two US presidents as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom and various international honors. Invisible Man is a 20th-century realist novel that examines the issue of African American oppression in 1930s America.

This guide refers to the 1980 Random House edition.

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Plot Summary

Invisible Man ’s protagonist is a young Black man whose name is never given in the text. He grows up in the Jim Crow southern region of the US and is driven to try to achieve professional success even in a segregated world in which he is the victim of racial stereotypes and discrimination. As a graduating high school senior, he is invited to give a graduation speech at a reception attended by prominent White men in his hometown. However, he quickly finds that the event is an excuse to force young Black men to entertain the White people by boxing blindfolded and afterwards scrambling on an electrified carpet for fake money. At the end of the night, he’s given a briefcase with notification inside that he has been admitted to a Black college.

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Several years later, the protagonist angers the college’s president by taking an esteemed White founder to impoverished areas surrounding the college rather than presenting a more “sanitized” view of the area. The president punishes him by sending him to New York City, ostensibly just for the summer so he can learn to interact with White people in a professional way. The president sends sealed letters that he claims are recommendations to prominent White men in New York. Upon his arrival, the protagonist discovers that the letters actually tell the White men that the protagonist has been expelled and not to give him work, stranding him in the city without any savings.

Desperate to earn money, the protagonist works one day in a paint factory, where an explosion injures him. He’s treated in the factory hospital and involuntarily undergoes a lobotomy-like procedure, then is released and told he’ll be “compensated” for his trouble. The protagonist finds another job with an organization called the Brotherhood of Man as a community activist and orator. The Brotherhood works under what seems to be a strict code of ethics that appeals to the protagonist, and he enjoys his work for a while, becoming familiar with other activists in Harlem, where he’s based.

After a few months of growing disagreement and contention between the Brotherhood and the protagonist, he’s sent out of Harlem for a while. Upon his return, he finds that the Brotherhood has abandoned its work in Harlem, leaving the people it assisted desperate and without resources. Enraged by the Brotherhood’s actions and the unjust death of a fellow activist, he stages a funeral that raises an outcry against White authorities from the Harlem community.

The protagonist is thrown into the race riots that erupt and realizes that the Brotherhood means to make him a scapegoat for the unrest. Having been let down repeatedly by the people and groups who once had his respect, he finally decides that he will determine his own sense of self rather than letting it be dictated to him. During the riots, he falls down a manhole and uses it as a chance to stage a “disappearance.” His absence lets him spend some years living a quiet life in Harlem before he reemerges, ready to rejoin the effort of social causes. Ellison combines psychological and social storylines in Invisible Man , examining the effects of racism on his protagonist and his ability, nonetheless, to rise above the difficulties he encounters to craft his own sense of self. 

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Invisible Man

By ralph ellison.

• Invisible Man Summary

The novel opens with a Prologue describing the depressed state of the narrator, who remains nameless throughout the novel. He is an invisible man, he proclaims, and has taken to living unknown underground, sucking electricity from the state of New York into his many light bulbs that he has hung in his lair. The novel is to be the story of how he came to be in this position.

As a young boy, the narrator overhears the last words of his dying grandfather, whose message lingers with him through high school. He is struck with this idea when he is asked to give his college oration to the town's most honored white men. At the fancy ballroom where he attends the occasion, he is ushered into the battle royal with the other boys hired for the evening's entertainment. First however the boys are brought into the room where a naked woman dances. The boys are next blindfolded and pitted against each other in a boxing ring. After several fights, only the narrator and the largest boy, Tatlock , remain and they are told they must fight each other for a prize.

The next stage requires the boys to grab for gold coins on a rug which turns out to be electrified. The narrator is finally allowed to give his oration and is awarded a scholarship to a renowned black college. At college, he is first faced with the disillusionment which will overcome him by the end. The memory is painful as he relates the day he was given the honor of driving an old white trustee, Mr. Norton , around the campus. The drive goes smoothly for a while although Mr. Norton's questions surprise the narrator. Norton sees every student at the college as part of his fate. He also welcomes a chance to explore parts of the surrounding town . Mistakenly, the narrator drives Norton into a poor district of black sharecroppers and Norton is intrigued by a disgraced member of the community, Jim Trueblood , who is rumored to have impregnated both his wife and daughter. Trueblood gives a long description of the dream which made him commit the act of incest and resulted in his wife trying to kill him. After this episode, Norton feels faint and the narrator takes him to the Golden Day brothel in order to find whisky to revive him. Mental patients visiting the bar unfortunately rise up against their attendant, trapping the narrator and Norton in the middle of the fight. Falling unconscious, Norton is revived by a former doctor who speaks to him of the narrator's invisibility. Thinking the doctor insane, he and the narrator finally return to the college where the narrator is punished for his treatment of Mr. Norton. The college president, Dr. Bledsoe , relates to the narrator that he should have only showed the trustee what the college would have wanted him to see. The narrator is expelled and sent to New York with seven sealed letters to wealthy employers with the promise that he can return as a paying student in the fall. Though stunned, the narrator decides to take advantage of the opportunity to work for an important person in New York City.

Arriving in Harlem, he is dazed but excited. He rents a room at the Men's House in Harlem and sets out the next morning to start handing out his letters. That process goes smoothly although he is only able to give the letters to secretaries and is told the employers will contact him. After not hearing anything, the narrator becomes suspicious of the secretaries and holds the last letter back, asking first to meet with the employer, Mr. Emerson , upon which he could personally give him the letter. The narrator's efforts are once more interceded, though, as Mr. Emerson's son takes the letter from him at the office and attempts to talk him out of returning to the college or speaking to his father. Finally, the son finally shows the narrator the letter from Dr. Bledsoe which the narrator had been told not to look at. The narrator is horrified to read what is written. Bledsoe writes explicitly to the employers that the narrator will never be allowed back to the school and asks them to see to it in the meantime that he will not be able to return to school as a paying student. Disillusioned, the narrator leaves the office utterly humiliated and terribly angry. He decides to take a job at a paint factory in order to be able to plan out his revenge on Dr. Bledsoe.

The idea of revenge is jumbled during the one long day he spends working at the paint plant. His boss, Mr. Kimbro , is very brusque and demanding, putting the narrator immediately on the job with very few instructions and the order not to ask questions. When the narrator mixes the wrong ingredient into the paint because he is afraid to ask Kimbro, he is fired from that job and handed to another boss, Mr. Brockway , who works as the engineer of sorts. Brockway is paranoid that the narrator is trying to take his job and is thus quite irritable toward him, asking him many questions about his past. They get along agreeably enough until after the narrator returns from retrieving his lunch. In the lockerroom he had run into what he thinks is a union meeting, though we later realize it was a Brotherhood meeting, and it had delayed him. He explains this to Brockway who explodes in anger at his participation in a union and attacks him, refusing to listen to the narrator's explanation. The narrator feels the tension snap inside him and fights off Mr. Brockway. Because of their inattention to the gauges in the room, the tanks burst from the pressure and the narrator is covered in white paint and knocked unconscious.

He swims in and out of consciousness for what seems like days in a plant factory, surrounded by doctors who speak of lobotomies and tests which they would not try on him if he had been a white Harvard student. Desperately clutching consciousness at one point, he is asked his name but is unable to remember it. Finally, the doctors release him from the tubes and machines, saying that he has been saved though he never really knows from what. He is brought to the hospital director before he can leave, where he is told that he can no longer work at the plant but will receive ample compensation. Still foggy, he stumbles back toward the Men's House where he is relieved on his way by a strong, motherly woman named Mary Rambo . The narrator hesitantly agrees to let her take him back to her house where he can rest and revive his spirits. She feeds him and also offers him a place to stay before he returns to the Men's House. Returning to the house after his hospital stay and lowly employment, he feels inferior and realizes he can no longer reside there. After offending a man he first believes is Bledsoe, he is thrown out of the House and takes Mary up on her offer.

Able to pay rent with his compensation money, the narrator lives with Mary for a while in relative quiet. Once the winter comes to New York, the narrator feels restless and takes to wandering streets, still filled with rage toward Bledsoe. After reconnecting with his own identity by eating southern yams sold on the street, he is drawn to an eviction where an old black couple is being thrown out into the cold. A crowd has formed around the defenseless couple who shriek and cry out against the injustice. The scene of dispossession strikes the narrator to the core and he begins to speak to the crowd after the couple is denied the chance to go inside their home and pray. His emotions clashing, he stands in front of the crowd calming them and forming their chaos into an ordered rage. Once the crowd rushes the house, the narrator runs to escape lest the police come after him. Running over rooftops, he is followed by a short man who later approaches him on the street. The man introduces himself as Brother Jack and praises the narrator on his moving oration. He offers him a job with the Brotherhood, taking advantage of his speaking skills. Brushing aside the offer, the narrator later reproaches himself for not getting more details about the job when he is in such debt to Mary. He decides to accept the job in order to pay back Mary, but must stop living with her once he is accepted into the Brotherhood. His first glimpse into the organization is at the party/meeting they bring him to at the Chthonian Hotel. The upscale, mostly white crowd makes him uncomfortable but they all appear friendly and praise his action at the eviction. Brother Jack explains to the narrator that his role will be one of leading the community of Harlem in line with the Brotherhood's teachings, in the manner of Booker T. Washington. Secretly, the narrator vows to follow the example set by the college's founder instead.

The narrator leaves Mary's house the next day. In his room that morning, he finds a piggy bank in his room shaped offensively like a black man with overly exaggerated features. After breaking it by accident, he attempts to get rid of it but cannot. He is then sent to Brother Hambro for training, given a new apartment, and a new name. After completing training, the Brothers call him down to Harlem and he is shown the office where he will work, along with Brother Tarp and Brother Clifton, the handsome youth leader. He quickly becomes accustomed to his new work, relishing the ability to inspire the community around him. He and Clifton meet up with Ras the Exhorter, who competes with them for the community's support and chastises them for being traitors to their African race. The two groups fight until the narrator leads them away. Still the narrator feels secure and powerful in his position until he receives an ominous note warning him to move slowly and carefully. Alarmed, he questions Brother Tarp to see if he has any enemies. Tarp reassures him and opens up to him, relating painful parts of his past and giving to him a broken link he has saved from breaking away from a chain gang after nineteen years. Brother Wrestrum also visits on the day of the mystery note, and incites suspicion with the narrator because he seems meddlesome. His idea for a Brotherhood emblem is overshadowed by his attack on the inherently symbolic message of Tarp's chain link. The narrator agrees to be interviewed by a Harlem publication after trying to get them to speak to Clifton.

Weeks later, the narrator is called by the Brotherhood committee to an urgent meeting where he is charged by Wrestrum for attempting to overshadow and dominate the Brotherhood, naming some unknown plot against the Brotherhood and using the article the narrator was interviewed for as evidence. Until the accusations are cleared, the narrator moves downtown to speak on the Woman Question. Frustrated by the move but willing to try it, he meets a married woman who seduces him. The affair stays with him though he does not see her again, as he is frightened that the Brotherhood will find out and use it against him. Soon he is summoned to another emergency meeting which alerts him to Clifton's disappearance and reinstates him in Harlem. Returning to his old post, he finds that much is changed in the short time he has been gone. Tarp and Brother Maceo are gone as well and the spirit in the district is much subdued, as many of the people feel that the Brotherhood has let them down. Realizing he is now out of the Brotherhood loop, he plans to revive the neighborhood sentiment on his own. By chance, he finds Clifton further uptown where Clifton has become a street seller of a dancing, paper Sambo doll. Disgusted and intrigued, the narrator watches the performance and the police chase which follows, ending in the unnecessary killing of Clifton.

He decides to hold a funeral which can serve to unite the community of Harlem around a fallen hero of sorts. Though successful, the Brotherhood is outraged and meets him back in his office, at which point Jack angrily reveals that he has not been hired to think. They order that he continue in the district and send him to Hambro in order to understand the new, less aggressive program.

Thoroughly changed by Clifton's fate and the recent events, the narrator feels very angry toward the Brotherhood and walks around the neighborhood to think. He notices that the district is much more stirred by Clifton's shooting than he had presumed and he is drawn in by Ras to explain the Brotherhood's limited action following the murder. He defends their position and then moves away to buy a disguise so he will not be harmed by any of Ras's men. Surprisingly, due to dark green glasses and a wide hat, people begin to approach him and refer to him as Rinehart . He is able to go unnoticed by Ras but is constantly noticed by others as Rinehart, by lovers and zoot-suiters. Going back to a bar he normally frequented, he is still mistaken for Rinehart and is almost swept along into a fight with Brother Maceo. Later, on the way to Hambro's, the narrator uncovers a church where Rinehart is a reverend. His many identities and obvious manipulation of people's faith disturbs the narrator greatly and he approaches Hambro even more cynical than the Brotherhood left him. Hambro attempts to indoctrinate him into the new program, describing the scientific logistics, but to no avail. The narrator feels he can finally see how the Brotherhood and so many organizations in his life have swindled and manipulated their constituents. Resolved to attack the Brotherhood from the inside, he plans to "yes" the white men to death, referencing his grandfather, and to find a woman whom he can seduce into giving him inside information.

He chooses Sybil as she is vulnerable and married to an important brother, however she surprises him by wanting him to rape her. He escapes the situation when he is called uptown to Harlem for a crisis, although she attempts to tag along. A riot is in action and the narrator is swept along with it, nearly shot, and aids in the arson of an apartment building. The climax of the riot occurs when Ras rides through on a black horse dressed as a chieftain and wants the narrator hanged. Running from Ras' goons, the narrator falls down a manhole and realizes that he must live underground for awhile. The Epilogue is his resolution to reemerge into the world of social responsibility.

Invisible Man Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Invisible Man is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Who knows about invisibility and who does not know about invisibility?

Everyone learns that the Invisible Man is invisible over the course of the novel..... are you referring to a specific chapter?

Identify the relationship between the narrator and his grandfather?

The character who most fills the narrator's thoughts and fuels his fears throughout the novel is his dead grandfather. Dying with bitter words on his lips, the narrator feels his grandfather has never understood humanity but cannot help but be...

Photos or illustrations in the book

Are you referring to the Invisible man by Ralph Ellison or HG Wells?

Study Guide for Invisible Man

Invisible Man study guide contains a biography of Ralph Ellison, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Invisible Man
• Character List
• Prologue and Chapters 1-2 Summary and Analysis
• Related Links

Essays for Invisible Man

Invisible Man literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Invisible Man.

• The Values of the Invisible Man
• Stereotypes and Exploitation of Women in Invisible Man
• Food for Thought
• What America Would Be Like Without Women: An Analysis of the Trafficking of Women in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
• Illuminating the Darkness

Lesson Plan for Invisible Man

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Invisible Man
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Invisible Man Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Invisible Man

• Introduction
• Political influences and the Communist Party
• Plot summary

Invisible Man

Introduction of invisible man.

Ralph Ellison , one of the best authors wrote Invisible Man. It was published in 1952 and set new trends in the American African literature of those times. The novel created a furor, winning the National Book Award in 1953 and creating a niche among the best English fictional works of the previous century. Invisible Man outlines the story of an African American first-person narrator who narrates his college ordeal of the battle royal and the attitude of the white elite of the town toward the African American students. The novel instantly proved a hit and became the best among the 20 th century’s 100 novels and an excellent bildungsroman (a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist coming of age).

Summary of Invisible Man

The storyline presents an anonymous African American young man who happens to live in a basement with stolen electricity from the local grid station. Fed up of the discrimination, he thinks about social invisibility and ways to tackle it. He reflects upon his life as a teenager when living in a Southern town after winning a scholarship for an African American college. However, he has to participate in the battle royal to entertain the white dignitaries in order to receive that scholarship against other African American students.

It happens that he gets admission to that college and takes Mr. Norton, a trustee of that college, to the slave apartments beyond the campus area. By chance, he stops by the cabin owned by some Mr. Jim Trueblood who has already created a brouhaha by impregnating both his wife and daughter in his sleep. Norton shook by this scandalous issue, asks the narrator to find him a drink. The narrator hurriedly drives him to the nearest bar filled with prostitutes and mental patients. When they enter the bar, Mr. Norton confronts mentally unsound people and prostitutes enjoying life. The pandemonium forces him to take assistance from the orderly who, while saving Mr. Norton, is injured due to the melee created by the people. The young man, however, musters up the courage to pull Mr. Norton out of this mess and take him back to the college campus.

When he returns to the college, he finds Dr. Bledsoe, the president, fuming at his home for showing insolence in taking Mr. Norton to that part of the campus. Therefore, he thinks it better to expel the narrator who, though gets many recommendation letters from him to assist him in the job market yet he does not succeed in laying his hands upon anything. Later, he learns that Mr. Bledsoe has rather ruined his entire career in both education and the job market when it was revealed by young Mr. Emerson to the narrator that the so-called recommendation letters contained nothing good about the narrator, also stating that he’s unfit for work and had no intention of re-enrolling him in the college. So, the son of Mr. Emerson suggests he seek work in a paint factory where he works in different departments temporarily.

During that time, he comes across Lucius Brockway, a paranoid chief, in the boiler operating room. He comes to know that Lucius is obsessed with the idea that the young man is after his job. This mistrust widens the chasm between them, leading Brockway to exploit him and framing him in setting an explosion in the boiler section. When he comes to his senses after this episode, he finds himself in the hospital overhearing the doctors’ words that he was a mental patient and subject to shock treatment. mental patient.

When the young man gets out of the hospital he heads for Harlem . While walking on the streets of Harlem he faints and finds himself being taken in by a kind old-fashioned lady Mary Rambo. She cooks for him, nurses him back to health, and adopts him as her surrogate son. After this, he delivers an impassioned speech that incites the crowd to attack the law enforcement officials when an African American couple faces forced eviction. When he flees, the Brotherhood leader, Jack chases him and urges him to join hands with the group to help African Americans. His joining the Brotherhood helps him understand his background. This takes him into the politics of the Brotherhood but he comes to know that it is also a white ploy from Ras the exhorter, though he feels unconvinced. Yet he faces accusations of the same group for being over-ambitious. Again, he faces criticism when the narrator delivers a rousing speech at Tod Clifton’s funeral who went missing and was found selling dancing Sambo dolls on the street. He was killed by the police while resisting the arrest.

Suspecting a chase by the Ras’s men, the narrator disguises by wearing a hat and pair of sunglasses. As a result, he is repeatedly mistaken for a man named Rinehart. Soon unrest takes on Harlem and the riots break out which was detrimental to the Brotherhood to further its own aims. Seeing no way out, he joins the gang of looters to find now Ras, the Destroyer. When the young man sees Ras attacking him and urging others to lynch him, he rather attacks Ras and escapes into an underground coal bin. Although two white men catch and seal him in. Giving him enough time to ponder over the racism he has experienced. During his hibernation inside the coal bin, he states that the reason he is telling his story is that “who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?”. Finally, the narrator realizes that even an invisible man has a socially responsible role to play .

Major Themes in Invisible Man

• Invisibility: Invisible Man shows the assumed or real invisibility of the narrator who assumes that he is invisible because people have refused to see him. In the quest to prove his assumptions true, he takes up this unique identity through constant self-denial. Despite belonging to the Southern part, he covers his African heritage through passing in terms of habits and ideological thinking. Later, when he takes Rinehart as his name, he takes another turn in his life, finding that staying invisible has its bonuses. However, his meeting with that person shows him that he can pursue his goals without thinking about invisibility. It is because invisibility has robbed him of his identity that he vows to create.
• Racial Identity: The theme of racial identity emerges in the character of the anonymous narrator, who despite his efforts to stay invisible, wants some type of identity about his race and ethnicity. Wherever he goes, he needs something to make himself a figure to be reckoned with. People expect that he should either follow Booker T. Washington or Southern cultural-rich heritage instead of staying invisible. When he finally comes to terms with life, he feels that he must meet the expectations of the people to show his true Southern heritage.
• Slavery: Slavery and its baggage is another thematic strand that pervades the novel. Although the anonymous narrator demonstrates that by keeping himself invisible, he may escape this curse, it still stays with him as without this he does not have his true identity. The briefcase that he wins in the battle royal becomes a symbol of this heritage that he needs to carry with him. However, he is fed up with this symbolic heritage. He gets rid of it by the end and throws it away in return for some type of his self-identity.
• Racism: Racism and racial discrimination hamper the progress of an individual in a way that it becomes difficult for him to assume an identity. The anonymous narrator stays invisible for some time to see how the people around him react and later joins the Brotherhood to show his heritage and escape this racism. However, each time he finds that it is they, the African Americans, who should learn to behave. Finally, he seems that his attempt for his own definition would earn dividends if he has his self-identity as joining organizations is useless unless the person has his identity.
• Identity: Invisible Man presents the theme of identity that if a person has no self-identity, society disregards his role whether it is invisibility or some tangible role. When the narrator assumes his invisibility, he seems to have been lost in the maze of society but when he starts joining organizations, he sees that all organizations use individuals for their own interests. Even the Brotherhood does not holdup behind. Therefore, he comes to the point that he should have his own identity instead of staying in the assumed invisibility.
• Ideology: The anonymous narrator has shown through his story that organizational ideology cannot represent a multidimensional individual who has his own identity that does not merge in such monolithic entities. He has experienced it it is like him who has been unable to merge in the Brotherhood. Although Booker T. Washington’s ideological background and the relationship with the Brotherhood make it clear to him, he does not take these things at face value and seeks his identity to demonstrate his rich Southern heritage and ideology.
• Power : The novel shows that power lies in organizations, collections, and institutions. When the anonymous narrator stays alone , he thinks that his invisibility will bless him with some advantage yet he sees that the power lies somewhere else at the top. The same goes for the Brotherhood that works for the interests of the elite class, white, while the ideology of Booker T. Washinton, too, has been hijacked. Therefore, he comes to the conclusion that he needs power and for this needs his own identity.
• Stereotyping: Although the thematic strand of the limitations of race is too apparent, the anonymous narrator shows it amply when he could not progress through his invisibility as well as through his participation in the racial-specific organization. However, he soon comes to know that he belongs to the African American heritage and this stereotyping has hampered his progress not only in education but also in the job market, for he is expelled on the same ground on which his progress has been hampered through reference letters.
• Dreams : The anonymous narrator shows harboring several dreams when he vies to join the college, get admission but is expelled on the flimsy ground of taking Mr. Norton to the wrong place. His dreams further face downfall when the reference letters prove another roadblock. When he sees the vision of Armstrong, his slave memory takes it to another level, making him slave to his own past, destroying his dreams.

Major Characters in Invisible Man

• Narrator : The first-person narrator is the protagonist of the novel. He first gives a hint about himself and his invisibility in the Prologue and later narrates the events about his joining and leaving different groups such as the Brotherhood and others on one or the other pretexts. However, due to his African American lineage, he comes to the conclusion about the white supremacist superior structure they have built to keep them subservient, though, he believes in Armstrong and Booker T. Washington’s philosophy, yet he comes across as white conspiracy whatever he does or plans to do. His plan to study on scholarship fails when Mr. Norton creates issues for him after he takes him to the wrong places when taking to the areas beyond college premises . To keep his invisibility unharmed, he takes up different names during this entire process but finally comes to the conclusion that his underground life has not given him any benefit.
• Mr. Norton: This wealthy white trustee of the college, where the narrator gets admission with a scholarship, meets the narrator when he visits the college. The narrator takes him to the college visit driving his vehicle but mistakenly takes him to some places that he does not like despite his supposed kindness for the narrator and his race. Mr. Norton expels the narrator from the college as a part of revenge or disapproval against the narrator. Mr. Norton also demonstrates, his duplicity when he confronts him in the end.
• Ras the Destroyer or the exhorter: This second significant character appears when the narrator joins the Brotherhood. In the beginning, he’s known as Ras the exhorter, who incites race riots and creating hatred among other races with powerful speaking skills. He becomes the narrator’s sworn enemy for not taking part in the violence against the whites. His supporters appear here and there to thrash the opponents and make them submit to their demands of standing up to white superiority and domination. His domination of Harlem takes an upper hand when the Brotherhood retreats from the mainland.
• Dr. Bledsoe: Dr. Bledsoe is a very clever and shrewd president of the college reserved for the African American people. However, he keeps this shrewdness away from his public reputation and demonstrates subservience to his white masters whenever the situation arises. However, when it comes to the narrator, he does not feel any pity or conscience in destroying his future by expelling him after he shows Mr. Norton the reality of life around campus. His letters of reference for future employers prove disastrous for him.
• Grandfather: The Grandfather in the novel often creeps into the narrator’s thoughts, making him think about his last words that remind him about his presence and his place in the world of white domination. However, the narrator does not think his words, reflecting his lifelong wisdom of acquiescing to the demands of the white. He later feels that his Grandfather’s words about him have proven true.
• Jim Trueblood: A poor sharecropper, Jim’s fortune plummet when Mr. Norton visits him with the narrator. His harrowing tale of impregnating his own daughter has made him a notorious character in the vicinity though strangely the whites shower munificence on him after this notoriety.
• Tatlock: Tatlock and the narrator fall out after all the other boys are thrown out of the ring during the fight. As the biggest one, he does not resort to fake punching but does real punching and knocks out the narrator. He proves a symbol of raw force and courage.
• Superintendent: The superintendent in the novel invites the narrator for the speech but does not acknowledge his achievement. However, the narrator does not feel the bad taste, as he presents him a scholarship to the college.
• Mr. Emerson: Mr. Emerson is an important character, as he comes into contact with the narrator when he meets him with reference to the letter. It, however, happens that his son intervenes and points out to the narrator about the intention of Bledsoe by giving him reference letters.
• Reverend Barbee: This mobile speaker is all praise for the college founders and trustees for showing generosity toward the African American community through their donations. A buddha-like figure, he encourages the narrator to love his college despite facing humiliating expulsion.

Writing Style of Invisible Man

Ralph Ellison adopted the jazz style in this novel, proving it could be rendered into fiction . It is, however, based on sights as the narrator goes through the ordeals one by one. He has carefully chosen words, showing mastery of diction by putting the words at appropriate places, creating refrains after every few lines. In fact, this style shifts from the prologue to onward to another style with long and formal sentences and then again to informality and colloquialism of the Southerners. Constant use of wordplay, rhyme , slogan, and paradoxes has created Ellison’s own unique style that is hard to imitate and hard to ignore.

Analysis of Literary Devices in Invisible Man  

• Action: The main action of the novel comprises the anonymous narrator’s narrative about his admission on scholarship, his expulsion, and then invisibility that ends when he learns things about living in reality.
• Anaphora : Invisible Man shows the use of anaphora . For example, i. My hole is warm and full of light. Yes, full of light. I doubt if there is a brighter spot in all New York than this hole of mine, and I do not exclude Broadway. Or the Empire State Building on a photographer’s dream night . But that is taking advantage of you. Those two spots are among the darkest of our whole civilization — pardon me, our whole culture (an important distinction, I’ve heard) — which might sound like a hoax, or a contradiction, but that (by contradiction, I mean) is how the world moves: Not like an arrow, but a boomerang. (Beware of those who speak of the spiral of history; they are preparing a boomerang. Keep a steel helmet handy.) I know; I have been boomeranged across my head so much that I now can see the darkness of lightness. And I love light. Perhaps you’ll think it strange that an invisible man should need light, desire light, love light. But maybe it is exactly because I am invisible. (Prologue) The sentence shows the repetitious use of some phrases and words such as “full of light” “a boomerang” and “light.”
• Antagonist : Invisible Man shows Mr. Norton, Brother Jack, Dr. Bledsoe, and Ras the Exhorter as the antagonists who raise obstacles in the path of the narrator.
• Allusion : There are various examples of allusions given in the novel. i. I am in the great American tradition of tinkers. That makes me kin to Ford, Edison and Franklin. Call me, since I have a theory and a concept, a “thinker-tinker.” (Prologue) ii. I’d like to hear five recordings of Louis Armstrong playing and singing “What Did I Do to Be so Black and Blue” — all at the same time. Sometimes now I listen to Louis while I have my favorite dessert of vanilla ice cream and sloe gin. (Prologue) iii. With Louis Armstrong one half of me says, “Open the window and let the foul air out,” while the other says, “It was good green corn before the harvest.” ( Epilogue ) The first allusion is about the American founding fathers and scientists and the second and the third are about Louis Armstrong.
• Conflict : The are two types of conflicts in the novel . The first one is the external conflict that is going on between the whites and the African American community and the second is between the narrator and his mental thinking about his invisibility.
• Characters: Invisible Man presents both static as well as dynamic characters. The young narrator is a dynamic character as he faces transformation during his growth. However, the rest of the characters do Mr. Norton, Dr. Bledsoe, Rinehart, and Brother Jack.
• Climax : The climax takes place when the anonymous narrator loses his illusion about his success and invisibility.
• Foreshadowing : The novel shows the following examples of foreshadowing : i. I spoke automatically and with such fervor that I did not realize that the men were still talking and laughing until my dry mouth, filling up with blood from the cut, almost strangled me. (Chapter-1) ii. “Out of a sense of my destined role,” Mr. Norton said shakily. “I felt, and I still feel, that your people are in some important manner tied to my destiny.”(Chapter-3) These examples from Invisible Man clearly foreshadow the coming events.
• Hyperbole : Hyperbole or exaggeration occurs in the novel at various places. For example, i. Two men stood directly in front of me, one speaking with intense earnestness. “. . . and Johnson hit Jeffries at an angle of 45 degrees from his lower left lateral incisor, producing an instantaneous blocking of his entire thalamic rine, frosting it over like the freezing unit of a refrigerator, thus shattering his autonomous nervous system and rocking the big brick-laying creampuff with extreme hyperspasmic muscular tremors. (Chapter-3) ii. Now, now, Hester.” “Okay, okay . . . But what y’all doing looking like you at a funeral? Don’t you know this is the Golden Day?” she staggered toward me, belching elegantly and reeling. (Chapter-3) Not only are these sentences hyperbolic, but also they show how the narrator thinks.
• Imagery : Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, i. The wheel felt like an alien thing in my hands as I followed the white line of the highway. Heat rays from the late afternoon sun arose from the gray concrete, shimmering like the weary tones of a distant bugle blown upon still midnight air. (Chapter-4) ii. It was a clear, bright day when I went out, and the sun burned warm upon my eyes. Only a few flecks of snowy cloud hung high in the morning blue sky, and already a woman was hanging wash on a roof. I felt better walking along. A feeling of confidence grew. Far down the island the skyscrapers rose tall and mysterious in the thin, pastel haze. (Chapter-9). iii. The elevator dropped me like a shot and I went out and walked along the street. The sun was very bright now and the people along the walk seemed far away. I stopped before a gray wall where high above me the headstones of a church graveyard arose like the tops of buildings. (Chapter-9) These passages from the novel show that Ellison has used a variety of images such as the image of sound, color, and sight.
• Metaphor : Invisible Man shows good use of various metaphors . For example, i. Nor is my invisibility exactly a matter of a bio-chemical accident to my epidermis. (Prologue) ii. … this barren land after Emancipation,” he intoned, “this land of darkness and sorrow, of ignorance and degradation, where the hand of brother had been turned against brother, father against son, and son against father; where master had turned against slave and slave against master; where all was strife and darkness, an aching land.. (Chapter-5) iii. Booker Washington was resurrected today at a certain eviction in Harlem. He came out from the anonymity of the crowd and spoke to the people. So you see, I don’t joke with you. Or play with words either. There is a scientific explanation for this phenomenon — as our learned brother has graciously reminded me — you’ll learn it in time, but whatever you call it the reality of the world crisis is a fact. ( Chapter-7) The first example compares invisibility with his bodily situation, the second the land with different situations, and the third Booker T. Washington with a phenomenon.
• Mood : The novel presents a usual mood but turns to nightmares and dreams that the anonymous narrator sees but deep down it is tragic and serious.
• Motif : Most important motifs of the novel are invisibility, blindness, and jazz.
• Narrator : The novel is narrated in the first-person point of view and the narrator, who is a protagonist and an anonymous African American young man.
• Protagonist : The anonymous narrator is the protagonist of the novel. The novel starts with his entry into the world and moves forward as he gets admission to the college and then leaves it after his expulsion.
• Rhetorical Questions : The novel shows good use of rhetorical questions at several places. For example, i. ‘The harder we fought the more threatening the men became. And yet, I had begun to worry about my speech again. How would it go? Would they recognize my ability? What would they give me? (Chapter-1) ii. I have never seen, runs with liquid chalk – creating iii. another ambiguity to puzzle my groping mind: Why is a bird-soiled statue more commanding than one that is clean? (Chapter-2) iv. He gave the impression that he understood much and spoke out of knowledge far deeper than appeared on the surface of his words. Perhaps it was only the knowledge that he had escaped by the same route as I. But what had he to fear? I had made the speech, not he. That girl in the apartment had said that the longer I remained unseen the longer I’d be effective, which didn’t make much sense either. But perhaps that was why he had run. He wanted to remain unseen and effective. Effective at what? (Chapter-14) This example shows the use of rhetorical questions posed by different characters not to elicit answers but to stress the underlined idea.
• Setting : The setting of the novel is the American South, the city of New York.
• Simile : The novel shows good use of various similes. For example, i. A tomtom beating like heart-thuds began drowning out the trumpet, filling my ears . (Prologue) ii. About eighty-five years ago they were told that they were free, united with others of our country in everything pertaining to the common good, and, in everything social, separate like the fingers of the hand. (Chapter-1) iii. I remembered the admiration and fear he inspired in everyone on the campus; the pictures in the Negro press captioned “EDUCATOR,” in type that exploded like a rifle shot, his face looking out at you with utmost confidence. (Chapter-6) These are similes as the use of the word “like” shows the comparison between different things.

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• The Invisible Man Themes
• The Invisible Man Characters
• Ralph Ellison

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The Invisible Man

H. g. wells, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

A strange man (later introduced as Griffin ) arrives in Iping and takes lodging at the Coach and Horses Inn. He is completely wrapped up in clothing, which he does not take off even after Mrs. Hall , who runs the inn, lights a fire for him. Mrs. Hall notices that Griffin’s face is also wrapped in bandages. Griffin is rude to her, and impatiently asks when he will be able to get his luggage from the train station. Later that day, Griffin explains that he is an “experimental investigator” and that he needs his equipment.

The following day, the carrier Fearenside brings Griffin’s luggage, which is filled with scientific equipment, handwritten notebooks , and crates of fluids, some of which are labeled Poison . Later that day, Mrs. Hall hears the sound of bottles smashing, and when she asks Griffin about this he tells her not to bother him, saying that she can add extra charges to his bill. Griffin stays at the inn for a number of months. He does not attend church or communicate with anyone outside of the village, and only goes out at night. The villagers gossip, inventing many different theories about him. The local doctor, Cuss , visits Griffin at the inn, and is shocked to see that his sleeve is completely empty where an arm should be—yet he still manages to pinch Cuss’s nose.

On the holiday of Whit Monday, Rev. Bunting and Mrs. Bunting wake up to sounds of the vicarage being burgled. They try to catch the robber, but cannot see anyone there. The same morning, Mr. Hall and Mrs. Hall notice that the door to Griffin’s room is open, and his bed is empty. They call Sandy Wadgers , the blacksmith, to change the locks so they can lock Griffin out, but while they are discussing this Griffin emerges from his room (though it had seemed empty before) and goes into the parlor, which he has been using as a personal study. He locks himself in and can be heard shouting and smashing things. Later, Mrs. Hall asks Griffin why he hasn’t paid his bill; when he offers her money, she is suspicious, as just days before he said he didn’t have anything.

When confronted by the villagers at the inn, Griffin takes off his bandages to reveal a “black cavity”—his invisible face. On learning the truth about Griffin, the villagers flee in horror. The local constable, Bobby Jaffers , attempts to arrest Griffin for burgling the vicarage, but fails and Griffin escapes.

Outside of Iping, Griffin seeks the help of a local “tramp,” Thomas Marvel . At first Marvel thinks he’s hallucinating when he hears a disembodied voice talking to him, but Griffin proves that he is real and invisible by throwing stones at him. Amazed, Marvel agrees to help Griffin, and returns to the Coach and Horses, where he seizes some of Griffin’s belongings from his room, including his notebooks. Dr. Cuss and Rev. Bunting had previously looked through the notebooks while Griffin was gone, but couldn’t understand their contents. Mr. Huxter attempts to catch Marvel but fails. Griffin smashes the windows of the inn and cuts the village’s telegraph wire before fleeing. Everyone in Iping is too scared to come out of their houses for two hours.

Marvel tries to quit his role as Griffin’s helper, but Griffin threatens to kill him if he betrays him. The next day, Marvel and Griffin reach the town of Port Stowe, and Marvel strikes up a conversation with a local mariner . The mariner tells him the rumors about the Invisible Man and shows him a newspaper article about the events in Iping. Marvel boasts that he knows about the Invisible Man from “private sources,” but after Griffin hurts him he goes back on his word and tells the mariner that the whole story is a hoax.

The narrative shifts to a man named Doctor Kemp as he sits in his office, which overlooks the town of Port Burdock. He is dismayed by local gossip about the Invisible Man and the “fools” who believe the story is real. Nearby, Marvel bursts into the Jolly Cricketers pub, explaining in terror that he needs help because the Invisible Man is after him. Griffin enters the pub too and there is a scuffle. One of the men in the pub shoots the air, attempting to hit Griffin.

Doctor Kemp’s doorbell rings, but his servant tells him that no one was there when she answered. Kemp then finds blood on his bedroom door handle and floor. In his bedroom, Griffin speaks to Kemp, and at first Kemp refuses to believe that he is really there. Griffin introduces himself, reminding Kemp that they studied together at University College London. Kemp eventually believes Griffin and gives him food and whiskey. He allows Griffin to sleep in his bedroom, and when he goes to sleep worries that Griffin might be insane and “homicidal.”

The next day, Griffin tells Kemp that years earlier, while researching light and optics, he discovered a way of turning living tissue invisible. He kept his findings to himself, worried that someone would steal them. After spending three years researching invisibility, Griffin realized that he would need money in order to actually conduct the experiment. He stole money from his father that did not actually belong to him, which led his father to shoot himself. Griffin admits that he did not feel guilt or sympathy for his father.

Griffin says he first tested his invisibility experiment on a piece of fabric, and then on his neighbor ’s cat. The cat’s pained meowing awoke his landlord , who grew suspicious of Griffin’s activities. Griffin then conducted the experiment on himself, successfully turning himself invisible. Aware of his landlord’s suspicions, he set his apartment on fire and fled. Out in the world, Griffin found it harder than he assumed to be invisible. He regularly bumped into people, was freezing because he could not wear clothes without being seen, and couldn’t eat, as food showed up in his stomach before it was fully digested. He robbed two different stores, but each time got perilously close to being discovered. He was eventually able to rob clothing and other items to disguise himself, wrapping himself up to conceal his invisibility from the world. He eventually traveled to Iping, hoping to continue his scientific research there.

Griffin tells Kemp that he plans to impose a “Reign of Terror,” killing people as he sees fit, in order to institute “the Epoch of the Invisible Man.” He hopes that Kemp will work with him, but Kemp warns him that he is choosing the wrong path. Colonel Adye then arrives at Kemp’s house, and on hearing this, Griffin shouts “Traitor!” and flees. Adye and Kemp warn everyone in the local area about Griffin’s plans, and a manhunt begins. Mr. Wicksteed , the steward to Lord Burdock , is found murdered on the grounds of Lord Burdock’s house. No one knows exactly what happened, but everyone agrees Griffin is responsible.

Griffin attacks Kemp and Adye at Kemp’s house, shooting Adye with his own gun. Kemp flees, begging for help from his neighbor Mr. Heelas , who refuses. Kemp runs into town being chased by Griffin. A mob of people descends on Griffin, and although Kemp begs them to have mercy, Griffin is beaten to death. His body becomes visible again as he dies.

In the epilogue, the narrator explains that after Griffin’s death, Marvel used the money he stole from him to become a landlord. He is now a respected man in the local area who has a “reputation for wisdom.” Sometimes Marvel shares his stories of the Invisible Man with passersby. However, he never reveals that he kept Griffin’s notebooks, which he keeps stored secretly and whose contents he does not understand.

'Invisible Man': A journey of identity, invisibility, and self-discovery

Line- "When I discover who I am, I'll be free."- Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Analysis of the iconic lines- Quest for Identity: The statement reflects the protagonist's (the "Invisible Man") journey to find his true identity. Throughout the novel, he grapples with the complexities of being an African American man in a racially divided society. He is often rendered "invisible" by others who refuse to acknowledge his humanity, which prompts his search for self-understanding.

Existential Exploration: The line resonates with existentialist themes, suggesting that true freedom is intricately linked to self-awareness and self-acceptance. It implies that without a clear understanding of oneself, one is not truly free but rather living in a state of ignorance or invisibility.

Society's Expectations: In the context of the novel's exploration of racism and societal expectations, this line highlights how the protagonist believes that by discovering his identity, he can break free from the confines and expectations imposed upon him by a prejudiced society.

Individual vs. Collective Identity: The line also touches upon the tension between individual and collective identity. The protagonist must reconcile his personal identity with the broader identity of being an African American in a racially charged America.

Personal Growth and Empowerment: It underscores the idea that self-discovery is a path to personal growth and empowerment. As the protagonist learns more about himself and his place in the world, he gains the strength to challenge the forces that seek to keep him invisible.

Character analysis-

The Invisible Man (Protagonist):

Narrator and Storyteller: The Invisible Man serves as the novel's first-person narrator, recounting his life story. His narrative voice is a powerful tool for conveying the nuances of his experiences and emotions.

Dr. Bledsoe: is the president of the college attended by the Invisible Man. He is initially portrayed as a respected and powerful figure in the African American community.

Ras the Exhorter/Ras the Destroyer: Ras is a radical character who believes in confrontational and militant methods to combat racism. He is critical of the Invisible Man's initially passive approach to social change.

Mary Rambo: Mary is a kind-hearted, motherly figure who takes the Invisible Man in when he is in need. She represents a source of warmth, care, and stability in his life.

Brother Jack:

White Leader of the Brotherhood: Brother Jack is a white leader of a political organization known as the Brotherhood. He recruits the Invisible Man to be a spokesperson for the group.

Clifton: Clifton is a member of the Brotherhood who becomes disillusioned with the organization's methods and goals. He eventually meets a tragic end.

Short summary of the book-

The novel opens with the Invisible Man living in a hidden, underground lair in a basement in New York City. He describes himself as invisible, not because of a physical condition but because society refuses to see him as an individual with his own identity. He recounts his life story, starting with his upbringing in the South and his education at a black college.

The protagonist's journey begins when he delivers a graduation speech that inadvertently angers the college trustees. As a result, he is expelled and sent to New York City with letters of recommendation from the college president, Dr. Bledsoe. However, he soon realizes that these letters do not open doors for him but instead lead to a series of disillusioning encounters with racism and exploitation.

He joins a political organization known as the Brotherhood, which claims to fight for racial equality. The protagonist becomes a prominent spokesperson for the Brotherhood but eventually realizes that it, too, uses him for its own purposes, and he remains invisible within the organization.

Throughout the novel, the Invisible Man encounters a variety of characters, including Dr. Bledsoe, a college administrator who betrays him; Ras the Exhorter, a radical activist; Mary Rambo, a kind woman who offers him support; Brother Jack, a manipulative leader of the Brotherhood; and Clifton, a disillusioned Brotherhood member.

The protagonist's journey is marked by a series of transformative experiences and self-discovery. He grapples with the complexities of identity, race, and power. Ultimately, he retreats underground, both physically and metaphorically, where he reflects on his experiences and contemplates his next steps.

Disclaimer: The Times of India editorial team has taken inputs from AI for research purposes to create this article.

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