The Invisible Man
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In Ralph Ellison (10) account of oppression and racism directed at African Americans in U.S. society in Invisible Man, the author tells us in an opening dream sequence, "I too have become acquainted with ambivalence," but in the epilogue he concludes he will "denounce and defends...condemn and affirmed, say no and say yes, say yes and say no...and hate and love" (579-580). The invisible man narrator adopts an ambivalent attitude toward many aspects of society, from separatism and communism to racism and institutes for blacks. The driving force of the narrator's ambivalence is that as a black man in a dominant white and racist culture, he remains a non-entity to most, including blacks and whites. As the narrator explains, "I am an invisible man" (Ellison 3). Living in a society that promotes equality and freedom during the Jim Crow era and other social hypocrisies leads to the narrator's ambivalent attitude toward everything from religion to protest. He finds Harlem merely a northern form of segregation, while striving to maintain his own code of virtues is what keeps him capable of both hate and love. This analysis will discuss the ambivalent attitude of the narrator in Invisible Man, showing the form and object of his ambivalence as he comes to understand his place as a black man in racist American society. A conclusion will address the significant of Ellison's work in modern times, in light of the recent election of the first African Am
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cellar "hole," but ultimately he chooses to hate and love and denounce and defend because he acquires the capacity to inform others "what was really happening when [our] eyes were looking through" (Ellison 581).
The main reason for the invisible man's ambivalence is his belief that in a racist society black people are lumped together and defined by stereotypes and by the color of their skin as if they had no individual identities or characters as individual human beings. In this way, the narrator believes that stereotypes on both sides of the racial divide serve to hide the great diversity of black life in American society. To reveal this, Ellison provides an array of characters and situations to show the typically "invisible" varieties of people within the black community. There is Dr. Bledsoe with his distinct notions of how a black man can succeed in an often hostile white society. Dr. Bledsoe is both manipulative and malevolent. We see the narrator feels guilty and deserving of his suspension, "Dr. Bledsoe is right, I told myself, he's right; the school and what it stands for have to be protected" (Ellison 133). Here, the narrator again violates a code but this time one set by African Americans.
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2294
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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