Free Essays on Invisible Man: Plot/Character Analysis/Themes :: Invisible Man Essays

Invisible Man Short Plot/Character Analysis/Themes   Invisible Man, written in 1952 by Ralph Ellison, documents a young black mans struggle to find identity in an inequitable and manipulative society. During the course of this struggle, he learns many valuable lessons, both about society and himself, through his experiences.   The story begins with the narrator recounting his memories of his grandfather. The most remarkable, and eventually the most haunting, of these is his memory of his grandfathers last words in which he claims to pull in been a traitor to his own people and urges his son to overcome em with yeses, undermine em with grins, agree em to death and destruction, let em swoller you till they vomit or bust big open. These words remain imprinted in the narrators mind throughout the book, although he never fully understands their meaning. His grandfathers words eventually serve as catalyst for his subsequent disillusionments, the scratch of which occurs directly after he graduates from high school.   At this time, the narrator is invited to give a barbarism at a gathering of the towns leading white citizens. The speech he is planning to give expresses the view that humility is the essence of progress. Subconsciously, the words of his grandfather prevent him from truly believing the thesis of his own speech, but he gives it anyway. Instead of being shown respect for his work, however, he is humiliated by being made to fight blind-folded against other young black men, and then being blow out of the water by an electrified rug. He pretends not to be angered by these events, yet his true feelings escape him for a moment when, while he is reading his speech, he accidentally says Social equality, instead of Social responsibility. After he finishes his speech, he is awarded a new briefcase. Inside the briefcase is a scholarship to the state Negro College. That nighttime he has a dream in which his grandfather tells him to open the briefcas e and read what is in the envelope. He finds that it says To Whom It May Concern, Keep This Nigger-Boy Running. Unfortunately, he is still too let down to grasp the meaning of his grandfathers warnings.   During his Junior year at college, the narrator drives for Mr. Norton, one of the college founders that is visiting the campus. During the drive, Mr. Norton tells the narrator that he is his destiny.