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M's View of "The Invisible Man" Part Two of Two

© Emily Woodward

The Invisible Man surfaced in America in the early 1950s. It was a time when standard beliefs, such as those involving race and sex, were first being questioned. The title alone was enough to challenge non-Black Americans to look beyond stereotypes which diminished Blacks. Moreover, the book was an early call for Black solidarity. Ralph Ellison undoubtedly hoped that Blacks would identify with the protagonist who is initially ashamed of his culture, but comes to embrace and defend it. There is a passage in The Invisible Man wherein the protagonist takes note of a group of boys "untouched; of natures too ambiguous for the most ambiguous words, and too distant from the centers of historical decision.." (p. 439). Ellison intimates that the boys have lost their humanity, by shunning their culture. Without their background and history, they have no direction. This lament may have inspired Black leaders who took the forefront in the 1960s. Malcolm X, in particular, seemed to echo Ellison when he took his name as a symbol of his lost identity.

The importance of The Invisible Man exceeds its entertainment value. It can be likened to other "message" books, such as The Feminine Mystique. The author's style, simultaneously real and poetic, draws from a tradition originating (I believe) with William Faulkner. Many of the stream-of-consciousness passages reminded me of a Langston Hughes poem. In subject matter, the book resembles other Black writings, from the time of Frederick Douglass through the Harlem Renaissance. Richard Wright's Native Son and Black Boy must also have served as inspiration, particularly since Wright was Ellison's friend and mentor.

Several times, the protagonist in The Invisible Man is led to believe that his life will improve. His scholarship to the university, his "unseen" job recommendations, and his activities in the Brotherhood all seem indicative of a bright future. His good fortune is like the windfalls bestowed on Black society; the advances that brought them closer to political, social, and economic salvation. The Emancipation Proclamation was like a scholarship to Blacks. It freed them from the lowest social strata and provided them with an opportunity for economic advancement. During Reconstruction, several Blacks held high offices in the state and federal governments. Their appointments provided Blacks with "a foot in the door" in much the same way as the protagonist's recommendations aided him, only this time, with regard to politics. The Brotherhood described in The Invisible Man could be inspired by the bi-racial NAACP. Both real and fictional organizations work on behalf of Blacks, through political action.

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