The Journey of the Invisible Man
The goal of every person is to find their place in society. The
journey itself is a hard one, but sometimes unforeseen obstacles make the
trip nearly impossible. The book, The Invisible Man, takes us along
on a journey with a man that has no name. You may think that it is odd not
to give the main character of a book a name, but if you think about it,
what purpose does a name serve? Isn't is said that a man's actions speak
louder than his words? In this story, the man's actions go hand in hand
with his words, to make him desired by some, feared and hated by others.
The journey begins with the man fighting for his very education.
Earning a scholarship meant to physically destroy the competition. It
showed that to get an education he had to act the exact opposite of an
educated man. He had to rely upon his own primitive brutality to insure
his education. He was then mocked by having to recite a speech he was to
memorize, which showed the total disrespect the people who were giving the
scholarship had for the future students.
After getting into school, a simple job turned into an unforeseen
disaster that would change his life forever. He was to chauffeur Mr.
Norton, a founder of the college he attended. Mr. Norton was a well
educated but very ignorant man. He felt that the college was doing all of
the good that could be done. He had no idea of the evils that dwelled upon
the grounds. Dr. Bledsoe, the head of the college, had arranged for Mr.
Norton to go for a tour of the grounds, but didn't expect for him to see "
everything" at the college. Mr. Norton asked to see some of the more
unseen areas of the college, so the driver had to oblige him. Their they
met a man with an incestuous past. Mr. Norton was dumb founded, he had no
idea something like this could happen at his college. This just shows the
many evils we come across in our lives that appear like shadows, taking us
by total surprise. The phrase, "Out of sight, out of mind", seems to hold
great relevance. When you choose to ignore the bad things in life you
become weak, and when they finally do hit you, you may never recover from
the blow.
The next destination they reach is the Golden Day, a hotel/brothel
which exists because no one bothers to do anything about it. It's a symbol
of what happens when problems are not kept in check. Inside the Golden Day
exist some Sanitarium Patients who represent the many faces of society.
What is normal? These patients may have been average citizens one day, but
the strains of society have taken their toll upon them. The struggle to
blend in with society has caused them such stress that it has robbed them
of their sanity. These peoples's journeys have had to many twists and
turns which they could not recover from.
After returning, Dr. Bledsoe was informed of what had happened. In a
rage he blamed the driver for everything. This shows society's need to
blame someone or something. Nothing can be what it appears to be. Someone
has to be blamed for what happened. This marks the end of the beginning of
the man with no identity. Due to circumstances beyond his control he is
about to have his entire dreams unknowingly destroyed.
The man with no name is instructed to go to work for the summer to
earn money for the next semester, which he unknowingly will never see. He
is given letters to deliver to different businessmen in order to get a job.
These letters speak badly of him. Which he discovers when one of the
secretaries shows him the letter. He then gets a job at a factory where
they make paint. There he meets Mr. Brockway his boss, a modern day
dictator. Brockway is king of his domain, the basement, where the work
that no one else wants to do is done. Brockway believes he is a self-made
genius due to the fact he helped build the basement and knows where
everything is. This shows how an ego can be dangerous. Brockway is
willing to kill to keep his position. Even though it may seem like nothing
to everyone else, to him, it is his life. It's his only reason to exist,
and he doesn't want anyone to take it from him. When an accident occurs
he blames it upon his assistant, who is severely hurt during the accident.
The man with no name awakes in some kind of hospital to find he has
undergone some kind of surgery. The surgery, I believe, represents the
great changes that everyone must go through in order to get accepted into
society. Even though they may be done against our will, or unknowingly to
us.
He awakes to stumble out into the street to be discovered by Mary, a
kind hearted black women who offers him a place to stay. Mary represents
those few people who go out of their way in order to help those people less
fortunate then themselves. Mary is the one light in the darkness to help
the lost traveler upon his journey. She gives him the kindness and support
that he needs during this difficult time of his life.
One night he happens upon a large group of people witnessing an
elderly black couple being evicted. He gives a speech denouncing the
actions of the men who are evicting them. A riot follows, but he escapes
by running along the roof tops. A man who heard his speech offers him a
job as a speaker for his "Brotherhood", which is a combined group of white
and black people working for a better Harlem. He has discovered his talent
which will lead to his success, and failure. His gift of speech is a
double-edged sword, it will be the source of his success, but it will lead
to his being used and eventually discarded like a used paper cup.
Over the next few months he is trained and groomed like a pig to be
sent to slaughter. He is then sent to speak to the people in Harlem to try
and unite them together. During this time he meets two unique people, one
of which is Ras the Exhorter. Ras wants to lead a violent revolution of
Harlem. He is the evil of Harlem incarnate, he has no compassion for the
people, he doesn't care who dies as long as his will is served. Ras does
not believe that white and black people should work together.
The other person he meets is Clifton, a black man, in charge of his
security. Clifton is a person who believes in all people working together,
he often violently renounces Ras the Exhorter.
An interview with a news paper reporter leads the man with no name to
be put on a sort of trial by the Brotherhood. They are not pleased that
the article only deals with an individual and not the whole Brotherhood.
This leads to the man with no name to be moved out of Harlem for a short
time.
After returning to Harlem, he finds that Ras has taken almost total
control. He sees Clifton on the street selling small black dolls. This
shows how society can crush a man's will. After an argument with a cop
Clifton is shot and killed, a funeral is arranged and the invisible man is
ridiculed by the Brotherhood for making a hero out of a traitor. This
shows one of the great flaws of the Brotherhood, their inability to forgive
their own members. He finally leaves the Brotherhood learning that they
valued him for his gift of speech not his view. It is so common for people
not to look at the inner abilities of a person, they are often more than
they seem.
A riot commences and he sees the true purpose of the Brotherhood, to
have Harlem destroy itself. This leads to the utter destruction of all he
believes in. His journey has led to a turn that passed through hell itself.
All he had worked for was for nothing. He was used and had no idea that
it had happened. The reason I believe the book was named The Invisible Man,
was for one simple reason, he was one of society's nameless victims.
The author of The Invisible Man is Ralph Ellison. He was born in
Oklahoma and trained as a musician. He wrote many short stories and
fiction for magazines. The Invisible Man won him the Nation Book Award and
the Russwurm Award. He was a charter member of the National Council on
the Arts and Humanities. He died in 1994.
The main character was a very strong yet naive character. In example,
he was strong enough to take the job of chauffeuring Mr. Norton, but he
didn't realize that he shouldn't take him to certain areas on campus. He
was a very trusting character, which may be a good trait, but it could get
you into alot of
trouble. A good example of this is how he trusted the Brotherhood to
support him and his views. He was a strong character in the sense that
through all of the hardships that he had faced throughout his journey he
stuck with his ideas.
The Invisible Man has many ties with reality in the sense that it
shows how cruel and brutal life can be. Our main character worked hard to
get into school only to have it taken away from him. The same happened to
him when he got a job at the factory. The final and most devastating blow
is dealt by the Brotherhood. They took him in as one of their own and made
him feel welcome. The made it seem as though they were working for the
same goals they he was. Only to betray him in the end and use him for
their own misguided wants.
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