Violence In Invisible Man By Ralph Ellison

In the story “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison, he uses multiple brutal situations to show the toll that these types of situations can take on a person, and in this book, it seems to cause the narrator to posses more courage and become an advocate for himself and other black people. In “Invisible Man,” Ellison, the author, uses the violent scenes to demonstrate the way the narrator is affected to become more outspoken.

Ellison uses the context before the Battle Royal in the first chapter to show his transition from before any extremely violent scenarios to after. The man who asked for the narrator to give a speech at the battle tells him to join the Battle Royal. Once the narrator walks into the room, he describes his temptations, “I wanted

After the narrator fights for the white people’s entertainment and loses, he attempts to give a speech. However, on pages 30-31 the white males were being rude, and the narrator begins to stumbling over words and ends with the word “equality” accidentally due to the rudeness of the white people who were there for the fight. This is an example that the change in the narrator’s mindset that was foreshadowed because the narrator is now becoming more outspoken. Before, he would do whatever he was asked to, like fight in Battle Royal, but now he has used a word he may have not thought of using but says this was intentional. This demonstrates his mindset has evolved because not only has he become more outspoken, but he is now thinking of the rights the black people should posses. By using the word equality and not taking the words he said back, it is obvious that the violent events at the Battle Royal caused the narrator to have more guts. During this time period, black males, typically, listened to what the white males had to say and did not speak their minds. Since the narrator has the guts to use the word equality in a room full of white males, the toll of the violent event is obvious because the narrator is able to speak more freely to the crowd of white men. By the narrator using the word equality and speaking out for himself, it is obvious that this event

When the narrator was walking, he saw an old friend that used to work for the same group that he worked for selling toys illegally, and the authorities were able to see what Clifton was doing. Since what Clifton was doing was illegal, the authorities tried to catch him, but Clifton began to run and pushed the authorities buttons, then the narrator describes the cruel situation he just witnessed, “He fell forward on his knees, like a man saying his prayers just as a heavy-set man in a hat with a turned-down brim stepped from around the newsstand and yelled a protest. I couldn’t move. The sun seemed to scream an inch above my head. Someone shouted. A few men were starting into the street. The cop was standing now and looking down at Clifton as though surprised, the gun in his hand” (Ellison 436). After Clifton was shot, the narrator wanted to help his friend out; however, he was not allowed to do so which affected him. Not only was this scene brutal for anyone to see, but watching someone you knew die in front of you is even worse. The officers would not allow the narrator attempt to do something in efforts to save his friend’s life, and this caused a big scene. Being in this situation may cause people to feel guilty about not being able to do anything because the narrator actually had the chance to attempt to help someone who was close to him, Clifton, but he was not allowed