The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

The goal of every person is to find their place in society. The journey

itself is a hard one, but sometimes unforeseen obstacles make this journey

nearly impossible. The book, The Invisible Man, takes us along the 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 che...

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... 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.

This book is similar to the play Hamlet. Both of the main characters are

strong yet naive. They both endure many tragedies. Although the ones in Hamlet

are closely related to family, they both deceive the main characters to destroy

their dreams. The main characters both fight back though, they defend their

beliefs viciously never giving in to their enemies.