Invisible Man Visible Identity

Many critics hesitate to call Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man a black novel, thoughof course it is written by a black and is centrally concerned with the experiences of ablack. However unlike the black writers before him, Ellison does not depictpurposefully the unfairness and discrimination of the blacks;instead, he remainscalmly objective when it comes to the black-white relations and reveals his uniqueopinions on blacks' search for identities. The narrative and thematic concerns of thestory revolve around the development of the young protagonist as an individual. Theprotagonist sets his feet on his journey in the hope of achieving a concrete identity inthe white-dominated society, only to find that he is actually invisible in other's eyes.The universal problem of identity goes beyond the restrictions of the black novel andreceives worldwide acclaim. Though some black critics accused Ralph Ellison ofturning away from the rebellious tradition of black protest novel set forth by RichardWright, more and more discussions of the constitution of American canon hasconfirmed the status of his Invisible Man as a major modern classic.The strength of Invisible Man lies in its non-racial and universal question thatEllison puts forward for readers: how to achieve an identity in an alienated hostilesociety? Invisible Man is such an archetypal existential story of modern times. Ellisonworks music, specifically black music of jazz and blues, into the novel to deepen thetheme of this novel, the quest for identity. Since the appearance of Invisible Man in1952, a large amount of critical reviews and studies have been made. However, fewhave attempted to analyze the central theme in terms of music. Therefore, mainlyfrom the unique point of view of music, this thesis is intended to make a morecomprehensive and a more detailed analysis of how the protagonist gains theknowledge of himself and the society and thus achieves his identity by realizing hisridiculous state of being invisible in the hostile circumstances from three levels,cultural level, personal level and social level.This thesis is divided into five parts. In the Introduction, some backgroundknowledge is provided to explain Ralph Ellison, the unique black writer, and hisInvisible Man, a unique black novel. First the experience of the writer was differentfrom other black writers'. The hometown without a long-standing slavery traditiongave Ellison a more optimistic belief in life and possibility. The studies he made onwestern classics and his formal education helped his thought break through the racialrestriction. In this novel with the universal theme, Ellison expresses the common fateof all human beings by describing the Invisible Man's experience and psychologicaltransformation. This is just the point that many western critics praise and many blackleaders criticize.Chapter One is about the protagonist's quest for cultural identity. Theprotagonist's quest for cultural identity takes place on the historical level. At thebeginning, the protagonist feels ashamed of his own race and race's history andculture, trying to conceal his true identity. But he ends up finding himself falling intochaos and formlessness. To Ellison, one cannot obtain one's true identity and truefreedom if one denies his or her race's history and culture. Eventually, the InvisibleMan begins to cherish his culture and history because during his journey hisunconscious dependence on the black's history is expressed by means of blues andblack folktales. It is from blues and black folktales that the protagonist derivesstrength and courage to overcome confusion and frustration during his life-journey;itis in Armstrong's blues that the protagonist sings the song of invisibility — to makehis retrospection and finally find his true cultural identity. That is to say, acceptthemselves, cultivate the appropriate attitude to their race's history and cherish theirrace's culture.Chapter Two is intended to analyze the protagonist's quest for personal identityfrom two angles. Personal identity is the essential truth about an individual. On theone hand, the protagonist's quest for personal identity takes place on thepsychological level. On this level he moves from innocence to experience. The storybegins with the young innocent black deciding to gain a position in the world, but hethen does not know that the world is not what it appears. He suffers a series ofdisillusionments and betrayals, which help him remove his illusions about the realityand the knowledge obtained from his experiences enables him to achieve a truepersonal identity — he becomes at last a mature, introspective man who is reallyaware of himself.On the other hand, in this part, Ellison incorporates blues and jazz —specifically that of Louis Armstrong — into the novel to complement theprotagonist's quest to define himself. As jazz depends on the improvisational talentsof individual players and as it develops primarily among African-American musicians,it serves as an apt metaphor for the protagonist's struggle for individuality inAmerican society. It also makes an appropriate soundtrack, as it were, for a novelabout the search for such individuality. In this sense, jazz plays a very important rolein further interpreting the universal theme, the quest for identity.Chapter Three reveals the protagonist's quest for his social identity, which isembodied in his traveling on the geographical and social level. Geographically, hisjourney is from the South to the North, from the black world to the white world. It isalso a journey against injustice and racial prejudice. Over the course of the novel, theInvisible Man realizes that the complexity of his inner self is limited not only by theracism of the white but also by the racism of the black. He follows several blacks'examples successively but he fails on all occasions. Here Ellison not only criticizesracial prejudice but also shows the common fate of all human beings, for the black'sabsurd position in the hostile white society just represents the irrational and abnormalrelationship between human beings.The protagonist's journey also takes place on the social level, which means hetravels through invisibility to visibility, the recognition of self. Invisibility is thecentral metaphor of this novel. The Invisible Man only achieves visibility by realizinghis invisibility after his adventures. What's more, he obtains a concrete social identity,i.e., he becomes a brave and optimistic man, willing to put off the mask of invisibilityand to take the social responsibility.In the conclusion, some restatements are used to emphasized the importance ofthis unique novel, and the outstanding role of this unique writer.The charm of a great literary work lies in the fact that it reflects and reveals thecommon fate of all human beings by delineating a particular individual or group.Invisible Man is such a work. This novel, in a sense, provides all of us in reality withvery useful implication. Ellison, like the protagonist, remains optimistic and calm inthe face of the human dilemma and tries to make contribution to society.