From Adam To Christ: A Mythological Approach To Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man is considered by critics as one of the most influential American novels since World War II and one of the most important novels in the 20^th century. This book drew the attention of literary critics as soon as it was first published in 1952. Many critics praised it for its transcendence of the protest novel and exploration of universal theme of human beings. But some leftist reviewers were irritated for its portrait of leftist groups in America. Furthermore at the end of the sixties and the beginning of the seventies it suffered the most furious attacks from proponents of the black aesthetics. Thus it suffered a short and gloomy period. But critical discussions of the making and unmaking of the American canon have reemphasized its importance. The concept of invisibility, like rabbit and green light, has entered American vocabulary. Now this novel stands firmly in the American canon and the major American literature anthologies include a selection from Ellison.This thesis begins with a survey of the critical response to Invisible Man from 1952 to the present and explains the objective of writing this thesis. Some of the previous critical works have mentioned Ellison's frontier background and literary allusions in Invisible Man. Few, however, examine the relationship between the American frontier mythology and this novel. As Afro-American historians have rediscovered Afro-Americans' role in the shaping of American frontier mythology that has a deep impact on the blacks, it is meaningful and plausible to reexamine Ellison's Invisible Man in a frontier mythological context.Chapter Two gives a brief introduction to Myth Criticism and discusses the relationship between American frontier mythology and Ralph Ellison's literary...