The Freedom Of Choice In The Absurd World

Ralph Ellison is one of the most famous Afro-American writers in the20thcentury.Invisible Man is Ellison’s the only one long novel in his life. The protagonist totally loses hisexistence in the absurd world, but he isn’t defeated by the fate and seeks for his real-selfbravely, which reflects Ellison’s existential ideas. Invisible Man acquires a wide concern fromscholars. Most scholars have a specific research from the point of post-colonialism,symbolism and so on; few of them employ the point of Existentialism to analyze the freedomof choice in the absurd world. Based on Sartre’s freedom of choice theory and Camus’sabsurdity theory, this thesis tries to analyze the protagonist’s freedom of choice in the absurdworld from the existentialist point of view.This thesis consists of six parts. The first chapter introduces Ralph Ellison’s lifeexperience and the main story of Invisible Man. This chapter also expresses the creativity andsignificant of the thesis. The second chapter interprets literature reviews about Ralph Ellisonand Invisible Man at home and abroad. Critics probe Invisible Man from differentperspectives; while few analyze from existentialist point of view, employing Sartre andCamus’s theory to research the protagonist’s freedom of choice in the absurd world. The thirdchapter presents existentialist philosophical theory, which is the main theory in this thesis.Camus’s existentialist view of absurdity and Sartre’s existentialist view of freedom of choiceare involved, especially, and the latter, which is the basic theory in this thesis. The fourth andthe fifth chapter are the main parts in this thesis. Firstly, this thesis points out that theprotagonist’s confrontation with absurdity by exploring Cumus’s absurdity theory. Living inan absurd and chaotic society, individuals can never escape the absurdity in the society, whichcovers the confusion and disorder of the society, and alienation of modern man. Individualsalso have to face the absurdity among human beings which also includes two parts: disruptionof illusion and awareness of invisibility. The protagonist loses his value of existence in theabsurd world and becomes an invisible man little by little. Secondly, the essay probes into theprotagonist’s freedom of choice by choosing to be a visible man and a free man. In order to bea visible man, the protagonist works as a spokesman for the Brotherhood and he lives in anunderground through these special ways to be a visible man. In order to be a free man, theprotagonist chooses to be real self and free self by freedom of choice. The sixth chapter is theconclusion, which summarizes that when the protagonist faces the absurd world, he has therights to choose freely. Therefore, everyone in the absurd world has the rights to choose freely. People can gain a positive solution to solve the predicament in the reality. By the freedom ofchoice, people can acquire the spiritual freedom and the meaning of existence in the society;as well as human beings can find the value of existence in the society.