A Study On The Identity Quest In Invisible Man From The Perspective Of Mythological Theory

Ralph Ellison(1914-1994) is one of the most important African American novelist, whose work Invisible Man won him the National Book Award for fiction in 1953. It is considered by critics as one of the most influential American novels since World War ?. This novel describes the process of an African youth looking for identity from South to North in America. Since its publication, critics have applied various literary theories to interpret Invisible Man, and there is some reviews about the relationship between the frontier mythology and Ralph Ellison's literary creation, it is not discussed thoroughly and comprehensively in the world mythology.In this thesis, an analysis on the mythic quest for identity in Ralph Ellison's novel invisible Man is presented within the framework of mythology as outlined by Joseph Campbell in his work The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Ellison adds to the classical form of myth primarily by employing the conventions of the hero and his journey. And he also breaks through classic myth conventions by adding an explicitly internal dimension to the hero's journey, writing about a racial discriminated hero, and challenging the traditional form of myth.This thesis studies the hero's journey toward identity, which is his central quest, and shows how his journey is interrupted by the world and the obstacles which the hero must deal with. The hero fulfills a heroic journey through the development of self, instigated by the disparity between how sees himself and how others see him. In his underground liar, which is full of light, he finally comprehends the truth of his existence. And embracing the truth helps him realize a certain universality to the experience of being invisible. Because of this journey, by the end of the story, we can find a fully-formed myth hero.