Genre Analysis “Invisible Man”

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/invisibleman/

Genre Analysis
“Invisible Man”

The Piece of literature I choose to write about is “Invisible Man,” by Ralph Elison. The “Invisible Man” is about A young black man (Ralph Elison) who grows up and goes through his life struggling to figure out his identity, and where he fits into the world as he searches for social acceptance into the white man's society. This story takes place in the south during the late 1920's or early 1930's at a time of course where African American’s were discriminated against and underprivileged, something we have some what seemingly moved passed in today's society. Elison's struggle to find acceptance and perhaps success in the white mans society only moves him further away from reaching his goal of finding his identity and his place in the world around him. He can not seem to find a balance or a happy medium with it all. Where one thing seems to be working there are other things in conflict. It seems to Elison that when he tries to be a success in his life go forth into the “white man’s society” he is somehow letting down his own people. He feels that he is being the white man's "Sambo," (a name used as early as the 18th century to refer to a African American male who complies with everything the white man implies.) , doing everything he's asked, or perhaps conforming, and perhaps for nothing at all because he's never going to be accepted and treated equally. On the other hand Elison feels that if he does not go forth in white society and try to be successful he will be living up to the negative stereotype that the white man holds him to. So there is a since of being "Damned if you do damned if you don't." Elison's conflicting views, emotions, and severe opposition drives him into hiding into the basement of a rundown project where no one knows he exists because he comes to the conclusion that he can not be seen in society for who and what he is, thus dubbing himself "The Invisible man."

Ralph Elison writes in a way as if to tell reader's he has given up, and does not care. Clearly him going into hiding reinforces this notion. I think that the point that Elison is trying to make is that it does not matter what you do in life, how much you try, or what methods you use, nothing will change. You are what you are, You can except it, or you can choose not to, the result is the same. Perhaps Elison had the existentialist belief circulating within his mind during the process of composing “Invisible man.” Elison uses the phrase "What did I do to be so black and blue?" (Ellison prologue 8), which implies that he did not asked to be born black and or miserable. This perhaps reinforces the notion that Elison is thrown into existence, and can not think away his existence, which in fact is part of what the existentialist belief implies. The existentialist belief implies that you cannot perhaps think away your existence, or control the circumstances, or conditions in which you were born under, and no matter what we do to try to change that, we in fact cannot . No matter what path or perhaps road we take in life, in the end we are going to end up in the same place. It simply can not be avoided. However existentialism does imply that we do have a choice as to how we want to live our lives, but with it could come great responsibility, high stress, profound anguish or dread. I think that Ellison may have been trying to get us to understand this, that we have a choice. His choice was to in fact to throw in the towel. But I think he wants us to understand that we can choose to live our lives the way we want to, but I think he wants to stress the fact that which ever way we choose, we are going to have to deal with the, responsibilities, results, and repercussions that come with it.

In today’s society we have so many individuals who ,like Elison throw in the towel , and constantly try to think away there existences or realities, and try to avoid dealing with the circumstances at hand. This in fact may be why we have so many cases of suicides and ones that are attempted, and individuals in mental or psychiatric institutions. They are so unhappy with the current state of their livs that they lose a sense of connection with the outside world. Therefore they, as Elison did go into hiding, or perhaps alienate themselves. Also with alienation comes a detachment from society. When we no longer have a connection with society, our ideologies change, our perspectives tend to shift, and the things that may have once been immoral to us may in fact become moral. This might also contribute to the number criminals we have running around in our society, and may in fact be responsible for the number of inmates we have in our prisons. Because due to some unfortunate circumstance, like Elison’s these individuals have lost their ability to deal with, or properly function in the society in which surrounds them.

The Invisible man is the most intriguing piece of literature I myself have ever read. Elison uses so many interesting quotes and details that has the ability to capture his readers. “The Invisible Man,” had the ability to make me open up my mind, and sort of change my perspectives on different things. “The Invisible Man” changed the way I read and interpret any text my eyes come in contact with. I think that Ralph Elison is a very talented author and I will forever hold his masterpiece in my heart.