Author Information
Ralph Waldo Ellison was born on March 1, 1914, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. From his
birth, Ellison’s parents knew he was bound for prosperity. His father even named him for
the great writer Ralph Waldo Emerson in an effort to ensure such success.
When he was a teenager, Ellison and his friends daydreamed of being “Renaissance
Men.” Therefore, they studied the values and attitudes of Native Americans and whites, as
well as blacks. Ellison revered and admired the musicians of his area. At Douglas High
School, Ellison followed his inclination toward music. From there, he went to Tuskegee
Institute on a scholarship and dreamed of writing a symphony. After there was a mix-up
with his scholarship, Ellison chose to go north in order to save money for tuition. Arriving in
New York, Ellison found it difficult to find work and even harder to find work as a
musician. The result was a succession of odd jobs at Harlem’s YMCA with a
psychiatrist. There Ellison acted as a file clerk and a receptionist, and held various other
jobs around town. During this time, Ellison met the writer Richard Wright, who encouraged
him to be a writer rather than a musician.
From this point on, Ellison followed a life of writing in which he earned many
awards. His best known work is the novel Invisible Man, though he also wrote several
short stories. He began a second novel that has recently been published
posthumously. Students at Rutgers, New York University, and Bard College were lucky
enough to have Ellison as a professor. Ellison died on April 16, 1994, of pancreatic cancer, but
he continues to be published. In 1996, Flying Home: And Other Stories was published after
being discovered in his home.
Awards
Awards: 1953, Invisible Man received the National
Book Award; the jury praised Ellison for having "the
courage to take many literary risks.“
1965, Invisible Man is selected, in Book
Week poll, as the most distinguished post-World
War II American novel.
1969, received the Medal of Freedom from
President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Major Works
•
"Slick Gonna Learn" and "The Birthmark," published in 1939 and 1940, Ellison's initial stories. Set in
the American South and revolving around issues of class struggle and oppression.
•
"Afternoon," "Mr. Toussan," and "That I Had the Wings" -- published in 1940, 1941, and 1943
respectively. The stories are about two children, Buster and Riley, and deal with themes of identity,
learning, and conflict between generations as well as different attitudes toward the white world.
"In a Strange Country" (1944) deals with a young African-American marine, Parker, who is beaten by
a group of white soldiers.
•
•
"Flying Home" (1944), one of Ellison's most successful short stories; Todd, a black young cadet
training in the Deep South has chosen to become a pilot to prove that he is not inferior; after being
forced to crash-land his plane, he realizes that his "blackness" and his African-American heritage
are as much a part of him as his acquired skills and training.
•
Invisible Man (1952), one of the most influential American novels of the post-World War II period;
written in the first person, it is a kind of Bildungsroman about an idealistic young Negro who begins
as a student at a black college in the South, dutifully hoping to become a "credit to his race"; a
naïve error leads to his expulsion and he makes his way to Harlem; there, he experiences a series of
bizarre adventures which finally leave him with the realization that he is in fact faceless to others,
rendered invisible by his race and historical circumstances.
Characters
•
•
•
•
•
The Narrator: An unnamed African-American who considers himself socially invisible. The story is
told from his memories. He is very intellegent, even being named his high school’s valedictorian.
Mr. Norton: A rich white man who helped found the narrator’s school, believes his “destiny” is tied
with every black person attending the university. Is deeply emotional with his daughter as quoted
“She was a being more rare, more beautiful, purer, more perfect and more delicate than the wildest
dream of a poet. I could never believe her to be my own flesh and blood.”
Trueblood: A poor, uneducated black man who lives on the outskirts of the narrator's college
campus, Trueblood fits the negative black stereotype to a tee – and is amply rewarded. He is
ashamed to admit he impregnated his daughter, but even more amazed at the whites' behavior
towards him afterwards. They give him food, tobacco, and money.
Dr. Bledsoe: Dr. Bledsoe is the president of the narrator's college, and the narrator looks up to him
until he turns out to be a big phony. While Dr. Bledsoe preaches a doctrine of hard work and
humility as the key to black advancement, he retains his power as president of the college by
"playing the typical Negro“
Brother Jack: Our main contact with the Brotherhood is a pretty mysterious character. A white
male, he easily enters the narrator's life and offers him a ton of opportunities off the bat: money, a
job, and the chance to represent his community. There are many, many strings attached to the
benefits that the narrator accrues through working for the Brotherhood. Brother Jack demands that
the narrator renounce his past, focus on the collective, and use abstract jargon and ideology in his
speeches. Although he professes to be in favor of racial equality, when the Brotherhood shifts its
aims, Brother Jack willingly sacrifices the Harlem community without batting an eyelid. Speaking of
eyes… Brother Jack lacks one. His literal blindness is a metaphor for the flawed nature of his vision.
Setting
• 1930s, A black college in the South and New
York City, more focused in Harlem
Plot Summary
In the beginning, the main character lives in a small town in the South. He is a model student, even being named his high
school'svaledictorian. Having written and delivered an excellent paper about the struggles of the average black man, he gets
to tell his speech to a group of important white men. However, he is first forced to fight a humiliating "battle royal" with
other young black men. The battle royal consists of the young black men fighting blindfolded in a boxing ring while their
white superiors watch in enjoyment. (The Battle Royale scene is not a hallucination.) The young black men then are required
to fight over metal coins that have been put on an electric rug. When they touch the rug they are electrocuted (though not
killed), which greatly amuses the white powers that be of the city as they look on.After finally giving his speech, he gets a
scholarship to an all black college
During his junior year at the college, the narrator takes Mr. Norton, a visiting rich white trustee, on a drive in the country. He
accidentally drives to the house of Jim Trueblood, a black man living on the college's outskirts, who impregnated his own
daughter. Trueblood, though disgraced by his fellow blacks, has found greater support from whites. After hearing
Trueblood's story and giving Trueblood a hundred dollar bill, Mr. Norton faints, then asks for some alcohol to help his
condition, prompting the narrator to take him to a local tavern. At the Golden Day tavern, Norton passes in and out of
consciousness as World War I veterans being treated at the nearby mental hospital for various mental health issues occupy
the bar and a fight breaks out among them. One of the veterans claims to be a doctor and tends to Mr. Norton. The dazed
and confused Mr. Norton is not fully aware of what’s going on, as the veteran doctor chastises the actions of the trustee and
the young black college student. Through all the chaos, the narrator manages to get the recovered Mr. Norton back to the
campus after a day of unusual events. Upon returning to the school he is fearful of the reaction of the day's incidents from
college president Dr. Bledsoe. At any rate, insight into Bledsoe's knowledge of the events and the narrator's future at the
campus is somewhat prolonged as an important visitor arrives. The narrator views a sermon by the highly respected
Reverend Homer A. Barbee. Barbee, who is blind, delivers a speech about the legacy of the college's founder, with such
passion and resonance that he comes vividly alive to the narrator; his voice makes up for his blindness. The narrator is so
inspired by the speech that he feels impassioned like never before to contribute to the college's legacy. However, all his
dreams are shattered as a meeting with Bledsoe reveals his fate. Fearing that the college's funds will be jeopardized by the
incidents that occurred, Bledsoe immediately expels the narrator.
Continued Plot Summary..
While the Invisible Man once aspired to be like Bledsoe, he realizes that the man has portrayed himself as
a black stereotype in order to succeed in the white-dominated society. This serves as the
first epiphany among many in the narrator realizing his invisibility. This epiphany is not yet complete when
Bledsoe gives him several letters of recommendation to help him get a job under the assumption that he
could return upon earning enough money for the next semester. Upon arriving in New York, the narrator
distributes the letters with no success. Eventually, the son of one of the people to whom he sent a letter
takes pity on him and shows him an opened copy of the letter; it reveals that Bledsoe never had any
intentions of letting the narrator return and sent him to New York to get rid of him.
Acting upon the son's suggestion, the narrator eventually gets a job in the boiler room of a paint factory in
a company renowned for its white paints. The man in charge of the boiler room, Lucius Brockway, is
extremely paranoid and thinks that the narrator has come to take his job. He is also extremely loyal to the
company's owner, who once paid him a personal visit. When the narrator tells him about a union meeting
he happened upon, Brockway is outraged, and attacks him. They fight, and Brockway tricks him into
turning a wrong valve and causing a boiler to explode. Brockway escapes, but the narrator is hospitalized
after the blast. While recovering, the narrator overhears doctors discussing him as a mental health patient.
He learns through their discussion that shock treatment has been performed on him.
After the shock treatments, the narrator attempts to return to his residence when he feels overwhelmed
by a certain dizziness and faints on the streets of Harlem. He is taken to the residence of a kind, oldfashioned woman by the name of Mary. Mary is down-to-earth and reminds the narrator of his relatives in
the South and friends at the college. Mary somewhat serves as a mother figure for the narrator. While
living there, he happens upon an eviction of an elderly black couple and makes an impassioned speech
decrying the action. Soon, however, police arrive, and the narrator is forced to escape over several
building tops. Upon reaching safety, he is confronted by a man named Jack who followed him and implores
him to join a group called The Brotherhood that is a thinly veiled version of the Communist Party and
claims to be committed to social change and betterment of the conditions in Harlem. The narrator agrees.
Continued Plot Summary..
The narrator is at first happy to be making a difference in the world, "making
history," in his new job. While for the most part his rallies go smoothly, he soon
encounters trouble from Ras the Exhorter, a fanatical black nationalist in the vein
of Marcus Garvey who believes that the Brotherhood is controlled by whites. Ras
tells this to the narrator and Tod Clifton, a youth leader of the Brotherhood,
neither of whom seem to be swayed by his words.
Soon the narrator's name is all over Harlem, and a magazine calls to interview him.
Though he tries to convince them to interview Tod Clifton instead, they insist upon
him. When the article comes out, one brother criticizes him for taking personal
credit for the work, instead of emphasizing the whole of the Brotherhood, despite
his attempts otherwise. Because of this "controversy," the narrator is sent
downtown to address the issue of women's rights; subsequently, he winds up
having a one-night stand with a well-to-do married woman and becomes paranoid
that she is one of the Brotherhood's "enemies" or, possibly, the wife of one of its
members.
More Continued Plot Summary
When he returns to Harlem, Tod Clifton has disappeared. When the narrator finds him, he
realizes that Clifton has become disillusioned with the Brotherhood, and has quit. Clifton is
selling dancing Sambo dolls on the street, mocking the organization he once believed in. He is
shot to death by a police officer. At Clifton's funeral, the narrator rallies crowds to win back
his former widespread Harlem support and delivers a rousing speech. However, he is
criticized in a clandestine meeting with Brother Jack and other members for not being
scientific in his arguments at the funeral; angered, he begins to argue in retaliation, causing
Jack to lose his temper and accidentally make his glass eye fly out of one of his sockets. The
narrator realizes that the half-blind Jack has never really seen him either.
Walking along the street one day, the narrator is spotted by Ras and roughed up by his men.
He buys sunglasses and a hat as a disguise, and is mistaken for a man named Rinehart in a
number of different scenarios: first, as a lover, then, a hipster, a gambler, a briber, and, finally,
as a reverend. He sees that Rinehart has adapted to white society, at the cost of his own
identity. This causes the narrator to see that his own identity is not of importance to the
Brotherhood, but only his blackness.
Ending
He decides to take his grandfather's dying advice to "overcome 'em with
yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction. . ."
and "yes" the Brotherhood to death, by making it appear that the Harlem
membership is thriving when in reality it is crumbling. However, he soon
realizes the cost of this action: Ras becomes a powerful demagogue,
Harlem descends into riots due to feelings of being ignored/minimalized,
and the narrator has inadvertently supplied The Brotherhood with even
more material for propaganda to control the citizens. After escaping Ras
(by throwing a spear Ras had acquired through the leader's jaw,
permanently sealing it), the narrator is attacked by a couple of people who
trap him inside a coal-filled manhole/basement, sealing him off for the
night and leaving him alone to finally confront the demons of his mind:
Bledsoe, Norton, and Jack.
The story ends with the narrator musing over the problems of his life. The
story begins from where it started; the narrator is still in the same spot.
However, at the end of the novel, the narrator is ready to resurface
because "overt action" has already taken place.
Literary Elements
• The book's main theme is the invisibility of the
underdog. As the title suggests, the main
character is invisible because everyone sees
him as a stereotype, not as a real person
Critique
• My thoughts on the novel are that although it
is a very good book the fact that the narrator
kept jumping back into the past would be
confusing for any reader but that said, it was
still good.
Sources
• http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/all
am/1914-/lit/ellison.htm
• http://fajardo-acosta.com/worldlit/ellison/
• http://mail.baylorschool.org/~jstover/course
mat/IVAP/invisibleman.htm
• http://www.shmoop.com/invisible-manellison/dr-bledsoe.html