Invisible Man
The Invisible Man's head is constantly within the jaws of the lion's mouth. In Ralph Ellison's novel, Invisible Man, a story of racial differences and confused individual identity, the main character, known as Invisible Man is living a scripted existence. The Invisible Man is, in many ways, an actor or entertainer in the game of life. Like a circus performer with his head in a lion's mouth, Invisible Man is acting for the crowd, trying to please them the best that he can even if the situation could possibly be personally harmful or degrading. His actions are treated as if they occur outside of reality, like something in a movie or television program. At the drop of a hat, Invisible Man can change character and believe something completely opposite from what he thought several hours before. Then, weeks, days, or even minutes later he may return to the ideas that he originally followed. Similar to a fictional performer, he has no true self-identity. Throughout his school!ing and his adventures to survive in the North, Invisible Man constantly finds himself on the "stage". On the stage or in the game of life, Invisible Man feels that he is gaining power or social status but he usually ends
Throughout the event, he is constantly following the script that the white man has set for him. Invisible Man expects the electricity to stop at once. The Battle Royal was only the debut of Invisible Man's performing career. The treasure covered rug, which is electrified, is used to humor the white men at the expense of the black boys. The cigar smoke represents the haze of a dream or the fuzziness of an old film. The crowd continues to pull the "puppet's" strings by having Invisible Man repeat every sophisticated word !several times and laughing at him each time as if he was a comedian. The white world continues to manipulate his life until he finally discovers his invisibility and reality. They shouted hostile phrases at me. It was a dream fall, my body languid and fastidious as to where to land, until the floor became impatient and smashed up to meet me"(25). Throughout the pre-civil rights period in time, blacks had to succumb to the white man and laughing at their problems was the only way to do so. Laughing often hides feelings of pain, both physically and emotionally. This "act" shows the weakness of the blacks but it allows them to coincide with the white man. It is as if the white men in the room, the directors, were reading a script and the blacks had to follow it.
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Acceptance Essays
