Discovering the Invisible Man
In Ralph Ellison's novel, Invisible Man, the narrator's search to find an identity for himself is harsh journey of internal and external struggles through which several incongruous identities are forced upon him. This experience teaches the narrator that the act of placing a title on someone is linked to issues of power and control. He only finds betrayal, and never a true identity when he attempts to live his life under someone else's accord. Through his words, the reader can see the narrator's development in realizing that he is invisible simply because people refuse to see or acknowledge him. Since he is a black man in a white man's world, he is obscured and indistinguishable to others. The text embodies the universal theme of self-discovery, of the search to figure out who one truly is in life, which the narrator achieves through confrontations with the corrupted Dr. Bledsoe, racial segregation and the influences of the tainted Brotherhood.Dr. Bledsoe is a major influence in the narrator's search to find himself. At first, Dr. Bledsoe was somewhat of a role model for the narrator, as he saw the immense power, fortune and high position he held. The true side of Dr. Bledsoe was much different from what he portrayed to o
Bledsoe advocates lying as a good way to interact and manipulate Mr. Yet again, the narrator accepts another identity forced upon him. Though the narrator remains confused, there are certain instances based on racial incidents that allow the character, if not to have found himself, to ponder more and deeper questions about his identity. The idea of trickery is instilled in the narrator's mind, when he sees that "The angst assumed to accompany commodity status is greatly alleviated when that status constitutes a sole means of securing power in a hegemonic system" (Baker 89). Through his harsh journey of self-realization, the narrator realized that Bledsoe and the Brotherhood, who he at one point admired and respected, were really his enemies. Like the narrator's grandfather, Dr. The Brotherhood has affected the narrator drastically. Throughout his life, the narrator takes on several different identities and none, he thinks, adequately represents his true self, until he realizes what he has become, in which he sees that he accepts his invisibility and his self. Just like all the other identities given to the Invisible Man, the one given to the narrator by the Brotherhood is no different in that they are all just means to take advantage of him. Soon after being kicked out of college, the narrator comes to realize that Dr. "Throughout his life he encounters figures of authority - Norton, Bledsoe, the Brotherhood - who impose false names or unsuitable identities upon him" (Smith 27). His new identity has placed him in the center of thousands of people's attention, yet he is unseen, nor is it truly his own self. The Brotherhood perversely manipulates everyone for their own selfish ends.
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Acceptance Essays
