The novel starts with the narrator living underground. He calls himself an invisible man because people refuse to see him beyond the color of his skin. He recalls the events that led to his life underground. He attended a college but is kick out his junior year for accidentally exposing a wealthy white trustee, Mr. Norton, to black incestuous man, Jim Trueblood. Dr. Bledsoe, president of the college, is the one that kicks the narrator out because the narrator threatened his position as president in the college. After being kicked out, the narrator gets a job at Liberty Paints making their signature product, Optic White Paint. There he encounters a boss that views him as a black man trying to steal his job. An accident occurs in the factory and the narrator becomes injured. The factory hospital cares for him, but it is here that he realizes those that he held in high esteem, i.e. Dr. Bledsoe and Mr. Norton, were really only looking out for themselves. Later, the narrator joins a group called the Brotherhood he thinks that this is where he'll be able to be his true self. However, he finds that he was being used as a token black man to appeal to the black community of Harlem. The narrator tries to get secret information about the Brotherhood from one of the important members wife, Sybil. But instead it is he that is used by her to become a part of her rape fantasy. He escapes the situation when he is called uptown to Harlem for a crisis, although she tries to follow along. A riot is in progress and the narrator is caught in it. Ras, a black nationalist, and his followers then decide to lynch the narrator and chases after him. While running from them the narrator runs into some cops and while trying to get away from them falls down a manhole. The policemen cover the hole and trap the narrator underground and in the dark. He has been living there ever since, but in the end feels that he needs to be socially responsible and make positiv...