In Ralph Ellison's novel, Invisible Man, the main character goes
             through many situations trying to discover himself. The main character,
             the narrator, thinks that he is a very important person. He thinks that
             his ideas will put an end to all the racial stereotypes in the world. The
             narrator does not realize that he is virtually nonexistent to everyone.
             The narrator goes through three states of sociality: invisible,
             At first, the narrator thinks of himself as being visible, however,
             he is actually totally invisible to everyone he meets. Hardly anything he
             does is accepted by the whites. He thinks people want to listen to him and
             that they look up to his views. He is notably naive, and even admits to it.
             He forms and idea of what he wants to be when he is expelled from college.
             That was when he realized he was not very important to anyone.
             During the middle of the novel, the narrator's visibility
             fluctuates; this symbolizes a change. He is slowly realizing that he is
             really invisible to everyone. When the narrator was speaking with Mr.
             Emerson about a job, Mr. Emerson said "...I happen to know of a possible job
             at Liberty Paints. My father has sent several fellows there...You should
             try--" and the narrator's reply was a shut door. This shows that the
             narrator knows he is not entirely visible or important to everyone. He had
             then realized that he is just a player in a game.
             In the end of the novel, the narrator sees that he is visible only
             to certain people. Nobody cares what he does, as long as he does what is
             expected. Towards the end of the novel, the narrator shows that he
             understands his status with the white people when he refuses to consent to
             sexual intercourse with a white woman.
             The narrator actually does find himself. In the prologue, he says
             "I myself, after existing some twenty years, did not become alive until
             ...