Ellison's Invisible Man reads very much like
             a jazz composition. The narrator's voice comes to us from the 'lower frequencies.' His
             personal saga takes place against the backdrop of the America's complex diverse culture
             and society. The novel po rtrays the impoverished and the wealthy, the rural and the
             urban, the North and the South. Invisible Man is a narrative of the American experience.
             The narrator's own life story takes place as an undertone to this larger experience,
             providing fur ther complexity and richness to an already diverse set of experiences. The
             narrator's voice rises from the lower registers of Ellison's hectic, varied portrayal of
             American society and culture. His story is an improvisation on a theme: the black Americ
             an identity. Ultimately, the narrator rejects the value of a single black American identity.
             He favors embracing diversity and complexity and believes we should accept the black
             American experience as a source from which a variety of improvisations can be
             The narrator's experiences with racism have
             led him to this conclusion. He subscribes to different ideologies throughout his life.
             However, each ideology demands that he submit his identity to a definition determined
             by others. Moreover, each ideology demands that he hide portions of his identity in order
             to conform to an ideal imposed from the outside. Each ideology promises a utopia that it
             fails to deliver. The ideology of the 'model black citizen' espoused by the college
             demands that its follower s shun the heritage of black Southern folk culture. It demands
             that its followers try not to be too black. The ideology of the Brotherhood demands that
             its followers break completely with their pasts and assume new identities. Both
             ideologies pr omise a better world, but require the narrator to bind his identity to one
             The dream of social progress for black
             Americans offered by the college's i
             ...