Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison and Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain are both revolutionary novels about life and growing up. Huckleberry Finn is set in pre-Civil War times, while Invisible Man is set in the post-Civil War era. Although, these novels are set in eras that are vastly different, in many ways the societal beliefs and views are the same.
             Although, Invisible Man is set in the 1940's, a time of growth for black Americans, many people still held on to the old world beliefs of segregation from Huck Finn's time. Even Invisible Man (IM), who is a young Southern black man trying to better himself is shocked when an old war veteran talks to Mr. Norton, a college trustee in a manner that isn't submissive and reverential. "Men like us did not look at a man like Mr. Norton in that manner"(Invisible Man, 90). IM is a free man, he is no man's chattel, unlike Jim in Huckleberry Finn. Even so, he is still subjected to the cruel behavior of the upper and middle class whites of society in the Battle Royal. "There was nothing to do but what we were told," remarked IM when he was blindfolded and forced to fight for the pleasure of the white society (Invisible Man, 21). While being forced to fight he was further subjected to the rude and barbaric comments and behavior of the supposed "civilized' whites, who ironically found entertainment in this uncivilized entertainment. And still, later he and others were made to grovel on the ground like animals for spare change that was placed on an electrified rug. This too was for the entertainment of the "civilized' leaders of the community. This and many more equally degrading exhibits by the white society proved that after the Civil War societal propriety was much the same as in Huck Finn's time.
             Huckleberry Finn, which is set before the Civil War, shows the reader how ingrained slavery was in societ
             ...