Literature Analysis # 3: Invisible Man

General

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).

• Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison was written in 1952 in New York City. The story begins when an African-American man introduces himself to the reader as the "invisible man." He had gone underground to write about his life when the narrator flashed back to the events that lead up to his present state. Since his birth, the narrator was a gifted public speaker and was invited by the white men to give a speech in which he received a scholarship. When he was at college, he was assigned to drive Mr. Norton around the school campus. After seeing and overhearing information about Jim Trueblood, Mr. Norton got a drink from Golden Day and fainted. When the college president heard about this he expelled the narrator from school and sent him to New York City for him to find a job. He meet Emerson's son, and he offered him a job where the narrator got injured and lost his consciousness. After the narrator recovered, Brother Jack heard his speech and asked him to join the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood decided that the narrator was using the Brotherhood for his own personal use and moved him around to different places. After, the narrator tried to get revenge on the Brotherhood and by doing so he tried to get information. When he returned to Harlem a riot broke out and was caught in the confusion before running away. The narrator finally fell into a manhole where he told his story and determined he was ready to emerge from underground and be himself.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

• The major theme of the novel had to be the racism between African-Americans and Whites. As the narrator tried to identify himself throughout the book, he realized that he was unable to fully express his true abilities to society. They controlled him and used him for their own personal needs. Because of this treatment, the narrator defines himself as the invisible man. 

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

The author's tone was thoughtful and optimistic. Instead of writing a story out of anger and frustration due to racism, the author tone was more realistic towards the situation.

• "And I love light. Perhaps you'll think it strange that an invisible man should need light, desire light, love light. But maybe it is exactly because I am invisible. Light confirms my reality, gives birth to my form." (Prologue)
• "All my life I had been looking for something and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naïve. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer." (Chapter 1)

• "Whatever it was, I knew I'd have to keep it pressed down. I had to. For if I were successful tonight, I'd be on the road to something big." (Chapter 16)

4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)

*Irony: The narrator's first job was for a paint company that had "Liberty Paints", but the narrator wasn't able to experience any sense of liberty throughout the novel.
*Symbolism: The "Optic White" was a symbol that resembled race because in order to make the white paint dominant the dark colors had to be covered up, same as in society. 
*Dialogue: When the narrator was to give a speech he was not only afraid of them, but also of what they had to say to him.
*Setting: It's during a time period where racism was still alive and the dominate race controlled everything.
*Plot Tension: No one is able to see the narrator for who he really is so he becomes the invisible man and disappears.
*Diction: Abusive language reflects the treatment between the races.
*Imagery: They was he felt when giving a speech could easily be seen by anyone because his confidence wasn't always there. 
*Emotional Appeal: He descried the Brotherhood and how it applied to their everyday lives.  
*Motif: The Brotherhood's mistreatment causes him to break free of their power and seek revenge for himself. 

CHARACTERIZATION 

1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

Direct Characterization:

• "I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time been ashamed." (Chapter 1)
• "What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?" (Chapter 13)

Indirect Characterization: 

• "You right, but everything that looks good ain't necessarily good." (Chapter 13)

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?

When the dominate race talked the diction was demanding and rude. The narrator tried to focus on how two-faced those people were. When the narrator focused on himself, his diction was thoughtful and fierce.

• "(Not that I believed this – how could I, remember my grandfather? – I only believed that it worked.) It was a great success…It was a triumph for our whole community. " (Chapter 1)

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.
The protagonist is a dynamic character because throughout the novel he talked about the changes he underwent. He started as a person who didn't know much, to finding out that not everyone could be trusted. He is also a round character because his personality changed as well. He encountered situations that changed the way he thought by informing himself of the different traits society carried. 
4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.

 I feel  like I met a person because the narrator had to over come issues that were realistic. I was able to understand how the narrator saw the world he was living in.

• "How had I come to this? I had kept unswerving to the path placed before me, had tried to be exactly what I was expected to be, had done exactly what I was expected to do – yet, instead of winning the expected reward, here I was stumbling along, holding on desperately to one of my eyes in order to keep from bursting out my brain against some familiar object swerved into my path by my distorted vision." (Chapter 6)