Analysis of the Invisible Man

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Never fitting in, the invisible man has learned to conquer his surroundings and finally lead a life for himself. He thought that by moving to the North he would no longer be suppressed because of the color of his skin. Unfortunately things didn't change much for the narrator, so he decided to make another change in his life. He decided to become invisible. With this change, he went from trying to fit in to being able to do whatever he wants. Instead of taking the harsh words and racist actions, he finally could stick up for himself. This novel isn't a story of vengeance, but a story of accepting yourself when no one else does. The narrator is an African American man from the South during the 1920s. During the novel, many details are kept from the reader. He never reveals his name, along with the name of his college, the state he is from and other personal details. By keeping these details hidden, the narrator is even more invisible to his audience. Yet, he explains that being visible requires people to see you. Whether they see you good or bad, if they notice you, then you are not invisible. Without people not noticing him, the narrator feels lost. This quotation from the prologue explains the struggle he experiences because he is invisible: Or again, you often doubt if you really exist. You wonder whether you aren’t simply a phantom in other people’s minds. Say, a figure in a nightmare, which the sleeper tries with all his strength to destroy. It’s when you feel like this that, out of resentment, you being to bump people back. And, let me confess, you feel that way most of the time. You ache with the need to convince yourself that you do exist in the real world, that you’re part of all the sound and anguish, and you strike out w... ... middle of paper ... ... novel is fighting like with like. In this case, stereotypes are battling back and forth. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a stereotype is to believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same. The narrator has been set back by the limitations of African American stereotypes. When he joins the Brotherhood, those groups of African Americans live according to these stereotypes, as a defense strategy. Finally in the end, he is hardened by all of his traumatic experiences. He seduces the girlfriend of one of the leaders of the Brotherhood just to get information out of her. Although his plan backfires because she doesn’t have the information he needs, this is the first time in the novel that he made a decision for himself. He realizes that it is better to stay true to you than true to a corrupt group for social standings

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