Invisible Man Rhetorical Analysis

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In Invisible Man, there are many instances in which rhetorical questions are brought up and one of these cases was when the narrator hears about the situation up in Harlem and asks to himself “What was happening uptown? Why should I worry over bureaucrats, blind men? I am invisible” (Ellison 528). The narrator believes that his invisibility has detached him for situations that were occurring at that time, so his responsibilities would not include having to fix or find out what was happening in Harlem. The rhetorical questioning shows that the narrator is coming to the realization that his invisibility is what makes him, him. After countless situations of being overlooked and ignored in decisions or discussions, the invisible man is able to …show more content…

By embracing his invisibility as his identity, the narrator comes to the realization that what he has gone through, the cycle of becoming a new being, may speak to others as members of oppressed communities work to find a voice. With the rhetorical questioning, the narrator goes through continuous self-criticism, but by critiquing himself, he is able to realize that he needs to bring a change with the way his invisibility is used. Through the adventures of being unknown in the picture to utilizing whatever possible to create change, the narrator portrays the true impact invisibility can produce, which is that invisibility can be the identity that one acclaims to, it does not have to be viewed in a negative light. If one does not attach themselves with labels or different descriptions, that does not mean that they are incompetent in any manner, but rather, they choose to be invisible and a part of something greater. With rhetorical questioning and accepting the boon of invisibility, the narrator finds a way to truly free himself from any shackles that may have limited him earlier as he worked to find his identity and understand who he really

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