Use of the Bird Motif in Invisible Man

2381 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Racism and literature

Use of the Bird Motif in Invisible Man

Abstract: According to A Handbook to Literature, motif refers to a "recurrent repetition of some word, phrase, situation, or idea, such as tends to unify a work through its power to recall earlier occurrences" (264). One such type of motif which has seemed to receive less critical attention is Ellison's treatment of birds. Hence, my aim in this essay is to examine the references to birds in Invisible Man, attempting to show how Ellison uses the image of the bird to symbolize various forms of entrapment.

In a 1965 interview, when asked his view on the role of the novelist, Ralph Ellison stated the following:

I think that the good novelist tries to provide his reader with vivid depictions of certain crucial and abiding patterns of human existence. This he attempts to do by reducing the chaos of human experience to artistic form. And when successful he provides the reader with a fresh vision of reality. For then through the symbolic action of his characters and plot he enables the reader to share forms of experience not immediately his own. And thus the reader is able to recognize the meaning and value of the presented experience as a whole. (Kostelanetz 10)

Given Ellison's comment, one can readily see the importance he placed on using imagery that symbolizes significant life experiences. That Ellison speaks here of "meaning" and "value" as his desired effect seems most critical to his overall purpose as a writer. Ellison's novel, Invisible Man focuses on the black individual's search for racial and social identity, and symbolism is often employed to underline his character's sense of entrapment.

Most readers of Invisible Man read...

... middle of paper ...

...se brush as from the extreme treetops of the harmonic landscape, and there was, without a doubt, as irrepressible a mockery in his personal conduct as in his music. (Ellison, On Bird 223)

When one considers the musical parallels, what Ellison says about Charlie Parker could well be applied to the structure of Invisible Man. Through its ornithological leitmotif, Ellison successfully composes what could be thought of as a variation on his essential theme of racial entrapment.

Works Cited

Byam, M. S. "Ellison, Ralph" in Book Review Digest 1952, 284.

Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. 1952. New York: Vintage, 1990.

----. "On Bird, Bird-Watching, and Jazz." Shadow and Act. Ralph Ellison. New York: Vintage Books, 1972, 221-232.

Kostelanetz, Richard. "An Interview with Ralph Ellison." Iowa Review 9 (1989): 1-10.

Show More
Related

  • Case Study of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti

    781 Words  | 2 Pages

    demand a ransom. The money was to be thrown off a moving train at a

    Read More

  • False Identity in Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

    1810 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man, one of Ellison’s greatest assets is his ability to bestow profound significance upon inanimate objects. During the narrator’s journey from the bar to the hole, he acquires a series of objects that signify both the manifestations of a racist society, as well as the clues he employs to deconstruct his indoctrinated identity. The narrator’s briefcase thereby becomes a figurative safe in his mind that can only be unlocked by understanding the true nature of the objects that lie within. Thus, in order to realize who he is, the narrator must first realize who he is not: that unreal man whose name is written in Jack’s pen, or the forcibly grinning visage of Mary’s bank.

    Read More

  • Ralph Ellison's Battle Royal

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this passage, Ellison reveals the identity crisis faced by not only the Invisible Man, but by the entire African American race as well. He builds on this theme as he follows the I.M. through his life experiences.... ... middle of paper ... ...by very carefully executing his point of view, thereby giving the modern day reader a clear concept of the problem.

    Read More

  • Invisible Man

    953 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ralph Ellison uses symbolism in the first chapter of Invisible Man to illustrate the culture in which he lived and was raised. In the chapter, entitled “Battle Royal”, Ellison intends to give his graduation speech to the white elite of his community. However, before her can deliver said speech, he is forced to perform humiliating tasks. The use of symbols is evident throughout “Battle Royal” particularly with regard to the Hell imagery, power struggle, and the circus metaphor.

    Read More

  • Invisible Man and The Grapes of Wrath

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thus, Ellison and Steinbeck made the protagonists the representatives of their respective communities. Especially in Invisible Man, the protagonist is invisible. He doesn’t have either a name or an identity. By making them the representatives of their communities, these two authors conveys the readers to generalize the condition that prevailed in the America in the mid-20th century.

    Read More

  • Invisible Race and Gender in Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison

    2387 Words  | 5 Pages

    In Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, the unnamed narrator shows us through the use motifs and symbols how racism and sexism negatively affect the social class and individual identity of the oppressed people. Throughout the novel, the African American narrator tells us the story of his journey to find success in life which is sabotaged by the white-dominated society in which he lives in. Along his journey, we are also shown how the patriarchy oppresses all of the women in the novel through the narrator’s encounters with them.

    Read More

  • Trials And Tribulation In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Ralph Ellison’s novel, Invisible Man, the narrator who is the main character goes through many trials and tribulations.

    Read More

  • Assessment of Customer Service of Hilton Hotel Newport

    875 Words  | 2 Pages

    In part one I am going to draw up a list of agreed service quality

    Read More

  • Motifs In Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man

    998 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel, Invisible Man, was written in 1952 by Ralph Ellison. The story is told from a nameless narrator who is an African American living in the Southern United States during the 1930’s. He opens by explaining that he is hiding underground, attempting to be invisible, writing his life story. He then tells his story. Ellison divalogues the narrator’s story through both the narrator’s and society’s impression of the narrator. Two motifs such as blindness and individuality authenticates Ellison’s omen created by the novel.

    Read More

  • Racism Exposed in Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison

    1123 Words  | 3 Pages

    He shows the life of an average black man during that time period through his narrator in the Invisible Man. In Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison uses symbolism, theme and conflict to portray racism of the whites and blacks in America during the late 1940s and early 1950s In the Invisible Man Ralph Ellison uses a great deal of symbolism. Such as the poem The Caged Bird sings. Ellison compares the narrators situation in life to the Caged bird in the Caged Bird poem.

    Read More

  • The Invisible Man

    934 Words  | 2 Pages

    To understand the narrator of the story, one must first explore Ralph Ellison. Ellison grew up during the mid 1900’s in a poverty-stricken household (“Ralph Ellison”). Ellison attended an all black school in which he discovered the beauty of the written word (“Ralph Ellison”). As an African American in a predominantly white country, Ellison began to take an interest in the “black experience” (“Ralph Ellison”). His writings express a pride in the African American race. His work, The Invisible Man, won much critical acclaim from various sources. Ellison’s novel was considered the “most distinguished novel published by an American during the previous twenty years” according to a Book Week poll (“Ralph Ellison”). One may conclude that the Invisible Man is, in a way, the quintessence Ralph Ellison. The Invisible Man has difficulty fitting into a world that does not want to see him for who he is. M...

    Read More

  • Racism and Identity in Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man

    2213 Words  | 5 Pages

    Lillard, Stewart. "Ellison's Ambitious Scope in "Invisible Man"." English Journal. 58.6 (1969): 883-839. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. .

    Read More

  • Jazz in Invisible Man

    1453 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shmoop Editorial Team. “Ralph Ellison: Writing Invisible Man.” Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 26 Jan 2014.

    Read More

  • Use of Symbolism In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ralph Ellison uses several symbols to emphasize the narrator’s attempt to escape from stereotypes and his theme of racial inequalities in his novel, Invisible Man. In particular, the symbolism of the cast-iron is one that haunts the narrator throughout the book. Ellison’s character discovers a small, cast-iron bank that implies the derogatory stereotypes of a black man in society at the time. From its “wide-mouthed, red-lipped, and very black” features, to its suggestion of a black man entertaining for trivial rewards, this ignites anger in Ellison’s narrator. The cast-iron bank represents the continuous struggle with the power of stereotypes, which is a significant theme throughout the novel.1

    Read More

  • Invisible Man Essay: Identity and Invisibility

    1163 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Langman, F. H. & Co., Inc. The "Reconsidering Invisible Man" The Critical Review. 18 (1976) 114-27. Lieber, Todd M. "Ralph Ellison and the Metaphor of Invisibility in Black Literary Tradition." American Quarterly.

    Read More

More about Use of the Bird Motif in Invisible Man

Open Document