The Significance of Mr. Norton and Fate in Invisible Man
In his novel Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison has developed the invisible man by using the actions of other characters. Through his prophecy, Mr. Norton has secured the destiny of the narrator, himself, and all persons in the novel. Mr. Norton forebodes that the narrator will determine his fate, but Mr. Norton doesn't realize that the fate determined is universal: that every being is invisible and without this knowledge, people are blinded by their own invisibility. The narrator is able to come to terms with this self-realization at the end of the end of the novel, and by doing so, he has become an individual and a free man of society, which in essence, is what Mr. Norton had first symbolized in the narrator's mind. At the end though, Mr. Norton will symbolize a blind, shameful society that the narrator becomes invisible to. The narrator was only able to become invisible by Mr. Norton's foreshadowing; for it was he who helped drive the narrator to the North and accompany his fate.
Mr. Norton, a rich, Southern, white trustee, claims that the narrator and the black people "were some how closely connected" with his destiny. This man contributed funds to the college as a tribute for his deceased daughter, which startled the narrator, for this white man poured his heart out to him.
"That was something I never did; it was dangerous. First, it was dangerous if you felt like that about anything, because then you'd never get it or something or someone would take it away from you; then it was dangerous because nobody would understand you and they'd only laugh and think you were crazy", (Ellison 43).
The narrator is afraid to open himself up for a...
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In Ralph Ellison’s novel, Invisible Man, the narrator who is the main character goes through many trials and tribulations.
The narrator’s father is being freed from slavery after the civil war, leads a quiet life. On his deathbed, the narrator’s grandfather is bitter and feels as a traitor to the blacks’ common goal. He advises the narrator’s father to undermine the white people and “agree’em to death and destruction (Ellison 21)” The old man deemed meekness to be treachery. The narrator’s father brings into the book element of emotional and moral ambiguity. Despite the old man’s warnings, the narrator believes that genuine obedience can win him respect and praise.
Early in the novel, the unnamed narrator of the novel delivered a high school graduation speech so profound, that his community invited him to deliver another speech to the prominent white members of the community. To the narrator, it appeared to be an excellent opportunity to bring together the African American and white community, with the narrator describing it as “a triumph for [their] whole community.” (Ellison 14). Unfortunately, this is not at all what it was. In fact, the white men blindfolded the narrator as well as the other African Americans present, and forced them to
Throughout Ralph Ellison’s novel, Invisible Man, the main character dealt with collisions and contradictions, which at first glance presented as negative influences, but in retrospect, they positively influenced his life, ultimately resulting in the narrator developing a sense of independence. The narrator, invisible man, began the novel as gullible, dependent, and self-centered. During the course of the book, he developed into a self-determining and assured character. The characters and circumstances invisible man came across allowed for this growth.
Invisibility serves as a large umbrella from which other critical discussion, including that of sight, stems. Sight and Invisibility are interconnected when viewing Invisible Man. Essentially, it is because of the lack of sight exhibited by the narrator, that he is considered invisible. Author Alice Bloch’s article published in The English Journal, is a brief yet intricate exploration of the theme of sight in Ellison’s Invisible Man. By interpreting some of the signifying imagery, (i.e. the statue on campus, Reverend Bledsoe’s blindness, Brother Jack’s false eye) within the novel, Bloch vividly portrays how sight is a major part of Ellison’s text. The author contends that Ellison’s protagonist possesses sightfulness which he is unaware of until the end of the book; however, once aware, he tries to live more insightfully by coming out of his hole to shed his invisibility and expose the white man’s subjugation. What is interesting in Bloch’s article is how she uses the imagery of sight in the novel as a means to display how it is equated to invisibility
Many papers seem to show good fortune for the narrator, but only provide false dreams. The narrator’s prize of a brief case containing his scholarship first illustrates this falsehood: “take this prize and keep it well. Consider it a badge of office. Prize it. Keep developing as you are and some day it will be filled with important papers that will help shape the destiny of your people” (32). The narrator is filled with joy from receiving his scholarship and brief case but subconsciously knows of the shallowness of the superintendent’s heart felt speech. Ellison shows this subconscious knowledge through the narrator’s dream of receiving a letter of deep and truthful meaning: “And I did and in it I found an engraved document containing a short message in letters of gold…” “To Whom It May Concern,” I intoned. “Keep This Nigger-Boy Running” (33). Even though it is just a dream, the white people actually do want to keep the narrator and his race running after false dreams.
Howe, Irving. "Review of: Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man" Pub. The Nation. 10 May 1952. 30 November 1999. <http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/howe-on-ellison.html.
Though the stories may seem “out of place” at first transitioning to the present and past, the style shows how the narrator has learned from his experiences. When the narrator mentions the founder of his school, Mr. Norton, a wealthy and intelligent man, the author praises him as if he were a god. He explains how Mr. Norton’s opening the school affected the entire Negro race in a positive way. Giving them opportunities to better themselves and show they are just as capable as any other.
In the opening chapters, the narrator receives a scholarship to attend the “state college for Negros”. He is told that in order to win the scholarship, he must stand and deliver a speech to a congregation of the community’s most important members. However upon arriving to the hotel where he is to give his speech, he is blindfolded, and forced to participate in a “Battle Royale” amongst other young African-American men. During the battle, he is able to halfway lift the blindfold, partially restoring his sight. The combatants swing wildly at one another. The Narrator says, “Blindfolded, I could no longer control my motions. I had no dignity.” He is dehumanized, brutalized, and demoralized. His blindness is symbolic, as he doesn’t hold any authority in the situation. He is powerless, at the mercy of the white men who are toying with him. The narrator believes that he was attending the convention to procure a scholarship to further his education; however, in reality he was mere entertainment. H...
Ralph Ellison lucratively establishes his point through the pathos and ethos of his fictional character, the invisible man. He persuades his readers to reflect on how they receive their identities. Ellison shows us the consequences of being “invisible.” He calls us to make something of ourselves and cease our isolationism. One comes to the realization that not all individuals will comply with society, but all individuals hold the potential to rise above expectations.
The narrator of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is the victim of his own naiveté. Throughout the novel he trusts that various people and groups are helping him when in reality they are using him for their own benefit. They give him the illusion that he is useful and important, all the while running him in circles. Ellison uses much symbolism in his book, some blatant and some hard to perceive, but nothing embodies the oppression and deception of the white hierarchy surrounding him better than his treasured briefcase, one of the most important symbols in the book.
Upon opening Ralph Waldo Ellison’s book The “Invisible Man”, one will discover the shocking story of an unnamed African American and his lifelong struggle to find a place in the world. Recognizing the truth within this fiction leads one to a fork in its reality; One road stating the narrators isolation is a product of his own actions, the other naming the discriminatory views of the society as the perpetrating force infringing upon his freedom. Constantly revolving around his own self-destruction, the narrator often settles in various locations that are less than strategic for a man of African-American background. To further address the question of the narrator’s invisibility, it is important not only to analyze what he sees in himself, but more importantly if the reflection (or lack of reflection for that matter) that he sees is equal to that of which society sees. The reality that exists is that the narrator exhibits problematic levels of naivety and gullibility. These flaws of ignorance however stems from a chivalrous attempt to be a colorblind man in a world founded in inequality. Unfortunately, in spite of the black and white line of warnings drawn by his Grandfather, the narrator continues to operate on a lost cause, leaving him just as lost as the cause itself. With this grade of functioning, the narrator continually finds himself running back and forth between situations of instability, ultimately leading him to the self-discovery of failure, and with this self-discovery his reasoning to claim invisibility.
Ralph Ellison achieved international fame with his first novel, Invisible Man. Ellison's Invisible Man is a novel that deals with many different social and mental themes and uses many different symbols and metaphors. The narrator of the novel is not only a black man, but also a complex American searching for the reality of existence in a technological society that is characterized by swift change (Weinberg 1197). The story of Invisible Man is a series of experiences through which its naive hero learns, to his disillusion and horror, the ways of the world. The novel is one that captures the whole of the American experience. It incorporates the obvious themes of alienation and racism. However, it has deeper themes for the reader to explore, ranging from the roots of black culture to the need for strong Black leadership to self-discovery.
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