Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

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“I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer.';

-The Invisible Man

Be True to Thyself
Many people travel through life on a constant search on who there are and how they fit into this world. Some maneuver through situations and issues that they are faced with never being true to themselves, but more so modeling the behaviors of others. It is not until one defines their self-image, obtain a healthy amount of self-esteem, and confidence can they execute decisions concerning their lives. Until then, their actions are merely mimics or derivatives of the thoughts or beliefs of another. In Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man, the nameless protagonist does not possess a definite sense of self, which results in his living his life for others.
Primarily, the invisible man emulates his life after other people. The first example of this is how he behaves like his grandfather. On his deathbed the invisible man’s grandfather tells him to “to keep up the good fight';(Ellison16). Following this he was always doing what was right and was “considered an example of desired conduct—just as [his] grandfather had been';(Ellison 17). Once the invisible man goes off to college he begins to act in a manner to please Mr. Norton. Not only does Mr. Norton not identify with the invisible man racially, he views blacks as “a mark on the scoreboard of [his] achievement';(Ellison 95). Despite these two facts the invisible man allows himself to be a “do boy'; by chauffeuring Mr. Norton to slave quarters. It is here that the protagonist can truly be identified as someone that is not in touch with himself because he sacrifices his education for a man that is not concerned about him or his race. Dr. Bledsoe tries to drive this concept into the invisible man when he tells him that “the white folks tell everybody what to think';(Ellison 143). Dr. Bledsoe expels the invisible man from school, hoping that he will learn how to survive and develop an identity that suits him. After being expelled from school, the invisible man begins a journey to make a living for himself. He ends up in New York where he is introduced to “The Brotherhood';. “The Brotherhood'; quickly gives him a place to live, a job with a reasonable salary, and petty cash to spend on clothing. He adopts their ideologies, mimics their way of life, and indulges himself in their literature.

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