Analysis Of Ralph Ellison's 'Invisible Man Prologue'

In the “Invisible Man Prologue” by Ralph Ellison we get to read about a man that is under the impressions he is invisible to the world because no one seems to notice him or who he is, a person just like the rest but do to his skin color he becomes unnoticeable. He claims to have accepted the fact of being invisible, yet he does everything in his power to be seen. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Invisible as incapable by nature of being seen and that’s how our unnamed narrator expresses to feel. In the narrators voice he says: “I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids- and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand simply because people refuse to see me.”(Paragraph #1) In these few words we can

In his inner struggles for existence and the need to be seen, he takes actions to be notice. For example, in his place he had manage to install and light up 1,369 light bulbs with the electricity he is steeling, he claims “Perhaps you’ll think it strange an invisible man should need light, desire light, love light. But maybe it is because I am invisible. Lights confirms my reality, gives birth to my form.”(Paragraph #14) “The truth is the light and light is the truth.”(Paragraph #16) If you really where okay with being invisible you would have not be attracting that much attention by lighting all your space so that you are not even invisible to the blindest. In a way, by the lighting up of all of those bulbs he is hoping that the light will actually not let him go unseen. It would be really hard for anyone to miss him under so much light, it would be merely impossible to not be visible. Something else he does is listen to Louis Armstrong singing “What did I do to be so Black and Blue.” He has one radio-phonograph which he finds not to be enough since he wants five in total. He claims he likes to feel the vibration of the music playing in his whole body and would love to play all five radios at the same time in sync and see how they feel. “You hear this music simply because music is heard and seldom seen.” (Paragraph #22) In a way the music vibration reminds him that he is physically present and can actually feel sensations like any human could. Also is interesting the title of the song he chooses to play, as if looking for an answer to his current situation and somehow the song will do just that. And with music you just have to feel and hear not necessarily see anything with your