Blindness As A Motif In Invisible Man By Ralph Ellison

A prominent motif in Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is blindness, which is analogous to naiveté. Blindness is an important concept in this novel because it is used to represent that people are unwilling to really look at something, at what they are being forced to go through, so they continue to go about their business unawares to what is the real root of evil in their society. The narrator begins the story as a naïve young man, but he escapes as a self-aware and more educated human being, although through gaining his knowledge he loses his entire identity.
The first instance in the novel where the topic of blindness arises is in the battle royal, which was when the rich, white men force the young blacks to be blindfolded and enter a ring

where they beat each other solely for the entertainment of the men. The blindfolds these young men are forced to wear represent that instead of working together to rise up against the evil forces they face; they were degraded and humiliated by fighting against one another like animals for the amusement of others (Ellison 21-28). The main character participated in this battle because at the time he is very naïve and is only interested in earning the respect of the rich white men who are his superiors. At the end of the novel the narrator realizes that this battle royal is inhumane and a bit of his vision returns to his eyes and can see that this is not something to which a black man, or any man for that matter, should be subjected.
The next scene in the novel where the idea of blindness is evident is in Reverend Barbee’s speech made at the college.

This speech has a profound impact on the narrator because it expresses the heroic tale of the downtrodden Founder escaping the brutality of his slavery and becoming a well-educated, generous man who believes in helping other young black men escape the unjust cycle of oppression imposed upon them all. The speech tricked the protagonist into believing that the college was a kind and caring organization that wanted nothing more than the success of their students, while deep down it was a corrupt structure led by a tyrant, Dr. Bledsoe, who was only concerned with keeping the white donors unknowingly wrapped around his finger in order to receive the desired monetary funding. Barbee wears dark glasses and at the end of his monologue, they fall to the floor revealing to the narrator that the Reverend is physically blind. His literal blindness is symbolic of his figurative blindness in that he is oblivious to the real evil that this college has come to represent; he is unable and unwilling to see that at the heart of this university there is only the struggle for power and a group of men who believe that they control the other (Ellison 118-133). The narrator reflects upon this speech at the end of the novel and finally sees just how corrupt and unjust the college and its leaders are and with this epiphany, another piece of his vision returns to his eyes and makes

his view of the world a bit less unknown.
Blindness again is intertwined into the text during the first speech the narrator gives as a member of the Brotherhood, as he stands under the brilliantly glaring lights.

“Up to now we’ve been like a couple of one-eyed men walking down opposite sides of the street. Someone starts throwing bricks and we start blaming each other and fighting among ourselves. But we’re mistaken! Because there’s a third party present. There’s a smooth, oily scoundrel running down the middle of the wide gray street throwing stones – He’s the one! He’s doing the damage! He claims he needs the space – he calls it his freedom” (Ellison 344). This excerpt from the novel illustrates that the African American peoples have been dispossessed of one of their eyes, causing them to only see the half of the truth that their powerful white leaders allow them to see. The white man is the oily scoundrel running down the middle of the street throwing bricks at the blacks, half blinding them and confusing them to the point that they can no longer see who the real enemy is and succumb to fighting against each other in the struggle to understand why they are considered lesser human beings than

others.