Citizenship In The Invisible Man

Citizenship is something that largely defines many of us. Our citizenship comes with a community, a group of people and land to which we belong, as well as a sense of pride. Citizens of a community must coexist and cooperate with one another for the community to thrive and prosper. The idea of individuals within a community forming a mutual trust and respect for one another, is a concept Danielle Allen introduces as “political friendship.” Political friendship extends beyond the immediate reaches of one’s community, but to strangers entering one’s own community, or to those of another community with which you seek to enter. It is not friendship in the sense that a bond is formed or that there is deep rooted affection present, but rather one

As a young man, he was hopeful, going out into the community believing that if he put good things out into the community that he would be well received and would receive equally good things back to him. Unfortunately, he quickly came to realize that his race would put a cap on what he could receive out of the community. His citizenship would never be considered equal to that of a white man, therefore, how could he trust the other citizens of his community who fail to equally respect and acknowledge his existence? The narrator explains his struggle in the first few sentences of the novel saying “I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. 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” (Ellison, 3). Within the opening sentences, the narrator has already described with eloquent precision, what citizenship within a community that doesn’t have equal standing for its citizens. The racial inequality within the US at this time created barriers for those without a white complexion, barriers that stood in the way of their success and happiness within the community, and diminished the value of their citizenship. The narrator throughout the novel struggles to first push through these

These members don’t benefit from helping advocate for racial equality, but recognizes that disparaging a large population of individuals to keep an elite class of citizens from having their balance upset, is not beneficial to the whole of the community. They exercise political friendship by working with black individuals advocating for their cause. A lack of political friendship is also seen, which is the result of certain individuals holding their own status above those of others. The narrator is aware of his systematic oppression and the lack of political friendship. In the beginning his habits were to be eager and work hard, offering his trust and respect for others and being hopeful he’d receive it in return. By the end, he grows wearing of receiving little back, and becomes inflexible in his friendships and withdraws his efforts towards cooperation. He struggles with working with whites or even coexisting as he is bitter at his discrimination, and doesn’t trust them. By the end, his psychological state is rather broken and unstable, and he ends up withdrawing from the community, existing as a recluse, as he doesn’t want to contribute to a society that he cannot trust and who doesn’t trust or respect