Finding One's Identity in Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, With Editing Notes

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In the novel, Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, the narrator struggles to find a place in society for himself. While on this path he meets with various characters who at first want to support him and his cause. A cause that to the narrator is so great that it creates a distortion in his eyes about the people around him. A distortion that makes him unable to see the intentions of others because of a glamourfied veil that he places on them himself. His journey to find his place in society will lead him into people that can change on the tip of a coin. A coin that he swallows while indulging on a position that was placed onto him. The pleasure of his coin filled ego leads creates a path towards his self-destruction, because he is blind to what society has hidden because of his coin filled mouth. To what society has placed the narrator into and what he sees for himself creates a distortion in his identity leading to his indifferent attitude towards the society around him, ultimately creating his invisibility.

A society, that has placed him as the lowest common denominator, demands (Used him and his to much edit later)him to understand his place in a society that wants him to be less than what he is. A society that is held in place by those like Bledsoe who was the same as the narrator. But in exchange for his position Bledsoe has become

weary of others. Others like the narrator whom looked towards Bledsoe as a person who has persevered and was willing to support his own endeavors. But as soon as conflict appeared Bledsoe has coined the term, ``the only way to please a white man is to tell him a lie!`` (Ellison 139), a term that he uses to describe the relations between him and the white men. A society that Bledsoe creates for hi...

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...ple in their endeavor of god. A person who’s society can change on the flip of a coin is what the narrator comes to believe upon, ``What would Reinheart do?``Check the actual quote) Which shows that the narrator begins to release his own conscience in the society that once placed him in a false position.

A society in which the occupants place veils upon the narrator to distort his very identity causes the narrator to feel invisible in his own mind. Where he once happily followed his false sense of belief in others only to find himself at a disadvantage. How he was able to remove the veils that society placed on him to find his own place in the society. Only to find that he has no place in society, a place in which he meant nothing. No more than the ones behind him. Ultimately leading to his rejection of the society around him. (Feels unconluded) (Fragments)

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