Invisible Man Ralph Ellison's Speech

In Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, there are multiple noteworthy speeches. Each speech has it’s own significance to the narrator, but each speech serves its own purpose separate from the others. The progression of speeches over the novel reveals their importance to the narrator and how the importance changes through the diction Ellison utilizes leading into the speech. At the beginning of the novel, the first speech was delivered at the battle royal after a ribald and racially offensive performance, pinning men against each other to fight blindfolded. Throughout the fight, the narrator’s attention was always returned to the important task at hand; giving his speech. No matter the events occurring around him, he thought to himself, “I wanted

Although much like the other speeches, Ellison addresses how Invisible Man feels before going into the speech. Ellison reveals how invested the narrator is as the narrator said “And I seemed to move in close, like the lens of a camera, focusing into the scene and feeling the heat and excitement and the pounding of the voice and applause against my diaphragm, my eyes flying from face to face, swiftly, fleeting, searching, for someone I could recognize , for someone from the old life, and seeing the faces become vaguer and vaguer the farther they receded from the platform… And I was somehow attuned to it all, could feel it physically.” (340) Comparing himself to the zooming lens of a camera reveals how Invisible Man isn’t capturing the entirety of the scene; rather the important bits of detail. Invisible Man “felt the heat and excitement” of the brotherhood rally, showing how Ellison emphasizes how the narrator feels before he gives a speech. By feeling the excitement from the room in his body, the narrator explains how connected and involved he is to his audience. Whilst feeling the energy in the room, the narrator describes how unfamiliar his surroundings are by scanning the room for someone he could recognize, but struggling to make out the shapes and figures as they got farther back in the crowd. Invisible Man was “attuned to it all” revealing that he found a place of acceptance and

The first speech at the battle royal acted as a speech to show that his knowledge is accepted by the men in the audience. The next speech was delivered in order to stand up against an unjust eviction. At the brotherhood rally, the narrator gave a speech that showed his connection and place in the world. Finally, the last speech he gave showed how he lost the attention from his audience. From the first speech, the progression changed. Invisible Man changed from a very selfish and ego-driven purpose to a selfless and giving purpose. Then, he felt like he belonged and made a difference until the final speech where he lost all of momentum he gained and viewed the speech as pointless with a lack of hope. While all these speeches changed, Ellison’s craft was constant throughout the novel as he described the narrator's feelings before every speech. Ellison’s craft helped to reveal the change in importance each speech had to the