Invisible Man's Mental Battle

Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is characterized by numerous instances of physical combat. Within each physical fight lies a deeper psychological battle within Invisible Man himself. Throughout the novel, Invisible Man is constantly struggling against his cultural heritage, and this struggle is expressed through his physical fights. The Battle Royal at the beginning of Invisible Man’s experience is his first major attempt to confront his African-American heritage. Invisible Man’s fight with Lucius Brockway in the basement of Liberty Paints begins Invisible Man’s journey towards cultural acceptance and understanding. Invisible Man’s confrontation with Ras the Destroyer at the end of the novel marks Invisible Man’s ultimate triumph by ending

his struggle against his culture. Each confrontation takes place amidst chaos and dramatic combat scenes. In addition to physical combat, the fight scenes throughout Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man convey internal, cultural conflicts within the mind of Invisible Man.
Invisible Man becomes involved in the Battle Royal under false pretentions. He is told he is attending a white gathering at which he will deliver his valedictorian speech, but his true purpose is to take part in the entertainment. The Battle Royal is a wild boxing match in which all of the combatants are blindfolded and forced to fight. Overwhelmed and vulnerable, Invisible Man initially becomes a victim of a “sudden fit of blind terror” (21). Invisible Man As he stumbles through the fight, he eventually manages to dislodge his blindfold. Being able to see relieves some of his fear, and he is able to dodge the other fighters. Invisible Man also begins to strategize, and plays his fellow combatants against each other. All throughout the battle, Invisible Man’s thoughts return to his speech. He worries he will not be able to speak with the level of dignity and sophistication he desires, and these thoughts constantly occupy his mind. Eventually, Invisible Man is one of the last two boys left in the ring and is beaten by the other combatant, and is taken out of the ring.
Invisible Man’s psychological battle at the Battle Royal begins in the hotel elevator on the way to the ballroom where the battle is to take place. While in the elevator with the other combatants, Invisible Man attempts to separate himself from the others. He is surrounded by other African-American boys, none too different from himself, and “felt superior to them” (18). Invisible Man fights his ethnic connection with these boys, and this fight becomes physical in the Battle Royal itself. Throughout the entire battle, Invisible Man’s mind is occupied with the “ludicrous concern that he will not be able to deliver his speech. In no way would he have anything destroy his image of a law-abiding black boy, who knows his place” (Krasteva 62). When he finally begins to give his speech, his fight against his heritage begins. Invisible Man has difficulty verbally delivering his speech due to the overwhelming noise of the crowd. In addition to the crowd, Invisible Man’s mouth fills with blood from his injuries from the Battle Royal. He is forced to repeatedly “gulp down” blood (31). Not only is he literally gulping down blood, but by giving a Booker T. Washington style speech, he is swallowing his heritage. By complying with his white superiors and agreeing to subordinate himself to whites, he is suppressing, or “swallowing,” his own cultural heritage.
Invisible Man’s fight with Lucius Brockway is caused by Brockway’s belief that Invisible Man is apart of the Union. Invisible Man had come in contact with the Union, but made no move to become apart of it. Concerned that Invisible Man is planning to take his job, Brockway attacks him. They wrestle back and forth in a violent struggle. At the end of the fight, unlike in the Battle Royal, Invisible Man emerges victorious over Brockway. He insults Brockway with culturally based insults, then explains the truth behind his contact with the Union.
Invisible Man’s internal battle during his fight with Brockway takes several unexpected turns. Invisible Man falls into a conflict between Brockway and the Union, and is “shuffled back and forth, badgered by boss and union” (Olderman 150). According to Olderman, this “badgering” causes emotional tension within the mind of Invisible Man (150). His building anger explodes into into rebellion against his closest authority figure as “something uncoiled” within him (225). Invisible Man’s explosion of anger is expressed in his fight with Brockway. Unlike in the Battle Royal, Invisible Man achieves a degree of triumph not only in his physical fight with Brockway, but also in his own psychological confrontation with his heritage. While insulting Brockway after the fight, Invisible Man uses “insults I’d heard my grandfather use” (227). In using these cultural insults, Invisible Man has lost control over himself and has returned to his own heritage. Invisible Man must accept his cultural heritage in order to understand himself and his invisibility, so this wild loss of control serves as a small victory for him.
Even though Invisible Man momentarily returns to his heritage through his spontaneous outburst, his fight with Brockway also serves as a grave loss in his psychological battle. Brockway mirrors Invisible Man’s grandfather’s advice to “overcome ‘em with yeses” and “undermine ‘em with grins” (16). Using his “machines inside the machine” analogy, Brockway tries to pass this understanding of metaphoric invisibility on to Invisible Man. Throughout the course of the novel, Invisible Man desperately tries to forget his grandfather’s advice. However, when he meets Brockway, the “curse” comes back to him (17). Since Brockway is a reminder of his grandfather’s words, Invisible Man is rebelling against advice that could free him from the restraints of the white men. By fighting against Brockway, Invisible Man is shutting himself off from a cultural understanding of himself and his African-American heritage.
The riot at the close of the novel is the final battle, both physical and psychological, in Ellison’s Invisible Man.

The riot mirrors the Battle Royal, but on a much larger scale (Volger 144). As Volger states, “Instead of control being ordinary citizens, it is in Brother Jack who represents their interests in controlling the Blacks. Instead of Tatlock and the invisible man battling it out at the end for supremacy, we have Ras and the invisible man, finally silencing his frantic appeal to the race” (144). The climax of the riot comes in the direct interaction between Invisible Man and Ras the Destroyer. Ras, like Invisible Man, is known for giving rousing speeches to the people of Harlem. However, the ideas expressed in Invisible Man’s speeches strongly contradict those of Ras, which causes tension and distaste between the men. The contradiction between Invisible Man and Ras causes Ras to become a terrorizing force that threatens Invisible Man’s success, as well as his life. When Ras confronts Invisible Man, he initially pushes him to fight. However, unlike in previous situations of conflict, Invisible Man does not make a move to physically fight back. Ras then accuses Invisible Man of betraying their race, and orders for Invisible Man to be hanged. While Ras calls for the hanging of Invisible Man, Invisible Man hurls a spear at Ras. The spear tears through Ras’ cheeks and lock his mouth shut, silencing him. The sudden act of violence catches Ras and his

followers off guard, giving Invisible Man a chance to escape.
Invisible Man’s ultimate triumph in his internal, psychological battle comes in his confrontation with Ras.

During the riot, after almost being killed by Ras’ spear, Invisible Man begins to fully acknowledge and accept his heritage. He has turned away from the Brotherhood, which has kept him from being able to come to a cultural realization, and tries to explain himself to Ras. Invisible Man tries to explain to Ras that he no longer has interest in working with the Brotherhood. He tells Ras that the riot was the ultimate goal of the Brotherhood, and continuing the fighting and violence results in taking part in their plan. Ras does not believe Invisible Man, and demands that his followers hang Invisible Man. Ras’ persistent violence proves to Invisible Man that Ras has fallen victim to white authority and he has been manipulated by white exploitation (Trimmer 48). When the men move to comply with Ras’ orders, Invisible Man does not fight

back.
In the Battle Royal and in the basement of Liberty Paints, Invisible Man fought savagely to find favor with whites while believing himself to be superior to other blacks. His overwhelming desire to play the part of a submissive, law-abiding black man in a white world pushed him to violently fight to forge that image. If he wants to maintain this facade, Invisible Man has to repress his connection to his culture. At the Battle Royal, Invisible Man physically fought other blacks, whom he considered inferior to himself, then proceeded to “swallow blood” and disregard his heritage in his speech. In his fight with Brockway, Invisible Man showed signs of coming closer to cultural acceptance, but ultimately continued to fight against his grandfather’s advice to undermine the power of whites rather than accept social inferiority. However, during the riot, Invisible Man does not fight. He comes to acknowledge his invisibility, and therefore his cultural identity, ending his psychological battle. When he leaves the Brotherhood, Invisible Man has “shaken of the restraints of a culture that cannot see him” (Dickstein 114). He has freed himself from the constraints of white society, and when he throws the spear and his Ras, he “surrendered [his] life and began to live again” (560). Invisible Man is struck with the realization that he “had no longer to run for or from” all the men who had been trying to control him (559). Enlightened and free, Invisible Man runs from the violence and chaos of the riot.
In Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, physical combat is characterized by a deeper and more significant battle within the mind of Invisible Man. Within each physical fight, Ellison depicts a psychological battle within the mind of Invisible Man. Throughout the novel, Invisible Man progresses towards a fuller understanding of his culture and an acceptance of his heritage. However, his desire to satisfy white authority prevents him from achieving this sense of understanding and acceptance. At the Battle Royal, he complied with the wishes of the whites and fought in the boxing match and continued to do through the delivery of his speech. In his fight with Brockway, Invisible Man comes closer to acknowledging his heritage, but ultimately continues to fight to maintain his image as a docile, obedient black man. At the end of the novel, in his confrontation with Ras, Invisible Man stops fighting. He acknowledges his cultural heritage and frees himself from the limitations set for him by others. Ultimately, he wins his psychological battle with himself and reaches a new level of self actualization.