Symbolism In Invisible Man

What does it mean to be invisible? Ralph Ellison givess example of what it felt like to be known as invisible in his groundbreaking novel, Invisible Man. The story is about a young, educated black man living in Harlem struggling to maintain and survive in a society that is racially segregated and refuses to see the man as a human being. The narrator introduces himself as an invisible man; he gives the audience no name and describes his invisibility as people refusing to see him. The question is: Why do they not see him? They don’t see him because racism and prejudice towards African American, which explains why the narrator’s name was never mentioned. Invisible Man shows a detailed story about the alienation and disillusionment of black people

He uses various types of metaphors such as “I am the invisible man. No I am not a spook.”(Ellison) The narrator describes himself as invisible which is an example of a metaphor, because he used those words to express and give a better idea and the complexity of grief he felt about the situation. He also used symbolism in the story such as the briefcase in the “Battle Royal” chapter. The briefcase was a powerful example of symbolism because it was used as a way of showing how racism crushed his youthful innocence and made him to be the person he is. The narrator receives the briefcase as a bright, optimistic teenager ready to enter the world but knows nothing about it and how hard the road is ahead of him. Opening the briefcase unveiled a few of the harsh realities of life that he did not know about before, and he holds on to that reality or in other word “the briefcase” throughout the rest of the novel. The memory of him being a vulnerable young teenager, the optimism, goals, and ambition that he had as a child, and his eagerness to please others to gain success are what he carried in that briefcase. When he loses the briefcase, he releases those ties and becomes a new person. He uses simile in the novel such as “Their fist testing smoke-filled air like the knobbed feelers of hypersensitive snails.” (Ellison). He compares the way the fist were in the air to the super sensitivity of snails. He also uses alliteration in the novel such as “Oh, long green stretch of campus. Oh, moon that kissed the steeple and flooded the perfumed nights, Oh bugle that called in the morning, Oh drum that marched us militarily at noon- what was real, what solid, what more than a pleasant, time-killing dream? For now could it have been real if now I am invisible?” (Ellison). He repeats the word “oh” and “what” throughout the