The Symbolism Of Red In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

The Symbolism of Red in Invisible Man
Red, a symbol for love and compassion shared between two people. In the novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, we see a different side of the color. The side of red we see is one of rage, blood, courage, power, and danger. Ellison sneaks little bits of red into the novel and if you weren’t looking for it you may have never know it was there. These small hints of red can be seen throughout the whole book and show how the red can foreshadow danger in future incidents. Even though red seems like a small and insignificant symbol, red can be found in many places like the beginning of the novel in the battle royal, on the veterans wheelchair near the Golden Day, and even in Brother Jack’s hair.
After the battle Royal was finished and the Protagonist has to get down and scoop up the coins off the floor he looks around him and sees the wealthy men, he comments on their faces and says “the men on the other side were waiting, red faces swollen as though from apoplexy as they bent forward in their chairs” (Ellison 28). These wealthy business men surrounding the Protagonist are forcing him do what they want, by making him fight and pick up the coins off of the electric rug. These men are like celebrities today. As the Protagonist walks into the Battle Royal he points out whom most of the men are, he says this “I was shocked to see some of the most

important men of the town… they were all there- bankers, lawyers, judges, doctors, fire chiefs, teachers, merchants. Even one of the more fashionable pastors” (Ellison 18). Even the Protagonist recognizes there power in society and is dwarfed by their presence. In this chapter red illuminates the real power the white men held over blacks, since it is only seen on the faces of the rich men it symbolizes their power over them as they are on the floor.
In Chapter Three, the Protagonist and Norton pull into the Golden Day and see a strange sight, they see a group of veterans traveling down the tracks and feels bad for them describing the scene like this, “ (the veterans were) hobbling down the tracks on crutches and canes; sometimes pushing the legless, thighless one in a red wheelchair” (Ellison 35). Ellison uses this image to show how bad things were for the black veterans. He uses red in this instance to symbolize the courage of the veteran. The veteran he is talking about is legless and thighless showing that he has endured great feats. This symbol of red is a very strong one because it shows respect for the veterans. This image of red can also be interpreted as a negative aspect because it may be foreshadowing the danger with the Mad Vet that lies ahead within the Golden Day. The Mad Vet assists them by helping Norton while he is in shock, but as he talks to the Protagonist longer he becomes quite hostile and points out how the Protagonist is blind to the racial tension going on around him every day. The Mad Vet then goes on to say this Norton about the Protagonist, “No, listen. He believes in you as he believes in the beat of his heart. He believes in that great false wisdom taught slaves and pragmatists alike, that white is right. I can tell you his destiny. He’ll do your bidding, and for that his blindness is his chief asset… Now the two of you descend the stairs into the chaos and get the hell out of here” (Ellison 95). This ending confrontation shows one of the first confrontations in the book with one of the main characters. It shows how small symbols such as the color red can predict situations to come in the novel or unknown things that happen in the most unexpected ways.
The final representation of the Symbol red is in one of the main antagonists in the novel, Brother Jack and his red hair. The Protagonist first meets Jack after he gives his first speech and was running away from the cops, “but who was the figure that had crossed the roof behind me? Chased me... A short insignificant-looking bushy-eye browed man with a quiet smile on his face stood beside me, looking not at all like a policeman. … Don’t be alarmed he said, “I’m a friend.”” (Ellison 287). Jack immediately reveals a love for the Protagonists because of his speech, offering him a job in this so called Brotherhood. This Brotherhood is an organization with a goal “for a better world for all people” (Ellison 304). Later in the novel Jack’s views change and he discards all of his beliefs about saving blacks and theoretically throws them out to rot. Jack as a whole represents Communism, with his red hair and better world for all beliefs. During the 1930’s, when this book was written, there was fear of a communist outbreak, many African Americans joined the party trying to work for freedom through communism. Like the Brotherhood though the Communist party changed its views and left the African Americans alone and forgotten. Ellison compares Jack’s hair to communism kind of as a jab at the Communist belief, because of how Ellison and his people were treated by them when he was a young man.
Red can be interoperated as a positive loving color, a show of power, or one of death and rage.

With such a spread of possible meanings for red it is hard to interpret its true meaning, in the novel invisible man though red is mostly seen as a dangerous color or one of courage and power. Since this novel takes place in the 1930’s during the height of racism in America it does an expert job of showing how the power of whites overtook the blacks even though they were said to be free citizens. It is amazing to see how a symbol such as red can be used throughout a book to deepen the

meaning.