The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is a powerful and paradoxical piece of literature, which profoundly explains the trials and tribulations, both physical and emotional influences, on the Black community in a society living in pretense of newly received freedom. The narrator’s name is not revealed throughout the book, one of Ellison’s strategy of highlighting his invisibility.
At the opening section of the book, Ellison introduces the narrator as a lost and naïve individual, struggling to find his place in the society. He indicates that he had to learn that he was invisible. The meaning behind this aspect is to describe his intention of getting ahead in life by first accepting his invisibility status. This concept is indicated in his course of the search for an identity, by his looking for answers pertaining his identity in different places. In the end, he emulates what he has been told, leading him in the wrong path to discovering who he was. In the process, his naivety did not allow him to question what he was told by others, even though it was contradictory, or self-contradictory in nature.
The dancer represents experiences or objects of desire the Black community did not and could not have. The illustration of the dancer as a naked and desirous lady as well as her sensuous dancing, of which the Black boys were forced to look at, was a teaser used by the old white men to prove they had an upper hand in the society. In the same way, the White community teased the Black community in a manner that portrayed that even though what they wanted was within reach, they could not get it. Furthermore, the American flag tattooed on her body was a symbol used to illustrate that even though the Southern states had lost the Civil War, the independent slaves would always be slaves, irrespective of their newly-acclaimed status.
The white men’s treatment of the lady was analogous to that of the black boys as it was in context brutal, degrading, and humiliating. The lady found herself in the same situation as the boys as from her reaction, she was forced to parade herself in the same way as the boys.
Hell-Heaven
This story focuses on culture and its implications on individuals. The book presents the intricacies of culture, its essence and representation, and the influence it has on people. In this regard, the occurrence of cultural differences, as indicated in the book, always provides a misplaced sense of pride and confusion among those affected.
The story is centers on cultural differences given that it is based on both the American and Bengali cultures, as represented by the characters, Boudi, Usha, and Pranab Kaku. The three individuals struggle to fit in the new environment that is host to an alien culture, different from what they are accustomed to. However, despite initial struggles, the cultural differences eventually wade off, as the individuals become accustomed to their new lives, reconciling differences that were initially apparent upon their introduction.
The story is also thematic in regards to love and compatibility. This aspect is illustrated by Boudi and Pranab. Boudi finds comfort in Pranab as she discovers they share interests she did not enjoy with her husband, for instance, their love for poetry, music, film, and leftist politics. In the process, they become compatible with each other. However, since Boudi is a married woman, their expression of their love becomes impossible. On the other hand, the story also features disappointment as Pranab marries an American lady, Deborah, to the dismay of Pranab’s family as well as Boudi. Pranab’s parents are disappointed as they had already secured a wife back home, and his choice was disapproving of them as it proved his abandonment of his culture. In addition, the story is also about hope, as despite having a strained relationship, Boudi and her daughter, Usha, eventually manage to get along, following Boudi’s acceptance of the influences of the American culture and its influences on her daughter’s life.
Food and clothing are also used symbolically in the story. This concept is as a result of their serving as representation of culture. This is illustrated during Pranab’s wedding. The style, both food and clothing was American and did not represent any part of his Bengali culture. Additionally, Pranab’s newly-acquired life was Americanized in all respects. For instance, Thanksgiving dinner was formal and illustrated the Americanized life Pranab had been assimilated in.
