The story revolves around Raymond Winston Tyler Jr., a lawyer from Alabama. He is popular and had a perfect life. He dated Sela, the only black popular cheerleader in the campus. One day, he met the star footballer in the campus – Kelvin Ellis who is adventurous. He admitted to Raymond that he was bisexual. One kiss and further intimacy change it all for Raymond. During his struggles, his friends JJ and Kyle were beside him. Another man popped in Raymond’s life – Quinn Mathis whom he had sexual and indoor relation. As time goes, Raymond discovered that Quinn was already married by seeing a wedding ring in the bed. Nicole Springer became Raymond’s lover during his turmoil. They began seeing each other and making Quinn a less priority. Along with his personal struggles, Raymond also clashed with his father because of his sexuality. In the end, Raymond reconciled with his friends and family especially to his father.
In pages 114-159 of this book, it revealed more social stigma issues. During Raymond’s hardships, his friends JJ and Kyle were always there for him. Another man was involved in these few chapters as Quinn Mathis whom he had sexual and indoor relation was featured. As days and months went, Raymond accidentally discovered that his indoor partner Quinn was already married by incidentally seeing a wedding ring in their shared bed. On the other note, Nicole Springer was also introduced. She became Raymond’s lover during his disorder and confusion. They began dating each other which in effect made Quinn a lesser value character.
Raymond – as the main character showed a great deal of weakness. He cannot decide for himself, and he was confused with his wants and desires. At first, he tried to stand up as black homosexual. It was courageous as during that time, homosexuality and a man of color are not well recognized and accepted in the United States of America. Overall, the theme focuses on the social issues that America is facing primary the homosexuality and being black. First, on homosexuality – people in general are not yet accepting the fact that most people who are part of the LGBT community are also normal individuals. As members of LGBT increases, the incidence of HIV and AIDS also rise because of premarital and unprotected sex between different partners. The next issue would be an issue on “black” people. A man of color in general was not conceptually accepted in the US. Even though America is a free country, there are some people who are racist and very conservative when it comes to association with colored people such as Asians, Latinos and predominantly on Black people in general. The lesson that this novel wants to impart on us is that we should be proud of ourselves regardless of what people think. Internal confidence and knowing our self-worth plays a big part in being successful in life.
It is very important that we have a helping hand such as our friends, family members and other support groups that may help us be motivated and be fit in daily challenges in life. Living each day in this modern world is very difficult and challenging but if we have the necessary dose of confidence within us, it will be easier for us to decipher. It will be very efficient for us if we know our self-worth and we know what we want. Raymond in this novel did not know what he wants, and the author wants us to give Raymond as an eye opener that we should come out of our closets, come out of our cages as we find liberty to choose what we want. By that, we can freely decide our fate in our own life journey.
This novel also imparts that an individual must be unique. One individual being unique means to be able to show other people your “real colors” and to be able to contribute to society regardless of race and gender. As many people may say, being unique may be weird and out of this world. You’ll never know unless you try. The author wants us to be outside the box and think of us as unique individuals that need to be control of each of our lives.
The book’s overall theme is about the social stigma on AIDS and homosexuality. This novel also showed the family ties and embedded moral values that we can learn from the story. We can observe that Raymond has a very fickle-minded attitude. He does not know clearly what he wants and what he needs to do. Kelvin, on the other hand, is very persuasive yet a very strong character. He knows clearly his path and knows how to control the situation. Between these two characters, I felt that Kelvin is a more commendable character.
Overall, we can see the struggles and hardships of Raymond translated to the social issues of today. Raymond represents the American youth finding their way to a perfect world. Kelvin, on the other hand represents the third world country people as they may have many problems, but they can easily resolve it through their mental thinking and perseverance. Invisible life means having a life without a purpose, and it clearly is directed to Raymond as he does not have a clear pathway on his life in the story. He does not have a clear mindset on what he likes and how he can show it to others.
E. Lynn Harris says that black men on the down-low are getting an “invisible life.” Invisible because they keep on hiding under the closet, and they are afraid to show their true colors. During the early times, it was very difficult for a gay man to reveal his true identity and unique self in the public. It is much worse when you are gay, and you are black, as well. Being of black color in the America is not yet accepted until now. There are several people who are still racist and fond of discriminating people of foreign nature and color. The book is entitled as “The Invisible Life” mainly because being black and gay at the same time, it was very difficult to go walk in the world peacefully. There will always be discrimination, inhumane treatment and racism. Most of the time, black gay man are often the curse and deprived of social freedom. There are also times that they were not given the right opportunity. It is very difficult to move without people telling you harsh and unnecessary comments. It is better to be invisible and live a normal happy life. In this case, Raymond tried to have that invisible peaceful life but he was not able to do that. His life became more complicated when he tried to search for his own identity and uniqueness.
I did not agree with Kelvin when he said that he did not see any harm in being married to a woman while at the same time had a male lover on the side since it was hard enough being black, much less being openly gay. Having one problem on top of the other makes it more complicated. Not only that Kelvin’s image was damaged, but also it is very difficult for his lover and his wife to share his attention and love. There would always be unfair treatment one over the other. There will always be the favoritism, and it will never be easy to have comparisons all the time. The main problem is here is that Kelvin wo not be able to love fully and freely. It is like enclosing himself on a small cage creating less space to move. His freedom and time would be much divided. The most important that that he will lose is his trust and commitment over the other. He may give more attention to his wife and just satisfy his cravings and social, sexual pleasure with his lover. These may also lead to other social problems such as increased vices and poor interpersonal and communication skills with family and friends.
Self-confidence is very vital in facing hurdles in life. Raymond lacked self-confidence that leads to unsuccessful relationships. The lesson that this novel wants to inform the readers is that we need to recognize our self worth. Knowing our worth in the society, it will be easier for us to face the challenges ahead of us. It is necessary for us to open with our family and friends as they will always be supportive of our decisions no matter what. At first, it may seem challenging and confusing for them to understand but at the end of the day, blood will always be thicker than water. Having the right dose of confidence to face social issues is also important with the necessary support from our peers and loved ones. The moment we stepped out of our comfort zone and reveal our true selves to other people give us assurance that we can face any problems in the real world. In order for us to gain self-confidence, we need to prepare first for our journey. After we identify our strengths and weaknesses, we are now ready to take the next important step: to set our goals. We need to have a clear mindset of what we want to do and achieve in life. Once we achieve those two steps correctly, we can now fast track our way to a happier and successful life without any fear or struggles in mind. Let Ray is our example. Let us try not to commit his mistakes. It was a roller coaster ride for him, but one thing he was able to do was to find his real happiness despite all the unfortunate moments that happened to him. Regaining his confidence and trust was a long process. Eventually, he was able to fight it and was able to live a happier and not so invisible life in public.
