Invisible Man Ralph Ellison

Author Biographical Information born in Oklahoma and trained as a musician at Tuskegee Institute from 1933 to 1936. a visit to New York and a meeting with Richard Wright led to his first attempts at fiction. Invisible Man won the National Book Award and the Russwurm Award. taught at many colleges including Bard College, the University of Chicago, and New York University where he was Albert Schweitzer Professor of Humanities from 1970 through 1980. died in 1994.

Historical Context Complete novel published in 1952 Passage of “Jim Crow” laws by southern states Great Migration Booker T. Washington (education=equality) W.E.B. Dubois (openly fight for rights/career) Marcus Garvey (“Back to Africa” movement) Existentialism (sought to define the meaning of individual existence in a seemingly meaningless universe)

Genre Bildungsroman: individual’s growth and development within the context of a defined social order. Example: Great Expectations, To Kill a Mockingbird Picaresque: satirical account of a rogue’s progress through society. Example: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Existentialist novel: philosophical system concerned with free will, choice, and personal responsibility. Example: Speak, As I Lay Dying, Heart of Darkness, Crime and Punishment African-American fiction Social protest

Author’s Style Jazz-inspired writing, almost lyrical due to sound devices “Open” style Narrator: (p.9) “And beneath the swiftness of the hot tempo there was a slower tempo and a cave and I entered it and looked around and heard an old woman singing a spiritual…” Diction: conversational; moderate vocabulary Syntax: Stream-of-consciousness (run-ons)

Author’s Style Jim Trueblood: Narrator: (p.52) “We ain’t doing so bad, suh. ’Fore they heard ’bout what happen to us out here I couldn’t git no help from nobody.” Diction: dialect; illiterate Syntax: short and simple sentences Narrator: (p. 111) “Here upon this stage the black rite of Horatio Alger was performed to God’s own acting script, with millionaires come down to portray themselves…” Diction: formal; elevated vocabulary Syntax: correct and elegant

Author’s Style Surrealistic—tends to deal with the world of dreams and unconsciousness (Harlem riots) Naturalistic—faithful to small details of outward reality or nature (College)

Setting 1930’s A Black college in the South New York City, especially Harlem

Literary Devices Motifs Symbols: blindness Invisibility dreams violence oratory music power family Symbols: black Sambo doll the coin bank Liberty Paint the Brotherhood briefcase the road to asylum

Possible themes Identity Duplicity Invisibility Blindness Racism Power

Chapter One: The Smoker "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue“ Lyrics by Andy RazafPerformed by Louis Armstrong Cold empty bed...springs hurt my headFeels like ole Ned...wished I was deadWhat did I do...to be so black and blue Even the mouse...ran from my houseThey laugh at you...and all that you doWhat did I do...to be so black and blue I'm white...inside...but, that don't help my caseThat's life...can't hide...what is in my face How would it end...ain't got a friendMy only sin...is in my skinWhat did I do...to be so black and blue(instrumental break) How would it end...I ain't got a friendMy only sin...is in my skinWhat did I do...to be so black and blue