Invisible Man SparkNotes Essay Sample

Invisible Man SparkNotes: Facing Racism and Humiliation The book which won one of the most prestigious literary awards in the USA discloses the social challenge that African-Americans were forced to meet at the beginning of 20th century. â€Å"Invisible man† by Ralph Ellison is a first-narration story which starts with the narrator’s explanation why he considers himself to be invisible. Physically he exists, but this fact means nothing to society; whites refuse to accept him as he is black. What severe handicaps did the narrator face in his way? What made him live underground and damped the spirit? Let’s find out more about his life with the Invisible man SparkNotes. Man Who Lives Underground What is the name of the teller? No one knows. He prefers to remain unnamed to the end of his woeful story. His name doesn’t matter. He is one of those men whose life is a chain of misfortunes, derision, and betrayals. Struggle to survive, running from the social cruelty; the narrator hides underground. Curious, how he manages to live there for years! He steals electricity from the power plant due to that more than a thousand light bubbles illuminate the everlasting darkness. He gets a photograph, and Lois Armstrong’s virtuoso trumpet solo gently flows in this strange place. Here, deep underground, the narrator is going to write his extraordinary story. Sparknotes Invisible Man: Severe Challenges Graduation. The youth of the Invisible man is connected to a Southern town where he graduates from high school. The talented boy wins a scholarship to college. But to get it, he must take part in humiliating Battle Royal. It is the cruel entertainment of influential white gentlemen in his town. For their own amusement, they make him fight with other black boys, all of them are blindfolded. He receives his scholarship through scrambling over an electrified carpet. It is how the narrator is entering his adult life. College. The narrator’s college years were marred by an unfortunate incident which causes his exclusion from college. He seeks for new life-changing opportunities and goes to Harlem. Between jobs. Seven recommendation letters that are given him by the college president don’t work. No one employs the young black boy. It turns out that the teller has been betrayed as Dr. Bledsoe described his as a dishonest man in those letters. Soon, the narrator manages to get a position as a worker at the paint factory producing first-rate white paint. But misfortune strikes once again. He becomes an object of fear of paranoid Brockway, a black man who considers the narrator was joining union activities. Once, while they were fighting, unattended tank explodes. The narrator is gravely injured and hospitalized. Hospital treatment. Ironically, white doctors who supposed to alleviate his suffering turn into a black patient’s tortures. They provide electric shock experiment on a man with memory loss who is unable to speak. After leaving the hospital, the teller fainted in the street. Mary, a kind lady, helps to take care of him. The Treason of Brotherhood One day, the Brotherhood community met him as their member. It is a political organization that aimed to help those who oppressed. As a gifted speaker, the teller becomes a prominent figure in the organization. However, soon after, he is accused of being selfish and putting his own ambitions ahead of the Brotherhood’s members. He is moved to another post. His friend, Clifton, a member of the organization, is shot to death by a policeman. At the funeral, the teller delivers an impassioned speech without the Brotherhood’s permission. The members of the organization are furious with his action and castigate the narrator. He understands that the Brotherhood never has a keen interest in black community’s problems. Rape accusation. Being a member of the political organization, the teller is seduced by a white woman, who tries to use him as he is black. The other lady, whom he decided to seduce to get secret information, tries to use him to realize her fantasy of being a victim raped by a cruel black man. Pursued by a black. The black nationalist Ras seek the narrator to settle the score. He sends the men to beat up his adversary so that the teller is forced to change his appearance using a hat and spectacles. People mistake him for the man named Rinehart, who has accepted into white society. Now he is involved in a gang of looters. Sealed underground. A destructive chain of events makes him flee. Unexpectedly, the teller engages in burning down a house. To avoid being arrested, he disappears into an underground utility hole. Two white policemen mock him and seal the cover over the bin. They leave him alone to reflect on the racism and humiliation he has experienced in his life. Here the reader met him at the first place. Conclusion Invisible Man outlines numerous social and intellectual problems that face African-Americans: Reformist racial policies; Relationship between identity and Marxism; Black nationalism. The nameless black narrator is a representative of the whole generation of intelligent African Americans who grow up in the rural South. Through the black narrator, the author shows the reader the real life of a black Everyman, who faces racism and humiliation. Because of racial prejudice, whites never see the true nature of the highly gifted man. His illusions are coherently destroyed through his life experiences.