Art And Stereotypes In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
Art is seen constantly in the world around us. Whether it’s from priceless pieces hanging at the museum to graffiti illegally tagged on a brick wall, art provides an enlightening experience for its viewers in intangible ways. Art contributes to mankind through enabling deeper emotions, stimulating thoughts, and exposing one to new perspectives or even changing one’s perspective. Through these contributions, art is able to fulfill humanity’s emotional and spiritual needs that as well foster a more open-minded and harmonious community.
Some might look at an art piece and wonder its purpose, but art is more than just an object hanging on the wall. It’s an experience. It enables mankind to express and experience deeper emotions. For children or …show more content…
It forces the audience to live in the moment and expose them to new perspectives. These new perspectives allow onlookers to challenge the norms or break stereotypes and even change their own perspectives on social, religious or political issues. This force of perspective can be seen in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, whose author explains how the main character is seen to be invisible by the more superior “white society” and whose book challenges the divide and stigmas of racial stereotypes (107 Nussbaum). However, art does more than just expose people to societal issues they may have been ignorant or unaware of, but it also can be the solution to these same issues. Mollie Stone, a choir conductor in Chicago, saw how the art of singing brought together a plethora of people from different backgrounds and upbringings. As she explains, “…since the choirs sing music from many different cultures, they learn about other cultures, and they learn that these cultures are available to them; they transcend barriers that expectation and local culture have thrown in their way, showing that they can be world citizens” (115 Nussbaum). Through art, these kids despite sharing very little in common were able to see each other’s perspectives and respect each other as people. Art provides a commonplace for people such as these choir kids who share very little in common. It allows them to come
Some might look at an art piece and wonder its purpose, but art is more than just an object hanging on the wall. It’s an experience. It enables mankind to express and experience deeper emotions. For children or …show more content…
It forces the audience to live in the moment and expose them to new perspectives. These new perspectives allow onlookers to challenge the norms or break stereotypes and even change their own perspectives on social, religious or political issues. This force of perspective can be seen in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, whose author explains how the main character is seen to be invisible by the more superior “white society” and whose book challenges the divide and stigmas of racial stereotypes (107 Nussbaum). However, art does more than just expose people to societal issues they may have been ignorant or unaware of, but it also can be the solution to these same issues. Mollie Stone, a choir conductor in Chicago, saw how the art of singing brought together a plethora of people from different backgrounds and upbringings. As she explains, “…since the choirs sing music from many different cultures, they learn about other cultures, and they learn that these cultures are available to them; they transcend barriers that expectation and local culture have thrown in their way, showing that they can be world citizens” (115 Nussbaum). Through art, these kids despite sharing very little in common were able to see each other’s perspectives and respect each other as people. Art provides a commonplace for people such as these choir kids who share very little in common. It allows them to come