Invisible Man Ralph Ellison Essay

Topic: A short biography of Ellison Ralph Ellison was a 20th-century African-American writer and scholar who was best known for his award-winning novel Invisible Man. Ellison was born in 1914 in Oklahoma City, OK and was the grandson of slaves. His father died when he was just three years old which left his mother to support Ellison and his younger brother through three jobs. At an early age, Ellison’s love for music and was determined to be a music composer or a musician; his first instrument was a cornet- he learned to play at age 8. He enrolled into Tuskegee Institute as a music major, playing the trumpet. In 1936, Ellison went to New York to earn money for his senior year, but Ellison would not return back to Tuskegee after that summer or become a musician. During his trip, Ellison met the famous writer Richard Wright; upon becoming friends Ellison still had his mind made on returning back to school but the Great Depression prevented him
He later returned to the U.S. to teach at multiple leading colleges and Universities such as Yale. He always kept a variety of interests, dabbling in theater, photography, and jazz. Ellison would later publish more works that were a collection of essays that Ellison stated, “relate myself to American life through literature.” Ellison eventually married a woman named Fanny McConnell in 1964; they lived in an apartment in downtown New York. The couple never did have any children but Ellison spent many years working on a second piece but passed away before finishing it in Spring of 1994. This piece was published after his death in 1994, as “Juneteenth”. Fanny passed away in 2005 at the age of 93. Ellison’s literacy legacy continues to be upheld through his collection of essays and through “Invisible Man”, which is still considered one of the most highly regarded works in American