Justice In Invisible Man Essay

Natalie Battis
Hour 6
Conflict surrounding justice is an issue that is experienced and overcome by many different groups of people. In “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison, the narrator faces issues of justice due to his race, and inability to be an equal in a white man’s world. While faced with this issue the narrator is forced to respond to the injustice he is shown, and he does this with his own understanding of the justice he deserves, and with noticeable success; these experiences he goes through are immensely significant to the theme of the novel since its main focus is invisibility, and what one needs to do in order to deserve justice and visibility. The narrator is never named in this novel, which gives the first hint to his inferiority throughout the story. His placement in a predominately white world also adds to this feeling of inferiority. Injustice is first seen when he is brought to a wealthy white gathering to read a speech, but is first ridiculed by them through fighting and trick money made to humiliate the young black men. When the narrator is sent to college on a scholarship he feels that the injustice of those events is compensated by his opportunity in school. However, when he is expelled his feeling of invisibility grows, and
When he is trapped underground during the riot he realizes that he does not have to make himself invisible. And, just like the man he was often mistaken for with multiple identities, he too can be visible in any way he chooses to be. Perhaps all along justice to the narrator was mostly defined as the ability to make an identity for him, instead of being labeled by others. The realization that he defines himself, and the white superiors do not define who he is, shows the success to which he has found the justice he was looking