Portrayal of Women in the HG Wells' Invisible Man

Portrayal of Women In Invisible Man women were primarily given the role of prostitutes, caregivers and sex objects that presented them as inferior to men. The author fails to reflect on the struggles of women in the novel but encourages reflecting on the struggles of black males. In Invisible Man, written by Ralph Ellison, women are intensely stereotyped by the author and could also be characterized as “invisible” based on the author’s description of the main character and his experiences in the novel. White women in the novel were something that invisible man thought to be forbidden; they could be characterized as the forbidden fruit. Invisible man saw a blonde white woman at the Battle Royal who was beautiful in his eyes. Unfortunately, he could stare at her all he wanted but couldn’t touch the white woman. At the end of the novel he decides to use Sybil for his own greed, later he feels guilty and calls what he did a sin. It seems that in the novel white women are presented with higher regard than black women. During incidences in the novel white women were usually there to help invisible man with his journey to figure out who he is. They are given roles that are basically more important than the black women in the novel; but this is not always true. In the novel he was saved by a white girl during his eviction speech, a white women seduced him when she lied about having problems with the Brotherhood and a white woman saved him when he was made to sing for the white people.

Women characters are given minor roles compared to invisible man and lead him on his journey in the novel. Sybil was the women that invisible man decided to use for his own intentions. Sybil showed to have stereotypical opinions about black men and invisible man understood what type of women she was. Invisible man decided that she was perfect to take advantage of because she was lonely when the Brotherhood took a lot of time. Sybil is a very weak woman and needs certain