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Racism In Ralph Ellison's 'The Invisible Man'

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Racism In Ralph Ellison's 'The Invisible Man'
The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is a novel that explores racism in the 1930’s through the eyes of the narrator, a young black man. The novel describes the story of a young unnamed black man in the 1930’s that is very hopeful for his future, but fails to realize how prominent racism is in the United States. This naivety soon gets him expelled when he reviles his identity to a white peer. After this disheartening incident occurs the narrator is forced to move to Harlem, New York, and becomes the spokesmen for the Communist Party, known as the Brotherhood. Yet, as he works for the organization he still finds himself lost in this world which he is yet to know. This position puts himself in grave dangers with political enemies and racial purists who force him to face the truth of racism and the absence of his identity. As he learns more …show more content…
For instance, when the narrator is entering the school hopeful for his future the mood is very surreal and dream-like, but once the narrator is forced out of school the mood slowly becomes disheartening and gradually gets more and more nightmarish as the book continues until he discovers his true identity at least. The bleakest mood in the book is definitely when the orator is working for pennies in the Liberty Paints Plant and is basically enslaved. Yet, throughout the story the mood somehow had a slight sliver of optimism no matter the situation. The author even uses the mood as both a reflection of his past and a foreshadowing mechanism. A great testimony to this is when the narrator is finally in college he sense a feeling of despair and loneliness. This obviously foreshadows his removal from the college and his eventual exile to New York for work. No matter how or when different moods are used in the novel it is essential to the book and how the readers relate to the
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