Symbolism In Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man

In the first chapter of Ralph Ellisons novel, ‘The Invisible Man,’ we are introduced to a nameless character who takes place in this royal battle. This battle happens between nine black men, Ellison sets us in a scene where we are given the true reality of what it is to be a black male of this 1940 era. One of the most magnificent scenes in the novel deals with a naked white woman with an American flag tattooed significantly right below her navel. This is a depiciton of an unforbidden fruit for the black men. The nameless woman danced for the entertainment of the white wealthy men and the cruelty of the nine black men. The significancy of the naked swaying woman testifies towards the struggling black men and what they endured. Ellison reveals with this magnificent scene of the white woman, the narrators emotions and reactions as a black man. At this time in history blacks had little to no say in what went on and what could go on, so the men did as they were told when they stepped into the unforbidden room. “We were
“I was strongly attracted and I looked in spite of myself (Ellison 182).” Ellison placed this woman in the midst of these men as a symbol of something they would never be able to attain. As the scene takes off the narrator reveals another symbol the white woman carries on her body. The narrator realizes as his eyes wander along her body an American flag tattooed on her stomach. The placement of the tattoo on the womans body symbolizes the equality black men and white men will never share. The narrator desires the white woman, as they desire freedom and equality. “I felt a desire to spit upon her as my eyes brushed slowly over her body (Ellison 182).” The narrator desires the white woman just as he desires freedom and equality as the white men have. He also craves for equality as he does the ability to love this white woman. The act in itself was used as a form of embarrassment from the white men of power towards the black