Vision In Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man

Vision in “The Invisible Man”
One of the central themes in Ellison’s “The Invisible Man” is the idea and symbolism of vision. The narrator claims that he is invisible, not as the form of a ghost, but rather in the sense that everybody around him chooses only to recognize him as the idea of what he should be as they have created in their own minds. It is because of this that the narrator feels the need to provide himself with evidence that he is a being of existence and provides meaning and insight to many of the actions that he chooses to take. The seemingly simple definition of vision is redefined multiple times throughout the life of Invisible Man as he develops multiple identities in an attempt to discover the need to fulfill his own
While he claims that he is invisible, people are able to see him, not as a man with his own identity, what they see is “(his) surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination – indeed, everything and anything except me” (3). This concept of vision is what introduces his invisibility. Invisibility in the novel is not introduced in a sense of blindness but rather as a distorted view. While Invisible Man struggles with his own identity, he takes on the form of others distorted views and stereotypes of who he should be. This idea is first introduced when he is blindfolded prior to the battle royal in which he states, “But now I felt a sudden fit of blind terror. I was unused to darkness… Blindfolded, I could no longer control my motions. I had no dignity. I stumbled about like a baby or a drunken man” (21-2). This is metaphorical for his lack of self
The slogan for “Optic White” paint itself is a reminder of a saying that Invisible Man had heard often as a child, “If It’s Optic White, It’s the Right White” which was very similar to “If you’re white, you’re right.” The irony in this, is the fact that in order to make the “Optic White” paint, you must mix in exactly 10 drops of black paint into the white paint and mix it. This represents the view of African Americans in white society at the time. They were needed in order for the society to flourish and remain the way that it is, but the black is not recognized in either the perfect white paint, or the perfectly white society. Liberty Paints strives to make a paint that is as white as possible since they are providing a large amount of paint to the government and wish to make America perfect starting with a perfectly white paint. This is consistent with the slogan on the electric sign attempting to “Keep America Pure” by providing a white paint that is mixed with a specified controlled amount of black, and claiming that it is the purest white