Themes
Invisible Man
Racism Hinders People from Being Who They are and Living Happy, Peaceful Lives
Throughout the novel the Narrator is faced with racist whites and prejudices that get him kicked out of college, excluded him from certain jobs, and witness police brutality against African Americans. Racism led to a riot in Harlem and disturbed many people’s lives.
Thematic Statement: A person that faces prejudices has many struggles that they must overcome.
Thematic Statement: A person that faces prejudices has many struggles that they must overcome.
- “I was saying that up here we know that the police-men didn’t care about Clifton’s ideas. He was shot because he was black and because he resisted. Mainly because he was black.” (Ellison 469)
- “He ordered you. Dammit, white folks are always giving order, it’s a habit with them…My God Boy! You’re black and living in the South—did you forget how to lie?” (Ellison 139)
- “Nigger, this isn’t the time to lie. I’m no white man. Tell me the truth!” (Ellison 139)
- “They? Why, the same they we always mean, the white folks, authority, the gods, fate, circumstances—the force that pulls your strings until you refuse to be pulled any more.” (Ellison 154)
- “The one thing that which I did know was that the vet was acting toward the white man with a freedom which could only bring on trouble.” (Ellison 93)
- "I'm sick and tired of having you southern Negros mess things up for the rest of us!" (Ellison 328)
Individual Thought versus Group Thought
Throughout the book the Narrator is caught between what he believes versus what the white American population and the Brotherhood thinks. The Narrator is taught by the Brotherhood that he must follow their scientific and political ideas and present it to the public, not his own views. The Narrator’s individual thought is taken away from him and he is discouraged to think independently. Also, the vast majority of the American public at the time were prejudice towards African Americans. This hindered the Narrator from realizing his true potential and filled his mind with other peoples’ thoughts instead of his own.
Thematic Statement: Sometimes people must sacrifice their individual thoughts for the betterment of the group.
Thematic Statement: Sometimes people must sacrifice their individual thoughts for the betterment of the group.
- “Brother, and you were not hired to think. Have you forgotten that? If so, listen to me: You were not hired to think.” (Ellison 469)
- “And when my people demand that I speak?”
- “Our job is not to ask them what to think but to tell them!’ (Ellison 473)
- “The committee makes your decisions…” (Ellison 472)
A Struggle to Find Personal Individiuality
Throughout the book the Narrator struggles to find out who he really is and what he wants to do with his life. The Narrator encountered many bumps in the road and many different people who helped him discover what kind of person he wanted to be.
Thematic Statement: Sometimes people must face hardships in their lives to discover who they really are.
Thematic Statement: Sometimes people must face hardships in their lives to discover who they really are.
- "The suit imparted a newness to me. It was the clothes and the new name and the circumstances. It was a newness too subtle to put into thought, but there it was. I was becoming someone else." (Ellison 335)
- "I am no longer their brother...They want a race riot and I am against it." (Ellison 557)
- "I have also been called one thing and then another while no one really wished to hear what I called myself." (Ellison 573)
- "But what do I really want, I've asked myself. Certainly not the freedom of a Rinehart or the power of a Jack, nor simply the freedom not to run." (Ellison 575)