Choice in The Invisible Man Essay

Choice Novel The Invisible Man

The main theme throughout the book of The Invisible Man is racism. As the narrator of Invisible Man has problems with figuring out an idea of his own personal identity, he sees his trials troubled knowing that he is a black man living in a very racist American culture. During the whole novel, the narrator finds himself going through many different types of areas, with every different area giving him a different idea of how the colored race should act in the American culture. As the narrator tries to determine for himself which of the values and expectations forced on him he should follow, he finds out that in every culture the assumed way of life from him puts boundaries on what he can and cannot do and belittles him as a person.

Later when he comes to New York, the narrator goes into the world of the Liberty Paints factory, which gains great success by overthrow the black culture by making them do things for the white culture. In his work, the narrator realizes he is sucked into a place where the white culture is greatly dependent upon the black culture that makes up almost all of the workers and does practically all the work. Eventually the narrator becomes part of a brotherhood or pact and has a strong belief in fighting for, equality between whites and blacks by working together in harmony and in a peaceful organization, but he then finds that the people in this clan want to use him. In the end, the narrator sees that the racial hatred between him and others make them see only what they want to see in him. This puts boundaries on what he can and cannot do in his life because of all the racial influence. To everyone he feels that is just an invisible man in this racist society, thus the name of the book Invisible Man. No one wants to see him for what he really is. This tears him apart so much that he cant do what he wants to and makes him a totally different person. Even though the narrator feels this invisibility is the best thing in the beginning he begins to get sick of just sitting around. He feels that he needs to something in the world to show his presence as a real person regardless of skin color. He determines that he will do everything in his power to do whatever he can in the world and not let people define who he is. The narrator starts to do things he normally wouldnt do and refuses to be ignored by anyone. He makes it imperative to show that there are other things besides this world full of racist and expectations of the black culture.