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The Invisible Man - Online Term Paper

The Invisible Man

Raleigh Conerly
Professor Elder
English 1102
27 November 2012

An Eye for an Eye Makes the Whole World Blind

Perhaps one of the most misunderstood traits that could accompany a person is that of invisibility. Making one unable to be heard, seen, or represented, invisibility seems to represent weakness and a desire to remain static and unchanging; however, this is not always the case. In Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man, Ellison uses invisibility to give his narrator anonymity, which allows the narrator to tell his story undisturbed from others. This invisibility goes hand-in-hand with the other motif of blindness, for where one person becomes invisible, another must go blind. ...

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because people refuse to see me" (Ellison 3). He blames his invisibility not on "a peculiar disposition of the eyes of those with whom I come in contact," but rather on "[a] matter of the construction of their inner eyes, those eyes with which they look through their physical eyes upon reality" (Ellison 3). The invisible man is not invisible in a superhero-likeness, but rather in an advantageous oversight because those around him refuse to see and confront the truth, causing blindness. The narrator, however, perceives himself as a human being, someone who is equal in all ways and deserving of respect, and comes to the realization that "I am nobody but myself" (Ellison 15). While the narrator sees himself as a worthy individual, society is not willing to truly look past common racial stereotypes and sees him as something unworthy of praise and advancement. The prejudice outsiders share does not allow them to see the Invisible Man as a person and this not only causes his ...

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 11/10/2014 09:46:38 PM
Submitted By: mittconerly
Category: Book Reports
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 1025
Pages: 4

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