Discrimination Themes in Invisible Man

This essay discusses the themes of racial discrimination within the novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. The author portrays the life of a common dark-skinned man who was prejudiced with the thoughts of racism and discrimination at the hands of the fair-skinned men who have been residing in the same area.

Running head: DISCRIMINATION THEMES – INVISIBLE MAN
DISCRIMINATION THEMES – INVISIBLE MAN
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1DISCRIMINATION THEMES – INVISIBLE MAN
The African American society that existed within the United States of America faced a
huge amount of racism during the late 1940s and the early 1950s. The dark-skinned people who
were residing within the American territories tended to have very few opportunities during the
time. They were known to have endured ridicule from their fair-skinned counterparts who lived
in the same area (Du Bois and Marable). The writers of the then era is known to have portrayed
the issue in a proper manner with the use of the proper themes. The following essay attempts a
discussion on the themes of the racial discrimination within the novel by Ralph Ellison entitled
Invisible Man.
Ralph Ellison is one of those representative novelists who have been representing the
conditions that exist within the country of the America. The novel in discussion attempts a
discussion on the life of the common dark-skinned man as was evident in the late 1940s and the
early 1950s. The author portrays through the narrator the life of the common dark-skinned man
who was prejudiced with the thoughts of racism and discrimination at the hands of the fair-
skinned men who have been residing in the same area (Ellison). The racial discrimination that is
described within the story is demonstrated in the novel through the use of the symbolism within
the given composition. The story discusses the fact that the narrator of the story feels trapped and
caged in the environment that he is forced to live in. The narrator is observed to have been
feeling caged within a certain section of the society that expects the dark-skinned people to be
majorly ignorant and animalistic in their dealings with the situations that they face during their
given lifetime (Morel).
The narrator of the story is observed to be trapped within the social conditions that have
been presented to the narrator. The narrator feels that he is trapped within a particular class
within the society and the way in which his fair-skinned counterparts expect him to behave with

2DISCRIMINATION THEMES – INVISIBLE MAN
the people and the ways in which the person should behave with the members who bear
similarity with him in terms of their skin colors (Sheils and Walsh). This is exceptionally
observed during the section wherein the narrator sis offered a huge sum of money and is treated
with kindness by his fair-skinned counterparts when they hear that he is responsible for raping
and impregnating both his wife and his daughter after he had a dream (Ellison). The dark-
skinned people, his fellow-beings had ridiculed him on the given condition. The fair skinned
people of the country on the other hand depicted praise in the actions that he had performed and
even showed their interest in the heinous acts that he had committed.
The entire novel revolves around the life of the protagonist who attempts a definition of
his own self through the various amounts of the duties that are imposed on the concerned person.
The narrator of the novel is majorly found to have been spending his life in transit among the
various communities that exist within the given social structure (Brown-Iannuzzi et al.). The
narrator of the novel realizes the fact that the perception of the others on the racial background of
the author depends on their perception of the racial discrimination that is imposed on all the
people who have been residing within the territories of America.
The narrator is observed to have been trying to escape the binds of the prejudice
surrounding him on the level of individualism. The narrator is observed to have been forced to
face an encounter the dark-skinned members who focus on the fact that the dark-skinned people
of the country should behave in a certain manner. The espousers of the given theory suggest that
the people who have been trying to rebel against the given norms are known to be the betrayers
of the race (Banks). It is observed that a certain section of the society believes in the fact that the
dark-skinned people might find themselves on equal footing with their fair skinned counterparts

3DISCRIMINATION THEMES – INVISIBLE MAN
with the adoption of the ways and the manners that are used by the fair-skinned people of the
country.
Thus, from the above discussion it might be opined that the life of the common dark-
skinned man who was prejudiced with the thoughts of racism and discrimination at the hands of
the fair-skinned men who have been residing in the same area. The racial discrimination that is
described within the story is demonstrated in the novel through the use of the symbolism

4DISCRIMINATION THEMES – INVISIBLE MAN
Works Cited
Banks, Joy. "Invisible man: examining the intersectionality of disability, race, and gender in an
urban community." Disability & Society 33.6 (2018): 894-908.
Brown-Iannuzzi, Jazmin L., et al. "The invisible man: Interpersonal goals moderate inattentional
blindness to African Americans." Journal of Experimental Psychology: General143.1
(2014): 33.
Du Bois, William Edward Burghardt, and Manning Marable. Souls of black folk. Routledge,
2015.
Ellison, Ralph. Invisible man. Penguin UK, 2016.
Morel, Lucas E., ed. Ralph Ellison and the Raft of Hope: A Political Companion to Invisible
Man. University Press of Kentucky, 2015.
Sheils, Barry, and Julie Walsh. "Black and Ashamed: Deconstructing Race in Ralph Ellison’s
Invisible Man ZL ATA NFILI POV IC." Shame and Modern Writing. Routledge, 2018.
126-146.