The Importance Of Individuality In Ralph Ellisons...

‘The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.’ These words of Russian-American philosopher Ayn Rand call for the fundamental need for respect of individual rights by those with power. Throughout Ralph Ellison’s novel, Invisible Man, this idea resurfaces periodically, as a black narrator attempts to find his place in a white man’s world. While exploring many internal struggles, the narrator comes to realize that he has been manipulated by multiple groups. Each time he believes he has become self aware, he later learns that a new force has been influencing his actions. Through the prominence of deceit in the novel, Ellison argues that an ideology which places†¦show more content†¦Here, the pressure to be what the organization wants him to be is overcoming the narrator’s individuality, and his real identity. He is told that what he is doing will help his people, t he black community, and so feels obligated to do what he is told. By doing this, the narrator accepts the oppression of his true identity, reasoning it to be for the greater good. This is the manner in which individuals accept stifling of their personalities if they believe it is for the good of the whole. All of these scenes demonstrate the complacency of individuals in an oppressive system. The flaws of these organization first become too severe to ignore when after organizing the funeral for a fellow Brother who was killed, the Brotherhood committee attacks the narrator. They accuse him of individualism, and mandate that they will not facilitate action wanted by the people of Harlem, as it doesn’t go along with their plan. The tension of the scene reaches a peak when Brother Jack begins to rant, and a glass eye pops out of his face. The narrator is strongly disturbed, and reality seems to bend, as â€Å"the room seemed to flatten. [He] shot to a high plateau above [the committee]... [He] heard†¦ but no longer listened† (474). This altering of reality in the physical senseShow MoreRelatedThe Invisible Man By Ralph Ellison1409 Words   |  6 Pagescome. However, in Ralph Ellison’s novel, The Invisible Man, the prologue serves as the beginning of the end, in preparation for an epilogue that revisits the narrator’s original inner conflict at the end of a personal narrative. Situated in a hidden underground cellar, the main character, the Invisible Man recounts the journey of his naive youth from the American south to the seemingly optimistic north in Harlem, New York. However, through several unjust experiences, the Invisible Man doubts the possibilityRead MoreSimilarities Between Shirley Jackson And Battle Royal1604 Words   |  7 PagesThe Lottery (1948) written by Shirley Jackson and Battle Royal (1952) by Ralph Ellison are short stories that stress the issues of conformity and breaking tradition. Both stories were written during a time when individuality was not looked upon in a pleasant manor. Battle Royal and The Lottery both deal with the internal struggle of trying to accept societal norms when they do not match up with one’s beliefs. Difficult lessons were learned in these stories, for example in The Lottery a cruel traditionRead MoreEssay on Search for Identity in Ralph Ellisons Invisible Man2669 Words   |  11 Pagesidentity. Ralph Ellison, a prominent author fascinated by man’s search for identity, thought that blacks were invisible primarily because whites refused to see them. 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The recognition that Ellison highlightsRead MoreUsing Psychoanalysis to Understand Human Behavior Essay4081 Words   |  17 Pagesunderstanding Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man yields one article by Caffilene Allen, of Georgia State University, in Literature and Psychology in 1995. Thus, further study of this subject seems warranted. As Allen points out, Purely psychoanalytic interpretations of Invisible Man are rare, even though Ellison clearly threads the theories of at least Freud throughout his novel.(2) Because of the rarity of psychoanalytic critiques of Invisible Man, this paper will examine the character of the invisible man in