Introduction
In the middle of the 1900s, Ralph Ellison created one of his remarkable novels Invisible Man. Each its passage or phrase has a specific meaning and impact on the reader. Still, the first paragraph of any literature work plays a significant role because it sets the tone for further reading and helps to understand if the whole novel is worth attention or not. The main idea of the story is the description of the conditions under which people are treated invisibly and experience aggression due to racism. Although there are only four sentences, they demonstrate the intention of the author to criticize racial inequality and prejudice with the help of metaphors and other literary devices. This essay aims at dissecting the title and the first paragraph of Ellison’s novel Invisible Man and proving that language is never as simple as it may initially seem, especially in discussing such complex themes as black nationalism and identity.
Main body
Focusing on the title of the novel, Invisible Man, Ellison uses a two-word phrase that cannot stand alone as a sentence due to the absent verb. On the one hand, to be a full sentence, it should have a verb, and “are” is an implied option. On the other hand, it is also possible to use the word “black” as an explanation of the “invisible man” concept. It is easy to interpret the story as the moment when a person (a black man) becomes societal invisible. American history is full of examples when racial inequality challenged millions of people. In the majority of cases, such treatment was taken for granted, which makes Ellison’s novel provocative and interesting for analysis.
It is also possible to break the word “invisible” into two parts “in” and “visible”. “In” is a connecting word to point out at the direction or location. Similar words “inside” or “into” prove the fact that something happens inside and causes certain changes. Another part of the word, “visible” is an opposition to the idea of “it” because of the possibility to identify some external factors like the environment, people, or politics. As a result, the chosen word, “invisible” is a composition of two opposite words or a conflict that is similar to the one developed between the representatives of the black population and the whites.
The second word in the title, “man,” is a symbol of power and responsibility. Today, as well as several years ago, when a person hears the phrase “to be a man,” such thoughts as strength, abilities, and protections come to mind. The use of a single number shows that this novel describes the story of one person; thus it may be subjective. However, despite the adjective “invisible” and its potential meaning of weakness or inevitability, the word “man” is a sign of potential fight and desire to prove rights and freedoms.
To understand the worth of the title, the first paragraph has to be identified and investigated. There are two short and two long sentences, and each of them contains the pronoun “I” (that is repeated more than once per sentence). Meaning the importance of “self,” the word “I” puns on “eye” as an organ of an optical system. People use eyes to see or look at/through something. However, one should remember that looking is not always the same as seeing, and if people look at or through something, it does not mean they see the same. The frequent use of “I,” as referred to as “eye”, in the paragraph proves that racial issues are not stable. People look at black people but they do not see individuals. What they usually see is the color of the skin that cannot be removed, hidden, or changed.
To continue the discussion of vision importance, the word “spook” should be mentioned. “I am not a spook,” says the narrator, provoking the image of two vacant eyes inherent to ghosts (Ellison 3). It is known that the word was originated from Dutch in the early 19th century. It meant a substance of unknown origin, a ghost, or a specter that is hard to recognize. Another interpretation came from the 1940s and had an offensive meaning or a slur for black people. Its negative attitude toward minorities proved disparaging intent and insult that many African Americans experienced several decades ago and, unfortunately, continue observing today.
In addition to a number of complex words and their original meanings, the author demonstrates a good ability to choose literary devices and strengthening the message. For example, the word “invisible” is used at the beginning with the word “man” and at the end without the word “man”. The choice of these words may be interpreted as the readiness of the narrator to resist the environment that considers him as invisible. However, after several lines of discussion, no powers are left to resist the fact that “people refuse to see me” (Ellison 3). Still, the reader should memorize this metaphor and elaborate all connotations and similes like “Hollywood-movie ectoplasms” or “who haunted by Edgar Allan Poe” (Ellison 3). The idea of invisibility is never simple, and the author shows that physical and mental forms are not the same.
Conclusion
There are no questions in the chosen paragraph that Ellison wants to poses and provoke the reader to think about the urgent topics. There are no doubts with the help of which the reader’s motivation is increased. There are no dialogues that show the relationships between characters. However, everything becomes clear from the very first lines, and a person is invisible not because of his physiological qualities but because of social judgments and the things that people see but not understand.
Work Cited
Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. Signet Books, 1952. Web.