Engrossing work, beautifully written. ( )

Maybe this is one of those books that really is better to be gone over in literature class, or maybe I'm just slow, but I sure didn't understand much. The prologue was sheer brilliance; after that things just got weird. A nameless African-American narrator describes his journey from ambitious college student to disillusioned hermit, encountering a series of bizarre characters along the way. From reading other reviews I understand that most of these characters are meant to represent certain groups or archetypes, but aside from the communist Brotherhood I missed the references. I'm not sure that mattered, though, after reading the epilogue, which just rehashed the points I did grasp. I tried to just go with the flow but far too often my response to this book was, "Wait, what?" ( )

Another classic work that I managed to put down. ( )

The Invisible Man made me more aware about how it feels to be unseen and mistreated. I was raised during the 60s and 70s... there was prejudice and stereotyping. Today racial matters still exist, but there is a definite change in societal views. I remember when interracial couples where seldom scene ... today I have mixed race family and friends and I think nothing of it. A person should rightly be judged by their actions not the color of their skin. The cultural world Ellison wrote about can be compared to the world today by considering the span between day and night ... black and white.

Even so there are still "invisible" people out there. I once heard a John Prine song that made me realize how lonely some people can be. He reminded me to say “hello” to the elderly. The senior generation often feels forgotten and left out; then there are homeless people, who have lost hope. We all need to consider the basic human need to be acknowledged and valued. Get together and love your brother. ( )

Meet the invisible man. As he so clearly tells us himself:

"... I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids -- and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.... When [people] approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination -- indeed, everything and anything except me."
His invisibility occurs "because of a peculiar disposition of the eyes of those with whom [he] come[s] in contact."

The narrator is an African American man who has worked diligently to become an integral member of a free society. He listens and follows instructions carefully so that he might learn how to join himself to this new equality. He even submits to humiliation from those in power in order to gain a college scholarship to a "state college for Negroes."

The narrator is academically successful and very positive about his future. He envisions using his learning and success to contribute to the betterment of society. Unfortunately, by following instructions and being truthful he unwittingly allows a white trustee of the college to see the reality of black life in the South. For this, his scholarship is rescinded and he is expelled. The college director is furious and says to him: "Why, the dumbest black bastard in the cotton patch knows that the only way to please a white man is to tell him a lie! What kind of an education are you getting around here?" The shamed and confused narrator packs his bags and moves to New York City. Here he plans to earn enough money so that he might return to college and again work toward that goal of true societal equality.

The narrator's persuasive speaking style brings him to the attention of The Brotherhood, a mixed race group that purportedly champions equality for all. He becomes a Brotherhood spokesman and believes he has found likeminded individuals. Over time, the narrator again discovers that he is a pawn in a larger agenda that has nothing to do with equality or the betterment of society. It is at this point that the narrator decides to "hibernate" and disassociate himself from the chaotic and senseless society in which he has found himself. He is tired of trying to make a difference in a world in which the rules, and even truth, seem to change at the whim of the powerful.

I read this quite lengthy novel in two parts because I lost interest about half way through and took a break. Once I finished the book, I was underwhelmed and disappointed that I was unable to find the supposed brilliance of the author and the story. I've been sitting on this review for quite awhile because I honestly didn't know what to say. I'm glad I waited. Watching a news story the other day, I suddenly had an "aha" moment. You see, I had been looking at Invisible Man as a story about race and the discrimination of African Americans ... and it is very much the story of one black man's struggle in mid-20th century America. But, the story has a much deeper layer to it that I was missing. I wasn't listening to what Mr. Ellison calls the "lower frequenc[y]." The author was writing on behalf of all of us. Anyone who has ever suffered at the hands of or been manipulated by someone with more power; anyone who has ever been let down because they put their whole heart into something that really wasn't as it was presented; anyone who has ever felt invisible; anyone who has ever become wearied by societal chaos and lost the will to try and make a difference within that chaos. Somehow I missed Mr. Ellison's last and most important point, and it is this point that made me finally see the brilliance of this novel. I'll let his narrator tell you:

"Even hibernations can be overdone.... Perhaps that's my greatest social crime, I've overstayed my hibernation, since there's a possibility that even an invisible man has a socially responsible role to play.
'Ah,' I can hear you say, 'so it was all a build-up to bore us with his buggy jiving. He only wanted us to listen to him rave!' But only partially true: Being invisible and without substance, a disembodied voice, as it were, what else could I do? What else but try to tell you what was really happening when your eyes were looking through? And it is this which frightens me:
Who know but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?" ( )