Invisible Man is the story of an unnamed African American male narrator who remains nameless throughout the book. He describes himself as an invisible man, who lives underground unbeknownst to the city and his white “neighbors”, surrounded by light bulbs but still in the dark. The novel is the story of how he ended up in his position.

Ralph Waldo Ellison was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1914. He was named after the famous poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson. As a young boy, Ralph wanted to be a jazz musician. In 1933, he left Oklahoma to major in music at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Because of financial difficulties, Ralph Ellison left the Tuskegee Institute in 1936 and moved to Harlem, New York City. There, he worked for the Federal Writers’ Project, where he became friends with Richard Wright. Ellison left this job for the Merchant Marines, with whom he served during World War II from 1943 to 1945. After the war, Ellison won a Rosenwald Fellowship, and he used the money to write Invisible Man. The first chapter appeared in America in the 1948 volume of Magazine of the Year, and the novel was published in 1952.

Other Ralph Ellison Works

Trading Twelves: The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray

Going to the Territory

Invisible Man-1952

Battle Royal-1952

Contributor: The Living Novel-1957

The Writer’s Experience-1964

Shadow and Act -1964

Contributor: Education of the Deprived and Segregated- 1965

Contributor: Who Speaks for the Negro?-1965

The City in Crisis- 1968

Contributor: To Heal and to Build-1968

Contributor: American Law: The Third Century, The Law Bicentennial Edition- 1976

On Being the Target of Discrimination -1989

Living with Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings

The Collected Essays of Ralph Ellison- 1995

Flying Home: and Other Stories- 1996

Juneteenth-1999- published posthumously

This novel deals with issues involving prejudice, existentialism, racial identity, individualism, heroism, and history. Invisible Man is a ruthless critique of society’s corruption and political/social stereotypes. It is also harsh criticism to then-current ideas such as Black Nationalism, the idea that economic success is the way to achieve racial equality.

Books on the Black Experience

Native Son- Richard Wright

Black Boy- Richard Wright

A Gathering of Old Men- Ernest Gaines

A Lesson Before Dying- Ernest Gaines

Coming of Age books

Catcher in the Rye- J.D Salinger

House of Mango Street- Sandra Cisneros