Invisible Man

by
Ralph Ellison
Presenters:
Omar Fadl
Konstantinos Nikolopoulos
 Ralph Waldo Ellison

 March 1, 1914 – April 16, 1994

 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
 Best known for Invisible Man – won National Book Award-1953
 Father – Lewis Allred Ellison, small business owner and construction foreman
 Dies after 100-lb ice block accident
 Loved literature and wanted son to follow same path
 Ralph Ellison Personal Life
 Mother remarried three times

 Worked childhood for family support

 Played high school football

 Loved music, saved money to buy trumpet and played among musicians

 Part of class 1A Selective Service during WWII, not drafted

 Used the time to write Invisible Man with financial support from spouse (1947-1951)
 Interesting Facts
 1969 Presidential Medal of Freedom

 Hometown awarded him the Ralph Waldo Ellison Library

 New York City Colleges, Langston Hughes Medal

 1985 National Medal of Arts

 Taught at Rutgers University

 USPS issued 91cent stamp in Honor of Ralph

 Prologue – Barely Existing
 Narrator introduces himself as just a man, without a name

 Practically Invisible

 Not because of freak accident, but because he is black

 Whites practically refuse to acknowledge his existence

 Causes self-doubt of existence, and individuality

 The fight in the dark
 Narrator refers to people who do not se him as sleepwalkers

 Accidently bumps into blond man

 Blond man curses at the narrator in response

 Narrator attacks man in retaliation, throws to ground, kicks him

 The fight in the dark cont…
 Narrator continuously beats on blond man, demands apology

 Pulls out knife, about to slit blond man’s throat

 Narrator “awakens” from his rage, realizes blond man insults him because he could not see him

 Incident is in paper, described as a mugging

 Advantage of being invisible
 Lives in “shut off” section of basement that was forgotten about, for free

 Strictly white tenant building

 Has battle with Monopolized Light & Power Company

 Uses their service, pays for nothing

 Steals electricity to light his room with 1,369 light bulbs

 Claims there is no brighter spot in NY

 Advantages contin…
 Uses all the light to confirm existence

 Stealing all the light allows him to feel his “vital aliveness”

 Also fights the company since they took so much money from him beforehand
 “What Did I Do to Be so Black and Blue”
 Narrator loves Louis Armstrong, wishes he had 5 record players to play him simultaneously

 Only has one phonograph; loves listening as well as feeling vibrations

 While listening to music, he starts smoking reefer

 Starts getting a different sense of time

 Starts interrogating a black woman that loved and hated her master at same time
 “What Did I Do to Be so Black and Blue” Cont..
 Loved him because her gave her sons

 Hated him because he didn't give her, or her sons freedom as promised

 Winds up killing him with poison; knowing that sons had intent to kill master
 The power of Armstrong’s music
 Narrator compares Armstrong’s music with pot

 Says they both have ability to change one’s sense of time

 Marijuana stops him from taking action; Armstrong’s music made him act
 Chapter 1 – “To Whom Ever it May Concern”
 Starts off with the introduction of Grandfather’s Death
 Grandpa’s final words
 “I want you to overcome ‘em with yeses, undermine ‘em with grin, agree ‘em to death and
destruction, let ‘em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open”
 Family alarmed from his words and stirred a large anxiety
 Tremendous effect on the main character
 Portrayed the same respect as his grandfather, which he defined as treachery
 Praised for desirable conduct, yet old man’s words still haunt him
 High school Speech not as intended
 Invited to give speech at gathering of leading white citizens.
 Triumph for the whole black community
 Fire chiefs, bankers, lawyers, doctors, teachers
 Arrives and all are smoking cigars and drinking whiskey
 Tipsy atmosphere and smoke filled room
 Had to take part in battle royal first for entertainment
 Black school mates dressed in boxing togs and gloves
 “Bring up the shines, gentlemen! Bring up the little Shines”
 Clustered together, shirtless and sweating with anxiety
 Rushed up to ballroom to the boxing ring
 Pushed into place by some friendly and some hostile into a ring
 In the center, a naked beautiful blonde women with American Flag painted on stomach
 Some forced to watch her dance and some threatened to not look
 One young black boy faints
 Another tried to conceal his erection under his boxing gloves
 The Blind folded Battle Royal
 Ten boys allowed into ring and blindfolded
 Each boy was awarded 5 dollars for attending fight and 10 for the winner
 Protagonist characterized as ginger-colored “n”
 Boys fighting hysterically, some in groups and then against each other
 “Slug him, black boy! Knock his guts out!”
 “Uppercut him! Kill him! Kill that big boy!”
 Main character suffering from many blows to the head and body
 Nose and mouth bleeding.
 Eventually other boys leave the ring
 Final Round – “Finish Him”
 Main character makes it to final round with Tatlock
 Tatlock is the biggest and most feared of the group.
 During the fight, he whispers a money ordeal for fighter to fake a knock out
 Fighter refuses multiple times
 He is taking any action necessary to win the fight to not lose the spotlight to give his speech.
 Our narrator finally loses the fight by knock out
 The “Magic” Rug
 Once the fight is over, the portable ring is taken away
 Replaced with a round rug
 The White men place gold coins and bills on the rug for the boys to fight over
 Turns out a current runs through the rugs
 Another form of pain for White man’s entertainment
 After, the boys are ordered to get dressed then paid and dismissed
 Main character leaves in despair that his speech will not happen
 “Social Responsibility (Social Equality?)”
 The M.C. remembers the purpose of the boy
 He is granted respect from the white folk for his graduation and his intellect
 During his speech, the men are not ignoring him and laughing
 Makes mistake and says Social Equality instead of Social Responsibility
 This displeases the men, but a quick apology allows him to continue his speak.
 Character is scared and afraid.
 In the end he is applauded
 The Leather Briefcase
 Board of Education awards him a leather briefcase,
 Told to fill it with great pieces of work throughout his studies
 Inside was a scholarship to the College of Negros
 So happy that he did not acknowledge the cold coins were brass knockoffs
 Goes home to family and congratulated by all around him
 Grandfather’s curse did not spoil this event for him
 “To Whom It May Concern, Keep This N-boy Running”
 That night he has a dream
 Was at circus with Grandfather
 He asked the young boy to open the briefcase
 Finding an envelope in and envelope
 Finds an engraved document with short message in gold
 “To Whom It May Concern, Keep This N-boy Running”
 Woke up with the old man laughing
 Got to Attend College
 References
 "USPS Honors Author Ralph Ellison." USPS Honors Author Ralph Ellison. N.p., n.d. Web. 26
Oct. 2015.
 Ellison, Ralph. "Prologue, Chapter I." Invisible Man. New York: Random House, 1952. N. pag.
Print.
 Ralph Ellison." 2012. FamousAuthors.org 27 October,
http://www.famousauthors.org/ralph-ellison