The Invisible Man is Running

I must say that I am quite thankful that we are finally done reading the Invisible Man, a book, despite whatever my test grade will indicate, that I did finish late Sunday night. Despite the pain in the … that the novel was, at least in trying to finish all of the never ending assignments that remain to go on, I did actually enjoy the novel as surprising as that may seem. In my research of Ralph Ellison, I found that he explored race relations in the times after the Civil War in a way different than those before him in that he depicted the African American culture as vibrant and full rather than diminished and nearly dead. This different way of writing about race relations and the invisibility of African Americans was very interesting and caught my interest throughout the novel.
When looking back over the novel in a futile attempt to study for the test, I noticed many things that connected the beginning of the novel to the end of the novel that I had not initially picked up on. One of these things was the “running” theme and diction used. In the moments after the Battle Royal took place as the narrator watched the naked lady do her mesmerizing dance and was forced to fight, the narrator was able to give a speech. This speech contained a certain eloquence that would be reciprocated during his times in the Brotherhood but the white men listening did not truly appreciate it. The school superintendent merely gave the narrator the scholarship and an official looking document and sent him on his way after the white men had been entertained by the black men. The night he received the document, the narrator had a dream where he read the letter and it said “Keep This [expletive for African American]-Boy Running” (Ellison 33). After explaining the dream, he stated that he did not get the meaning at the time, but it is apparent that he eventually did glean the meaning. The funny thing about the letter and the dream is that it came true. Usually when one says that his dreams came true, it is a god thing but in this case, it was the opposite as the narrator was forced to run through various locations. He ran from his home to college and while at college ran around following instructions. He was eventually kicked out for running an errand incorrectly and was ran out of the college and forced to go to New York. When in New York, he ran around the city giving his “letter” of recommendation from Dr. Bledsoe to the employers only to never get a call-back. After this, he went to the paint factory and eventually gave his speech about dispossession after which he again ran away from Brother Jack. This running continued as he followed other people’s wishes and did what they expected of him, something that he eventually realizes and rebels against. In the very end of the novel, on page 534, he states that “I ran through the night, ran within myself. Ran.” In stating that he is running within himself, he is essentially stating that he is running away from himself and his personal identity. His identity has been dictated by other for so long and now that he has decided to harness it as his own, he has been rendered invisible as people can no longer see him in the way that they want, but now must realize that he is finally his own man. This at least was my interpretation of the word running and the invisibility presented in the novel as the two go hand in hand.