Themes, Motifs

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Themes, Motifs Symbols

• found in Ralph Ellisons Invisible Man along with
  in-depth explanations

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Themes!
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Racism and stereotypes are am obstacle to
discovering ones identity and sense of self.

• As the protagonist of Invisible Man, the
  narrator desperately searches for his own
  identity. However, he is searching for himself
  through social norms and stereotypes. As the
  novel takes us through his journey, he visits
  various communities, each with a differing view
  about how blacks should behave in society.
  Eventually, the narrator comes to realize this
  and seeks to make an impact on the world around
  him in order for society to see him for HIM and
  not as a stereotype.

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Motifs!
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Blindness

• Blindness appears frequently throughout the novel
  as a means to reveal the way people avoid to
  realize or confront the truth. One scene that
  employs figurative blindness is the battle
  royale that takes place in Chapter 1. The boys
  are blindfolded and effectively blind to their
  exploitation at the hands of the wealthy white
  elite.

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Invisibility

• Invisibility in the novel comes about as the
  result of the blindness that afflicts much of
  society. Invisibility is treated with much
  ambiguity in the novel. It is treated in a
  negative light, such as bringing disempowerment,
  and in a positive light, such as undermining
  authority without being questioned. This is
  demonstrated in the Prologue when the narrator
  draws power from the electric company. The
  company is aware of its losses but cannot locate
  the source.

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Symbols!
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The Liberty Paints Factory

• The Liberty Paints factory serves as a staunch
  metaphor of American society in regards in race.
  Like America, it promotes the idea of liberty but
  has deeply ingrained racism. Liberty Paints
  produces Optic White paint which is said to be
  so white it can completely white out a black
  piece of coal. This represents white societys
  attempts to cover-up or assimilate black culture
  into white society. The paint is produced by
  using dark colors and mixing them until a white
  color appears. This is similar in the way that
  whites make money off the paint production yet do
  not acknowledge the help of the black laborers.

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Sambo Dolls the Coin Bank

• The sambo dolls and coin bank together represent
  the blacks objectivity to white society.
  Separately, however, they each represent
  something different. The dancing sambo dolls
  represent the stereotype of the black entertainer
  that sings and laughs for whites. The coin bank
  represents the ideal slave that fawns over white
  men. While the coin bank illustrates a
  stereotypes ability to follow a person in
  his/her movements, the sambo doll illustrates its
  ability to control a persons movements all the
  same.