Banned Books: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison



               Follow the journey of our unnamed narrator through his life as an invisible man. Begin with him as a youth listening to the fateful words of his grandfather, as he urges the family to keep fighting, words that would effectively confuse and influence our narrator. Watch as he fights to receive a scholarship to a university. Pay attention when chance ruins his chance to be an educator and a scholar. Feel the pain he feels when he realizes how horribly he has been deceived. Be hopeful, with our narrator, for the change he thinks will come. Experience life with our unnamed narrator, the Black man who changes his identity, only to realize that he, no matter what his name may be, would be used. Until he allowed himself to be invisible.
                Ellison wrote an amazing novel that was extremely conscious of the sensitivities of America and race in the 1940’s and can still be seen in society today, though some may argue not to this extent. Our narrator is never named, so as the readers we are never given an identity for him. We only know that he is a young Black man from the south. We travel with him north to New York, where as circumstances changes, his reality changes, his identity changes. Ideas about himself and his position in society changes. He becomes a leader and a beacon for people. A partner, or so he believes, in a movement. But the truth about the motivations of others will continue to affect him until he realizes what his true role is.
                I found Invisible Man to be an extremely well written and fully developed novel. The narrator is continually put into situations where he has to redefine what he stands for, who he is and the kind of man he wants to be. Everyone experiences these kinds of situations and how we emerge from them develops our character. When Ellison adds in the aspect and element of race relations into the novel, the stakes become higher. This novel was released in 1952 when race was still very much an issue in America. Jim Crow laws were still in effect at this time. Discrimination ran rampant and there was a lot of mistrust not only between Black and white people but within the Black community. This novel is filled with the reality of a Black man in the 1940’s. Every decision the narrator made has an effect on not only how he was perceived but how his community was perceived and not everyone agreed with him or what he represented.
                It has come to my attention that people believe that banned books are a myth or a thing of the past. This book was banned last year in North Carolina. The school board put Invisible Man to a vote after a complaint stating that the book was not appropriate for teenagers because of its language about race and incest. The ban was put into place then lifted nine days later after the school board was bombarded with emails from outraged citizens. They also received a letter condemning their decision by the American Library Association. Time has changed but this work of literature is an example of not only amazing writing but of a time when things were terribly different. Fictional accounts of unnamed character full of honesty and emotion, may be intimidating for some but everyone should be given the opportunity to read it. Banning words doesn’t change the past, it limits the future.

“ ‘Invisible Man’ ban rescinded by North Carolina school board” by David Zucchino

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