Identity In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

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In Ralph Ellison’s novel, Invisible Man, Ellison comments on the concept of identity. He comments on this through one of the many themes in his novel. A theme in Invisible Man is that identity is often shaped by outside sources and that no one is truly in control of their identity or how it can be perceived by others. Ellison furthers his ideas that identity is influenced by outside sources when Invisible Man is trying to find his “identity” after he moves to New York City from the Deep South. IM struggles between his “Southern” identity and his new “Northern” identity. IM even goes as far to turn down southern foods that are being sold in the north, in order to appear less southern. Ultimately, he decides to not forget where he came from. It is from this that Ellison shows that identity is formed from outside sources. IM has been influenced from his southern roots and is accustomed to the food from the south and this is one of the outside sources of how his identity as not only a southern man, but a southern black man was shaped. People, naturally, do not have control over where they are born or their skin color and Ellison is …show more content…
IM learns as he pretends to be this man, who goes by the name of Rinehart, that Rinehart has many different personalities and this shows the fluidity of identity. In this case, Ellison continues to display how identity can be perceived by others on the “outside.” While pretending to be Rinehart, IM questions if Rinehart can really be all if these people. “Still, could he be all of them: Rine the runner and Rine the gambler and Rine the briber and Rine the lover and Rinehart the Reverend? Could he himself be both rind and heart? What is real anyway?…His world was possibility and he knew it.”

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