Invisible Man In White America Analysis

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When the unnamed narrator says, “I am nobody but myself. But first I had to discover that I am an invisible man!” (152), he was referring to the acknowledgment and acceptance of his identity as a black man in white America. He was on a self-discovering journey and realizing regardless of who he was, or who he was to become, white people were not morally obligated to view him for who he was. For he was identified as unequal to white America, therefore making him invisible.

As for his experience in the ballroom, he was under the impression he was there to express himself as an educated black man to the town’s leading white citizens: “It was a great success… It was a triumph for our whole community.” (153). Unfortunately, he was betrayed by the men and tricked into fighting for entertainment and pleasure. In fact, the only way he was going to be granted the opportunity to give his speech was to first partake in the humiliating boxing fight. When he was finally able to present his speech, he was dehumanized by the crowd. Through the talking and laughing, the men showed no respect towards him. Nevertheless, he was able to slowly succeed through his speech. Yet, every time he spoke words of three or more syllables, they would force him to repeat himself. Using words like “social responsibility” and “social equality,” the men laughed, as well as became angry. Social responsibility was suitable since it was referring to blacks proving themselves to …show more content…
The clowns represented African Americans, who were forced by white society to "perform'' acts of self-humiliation for the entertainment and pleasure of white people. His grandfather refused to laugh at the clowns because he knew, by experience, that blacks were the clowns and he was not going to laugh at his own people. Therefore relating his dream to his experience at the Battle

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