1/12/14

I have finished reading the prologue of Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Very very interesting. However, it was not as strange as I thought it would be. One of the first things I noticed is that the invisible man goes from talking about himself to then talking towards the reader. He doesn't say that HE feels a certain he says YOU feel a certain way. He generalizes the emotions to make it seem that the reader could feel these emotions as well. He says "you ache with the need to convince yourself that you do exist in the real world, that you're a part  of all the sound and anguish, and you strike out with your fists, you curse and you swear to make them recognize you. And, alas, it's seldom successful," (Ellison 4). Statements like these make the reader question wether or not they have experienced the same feelings the invisible man feels.
  The invisible man seems to act on his emotions. He is angry and frustrated that people do not or cannot open their eyes and see him. He almost kills a man because he ran into him. He almost kills him out of pure rage but then decides against it. At the end of the prologue he sates that he was not responsible for almost killing the man. He is the one who ran into him and it was irresponsible of him not to kill him to help society.
  The invisible man talks about light and dark quite a few times during the prologue. I think that this indicates that there will be a constant presence of light and dark throughout the novel. The invisible man loves light because without it, he doesn't not exist. The light gives him form and it seems to make him feel visible in the invisible life he lives. One of the issues or conflicts that might be present throughout the novel has to do with light. He is taking the light energy from the Monopolated Light and Power. I find it interesting that the it is name light AND power. This could be seen as literally light and the power that gives energy. Or it could mean that light gives way to actual power. The invisible man feels more a live and it seems more powerful when there is light around him. Because to exist is to have power and without light, he would not exist.
  Time. Time is an important aspect to the invisible man that I believe will be an important aspect through the rest of the novel. He is intrigued by time and learns that everyone has their own sense of time. He uses the examples of the fighters. He states, "The yokel had simply stepped inside of his opponents sense of time," (Ellison 8). Once you figure out your own sense of time and someone else's sense of time, you can become invincible. The invisible man thinks that he is invincible, so I think it will be a good point to follow his "invincibility" throughout the novel.