Ralph ELLISON (1952), Invisible Man, Random House

By Luis Cabrero, 1º Bachillerato A, EFL

Invisible Man is the story of a young black man from the South who does not understand racism in the world. With a lot of hope for his future, he goes to college, but gets excluded for showing some of the white benefactors the existence of blacks in the school. Then, he moves to Harlem and becomes a speaker for a Communist party group known as ‘The Brotherhood’. In his position, he is threatened and he faces many people and situations that show him more about racism and his own identity. Racial riots continue in Harlem, he gets caught in a riot and he ends up in a black hole as prisoner. In the darkness, he starts to understand himself and his identity. He decides to write the story, his own story, written in the novel and he promises to enter society again.

The themes discussed in the book are racism and personal relationships between people. It also has a lot of criticism of the society we live in. I think it should not be read by young teenagers because they would not understand the themes.