The Meaning of Invisibility in Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man"

According to Ralph Ellison in Invisible Man, to be invisible means to be construed by others as a collection of general stereotypes rather than an actual, individual person. When people of the dominant society think of the narrator, states he, "they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination-indeed, everything except me" (3). While the stereotyping individuals in such situations have in front of them a physically real, living human being, and are not literally blind to the presence of said person, they project their pre-conceived notions of his identity onto him rather than bothering to find out his true nature.

This projection can lead to obscenely negative stereotypes, such as the view of the men in the smoker that black kids are no more than dumb brutes, fighting for others' entertainment. However, it can also lead to complimentary and even idealized views of the black individual being thus perceived, such as Mr. Norton's concern over the black students' futures as being his own fate. Mr. Norton thus defines the identity of the narrator and students like him in terms of his own identity and how his legacy is enhanced by those students' productive activities. While Mr. Norton does not by any means intend to degrade the black students, his mindset nevertheless fails to conceive of them as fully distinct individuals with purposes distinct from his own and peculiar to themselves.

However, the consequences of Ellison's idea of invisibility are not merely the failure of others to understand an invisible man. They extend to the invisible man actually living out others' views of his identity. Reflecting on his development throughout the story, the narrator states that he had made "a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself. But first I had to discover that I am an invisible man!" (15).