Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison - Book Report/Review Example

The novel takes place in the 20th century which shows that it is placed in the very century that Ellison is living in. The Eastern United States in the mid 19th century was filled with racism and this impacted the whole theme of the book written by Ellison. Racism is a very important theme of the story which is maintained throughout. White men are the respected members of the society in the novel, and so they were in the reality too. The college of blacks is run by the whites of the society and thus they should be respected in the novel.

The novel came out when world war II had ended and the world was recovering from the war. However, the black society in the 1950s was still lagging behind and was being discriminated against. However, actions were taken by the community to revive their rights in society. A similar sort of action was seen in the story written by Ellison. The discrimination prevailing amongst the blacks and whites in America impacted the book most. The fights and violence happening between these two races are also portrayed in the book.

As in the first chapter, the Battle Royal clearly shows how blacks were used by the Whites for their entertainment purposes. In the 1950s the blacks were treated as inferior human beings on the face of this earth. It seemed that the white-dominated society aimed at making these beings inferior in society and put harm to them. They did not want blacks to study or prosper in any way. As seen in the story the narrator is expelled from his college only because of some harsh incidents which occur with a white trustee of the college.

Furthermore, in the 1950s the blacks of the United States were not united enough to stand to the white-dominated society. There was segregation amongst the black individuals of the society which is the sole reason that the blacks could not prosper in society. Again this was shown in several instances by Ellison in the novel as it is a person of black ethnicity only which expels the author from his college. Further, the segregation amongst the groups between blacks is also seen in the novel which creates fights and riots among the black society only.

The title of the invisible man itself shows that black individuals are not being seen by society and seem invisible in a white-dominated society. Blacks were not offered proper jobs in the 1950s because of their race and this is also shown in the novel by Ellison when the narrator is not able to get a proper job. The discrimination in the workplace in those times was so much that the blacks were not offered proper jobs even if they were educated. Like in the story the narrator is not offered a good job even when he is educated.

The story further shows that the narrator has to settle down to work as a worker in the boiler room where even then he is discriminated by his employers and co-workers.