Ellison makes several profound statements about American society and the language of racism (white generally symbolizes goodness and purity, while black symbolizes evil and corruption) by reversing traditional black/white symbolism and its associated white-is-right philosophy. Numerous references to red, white, and blue - the white men at the battle royal with their blue eyes and red faces - mock the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness symbolized by the Stars and Stripes.īlack/White. Brother Jack's red hair (which, along with his blue eyes and white skin, underscore his all-American identity), the red-faced men at the battle royal, the vet's red wheelchair (underscoring his courage), and the frequent references to Santa Claus as a symbol of evil are part of a red motif that accents unpleasant personalities and symbolizes the narrator's uneasiness evoked by these characters. Red, often associated with love and passion as in red roses, generally symbolizes blood, rage, or danger in the novel. References to gold and variations thereof include: the Golden Day, an ironic commentary on the lives of the veterans who, instead of looking forward to their golden years of retirement, escape only once a week on a golden day from the mental hospital the brass tokens, which the boys mistake for gold coins and the naked blonde's hair, described as 'yellow like a Kewpie doll's.' Yellow also alludes to light and enlightenment.

Gold symbolizes power, elusive wealth, or the illusion of prosperity. Other symbolism can generally be divided into four categories: colors, numbers, animals, and machines (humans depicted as dolls, puppets, or robots).Įllison uses color to convey the novel's themes and motifs throughout the book, consistently weaving references to the following colors into the text: Several key symbols enhance Invisible Man's overall themes: The narrator's calfskin briefcase symbolizes his psychological baggage Mary Rambo's broken, cast-iron bank symbolizes the narrator's shattered image and Brother Tarp's battered chain links symbolize his freedom from physical as well as mental slavery. Ellison merges dreams and reality to underscore the surrealistic nature of the narrator's experience and to highlight the gross disparities between the realities of black life and the myth of the American Dream.

In the novel, numerous dreams and visions symbolize the narrator's retreat from reality, seeking solace in memories of his childhood or days at the college, often occurring as he escapes into his music. Dreams and visions generally symbolize the power of the subconscious mind. A master of poetic devices, Ralph Ellison incorporates numerous symbols and archetypes (universal symbols) into his novel, each providing a unique perspective on the narrative and supporting the dominant themes of invisibility and identity.

The invisible man novel ralph ellison