Invisible Man is Ellison's only published novel. He lived in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance, learning much about black culture and folklore. That part of his life was interrupted by military service during WWII but soon after he started work on Invisible Man.
In his interpretation of the Black experience, Ellison touches on familiar important topics such as slavery, reconstruction, Jazz, Harlem and civil rights in both serious and realistic ways as well as more humorous and ironic ways. Throughout the theme is that of man seeking his identity on many levels from personally, to community, to a national identity. There is also a theme of disillusionment as each time a cultural, communal or national identity is within reach, it is seen to be false. Ultimately, Ellison comes to terms with the idea that one must find identity within self and not within others.
No comments:
Post a Comment