Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison *****

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is a 1952 classic novel about a nameless black man who moves to Harlem from the South. For much of the novel, the protagonist introspects on the fate of black people in the United States. From a 21^st century perspective, it had a lot to say about social progress: specifically, the lack of progress and the mythology that maintains the status quo.

The novel shows the lack of social progress in ways that Ralph Ellison might not have realized in 1952. One important event is when a cop shoots and kills an unarmed black man. From today’s perspective, this can be seen as an event out of time, as plausible today as centuries in the past.

The book presents two possible organizations for social progress. One is Raz the exhorter, who later becomes Raz the destroyer. His primary tenet is that only black people can move black people forward; working with white people is treason. The other force is the Brotherhood. In the beginning, the protagonist supports their principles of racial cooperation, but in the end, realizes that whites control the Brotherhood to keep the blacks from moving forward. When a race riot breaks out in Harlem, the protagonist blames the uprising on the Brotherhood while realizing that the Harlem community is only attacking itself. Today, this choice of aggressive self-determination versus cooperative negotiation is still relevant.

Moving beyond the black experience, the book highlights the mythology maintaining a static social structure. Our protagonist starts out with a college scholarship and the hope that education will lead to upward mobility and freedom. Once he moved to Harlem, he learns that these aspirations were just myths. In Harlem he learns that the advice to be polite and entertaining did not bring progress, but merely maintained the status quo, ultimately leading to invisibility.

Other myths supporting a static structure are “money won’t buy happiness,” “rich people are unhappy,” “success is available to everyone,” and “success comes from hard work.”

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is simultaneously a historical chronicle and timeless condemnation of racism and class.