The Crisis of Political Identity in

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

Mohamed Nouhi

:.
Cultural identity is a vexing question within Afro-American political thinking. It
has been one the most central preoccupations for major black intellectuals who have
addressed the issue from different conceptual paradigms. Ralph Ellisons magnum opus
Invisible Man1 is a penetrating bildungroman tracing the protagonist journey from
ignorance to self-discovery.
This paper aims to explore the irrelevance of three political ideologies to cope
with the plight of the blacks in America. My point of departure will examine the
tradition of Booker L.Washington on the light of the individualistic opportunism of his
disciple Dr Bledsoe. Then, the focus will shift to the communist ideology of the
Brotherhood organisation, and finally to the chauvinistic Black Nationalism led by Ras
the exhorter. Through the investigation of the Invisible Mans decision to burn all the
papers of his past identifications including the briefcase papers, Bledsoes letters, and
the Brotherhoods card, the novel reveals the collapse of these ideological doctrines to
approach the question of identity for the African-American community. Indeed, the
protagonist's choice to remain anonymous from the beginning until the end of the novel
stresses a conscious rejection of all types of identifications imposed upon him and a
constant search for another authentic identity.
For a start, Bledsoe the dean of the college, represents the philosophy of Booker
T.Washington who preaches that through education in crafts, industrial skills, and the
cultivation of virtues of patience, thrift and entreprise, the blacks can improve their
1

Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (England: Penguin Books, 1952).

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living conditions. During his life, he urges them to temporarily abandon their efforts to
win full civil rights and political power and instead to concentrate on attaining
economic security. Blacks would thus accept segregation, but their eventual acquisition
of wealth and culture would gradually win for them the respect and acceptance of the
white community. The cornerstones of his philosophy are founded on the ethos of
humility as the essence of progress, accommodation to the harsh reality of racism,
and a racial uplift through self-sufficiency and self-reliance. He established the
Tuskegee Institute in 1881 and presided it until his death in 1915. The college depends
on the financial contributions of the white community. In the novel, college students
deem the founder as a prophet-like figure with divine revelations and unprecedented
mission bringing salvation to the black folks. For example, the shepherd Reverend
Homer Barbeei in his long moving sermon reminds his mixed audience of the
outstanding unique qualities of the founder:
Im sure you have heard it time and time again; of this godly mans
Labour, his great humility and his undimming vision, the fruits of which
you enjoy today; concrete, made flesh, his dream, conceived in the
starkness and darkness of slavery, fulfilled now even in the air you
breathe, in the sweet harmonies of your blended voices, in the
knowledge which each of you . . . .You must see this slave, this black
Aristotle, moving slowly, with sweet patience, with a patience not of
mere man, but of God-inspired faith . . . seeking for you that bright
horizon which you now enjoy . . . you have heard his name from your
parents, for it was he who leads them to the path, guiding them like a
great Captain; like that great pilot of ancient times who led his people
safe and unharmed across the bottom of the blood-red sea. (101-02)
However, throughout the novel, Bledsoes conduct reveals that he uses
Washingtonian principles as a guise to hide his true identity. He ingratiates himself into
the good graces of the wealthy white residents, wining their good will by doing services
for them. The only ones I even pretend to please are big white folk, and even those I
control more than they control me(119). His policy is concerned with securing his
political power and controlling the educational college regardless of his black fellows
interests. In addition, his behaviour is rooted in Pragmatic individualism. He considers
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that his personal privileges can be guaranteed only by the preservation of the status quo.
For him, the protagonist constitutes a challenge to the established political order and an
undesirable element who can upset the stability of society. That is why he reminds him
of the helplessness of his attempt to change the situation on the one hand, and the
complex network of ruling the college: You are nobody, son. You dont exist- cant
you see that? . . . . Well, thats the way it is. Its a nasty deal and I dont like it myself.
But you listen to me: I didnt make it, and I know that I cant change it. But Ive made
my place in it(119-20). Put it differently, Bledsoes submission to the corrupted
political authority which abide by the laws of institutionalised discrimination is the
unique strategem to uphold his personal benefits. When the protagonist decries his
misconduct, Bledsoe does not hesitate to dismiss him so as to stifle any change of the
situation:
Tell anyone you like, he said. I dont care. I wouldnt raise a little
finger to stop you. Because I dont owe anyone a thing, son. Who,
Negros? Negros dont control this school or much of anything elsehavent you learned even that? No, sir, they dont control this school, nor
the white folk either. True they support it, but I control it. Im still the
king down here. I dont care how much it appears otherwise. Power
doesnt have to show off. Power is confident, self-assuring, self -starting
and self-stopping, self-warming and self-justifying. When you have it,
you know it. Let the Negroes snicker and the crackers laugh . . . . This is
a power set-up, son and Im at the controls. You think about it. When
you buck against me, youre bucking against power, rich white folks
power, and the nations power-which means government power. (119)
Bledsoe exemplifies not only hypocrisy, but lack of moral virtue as well. His
humility and desire to compliment the white trustees is but a facade to disguise his
dishonesty. For instance, after the escapade with Norton around the vicinity, Blesoe
asks the protagonist why he did not lie to the trustee to avoid meeting Trueblood. For
him, duplicity becomes the precondition of adjusting to the system and the necessity to
achievement in a deceptive world. The American dream of racial uplift as propounded
by the founder is just a game, and the winner in this game is the one who knows how
to operate and play skilfully. After this incidence, the protagonist becomes aware of the
illusions of the teachings of Washington which subjected him to insults and indignities.
Though the disciple of Booker Washington is supposed to provide the suitable
circumstances and to encourage his black people to achieve respectable educational
standards, he becomes a barrier towards the protagonist aspirations by expelling him so
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as not to attain a successful future. The irony in the novel is that the Tuskegee College
was meant to emerge the blacks from their miserable conditions by equipping them
with the necessary means to prove their aptitudes and capabilities. However, Bledsoes
sole aim is to please his white benefactors so as to assure their financial support on the
one hand, and to secure his political leadership on the other. To add the salt to the
wound, the dean betrays the protagonist another time by giving him what seems to be
letters of recommendations to help him find a work. Superficially, the letters seem to be
trustworthy and addressed to people with social reputation and impressive names, but
in New York, Emerson reveals to him that he was frauded. He tells him that the aim of
the letters is to warn prospective employers against him so as to hinder him from
receiving any respectable career.
The inconvenience of Washingtons policy is also manifested in the episode of the
Battle Royal. Since it was his valediction, the protagonist was eager to impress the
white Trustees by reciting Whashingtons famous Atlanta Coton Exposition speech.
Initially, he believed that his oratorical skills will bring him dignity and will open the
gate for his socio-economic take-off. To his disillusionment, the reward was a mouth
full of blood and insulting humiliations as he and the other black boys were forced to
look at a naked white woman, and blindfoldedly fight each other on an electrified
carpet for fake coins as if they were animals in an amusment park or a circus.
In short, the protagonists experience with Bledsoe and in Battle Royal illustrates
that the perspective of Washington to approach the plight of the black Americans is not
adequate for many reasons: first, instead of changing the situation, it maintains the
white supremacy and keep the blacks at the lower depths of social hierarchy. Second,
instead of being recognised by their skills and their gifted talents, the blacks turn to be a
source of enterainment for the inebriated white community to enjoy their sparetime and
to fulfill their repressed fantasies. In his famous book The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois
argues that Washington's strategy, rather than freeing the black man from oppression,
would serve only to perpetuate their exploitation and marginalisation. In the novel, the
picture of Frederick Douglass in the office alludes to the importance of his heroic views
against the shackles of bondage and racial discrimination as opposed to those of
Washington.
In the second place, the Invisible mans painful experience with the Brotherhood
represents the failure of the communist dogma. Inspired by his eloquence during the
eviction of a West Indian family, Jack the head of the Brotherhood- offers the
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protagonist a notable position in the brotherhood organisation. At first, the protagonist

expects that his belonging to the organisation will give a new meaning and a different
perception towards his life: the organisation had given the world a new shape, and me
a vital role. We recognized no loose ends; everything could be controlled by our
science (373). To his disillusion, he discovers that the Brotherhood is not concerned
with social injustices, but with holding the masses under its control. He finds out that he
is but a valuable source of their propaganda beneath the veneer of egalitarianism.
Indeed, Jack tells him that within this communist organisation, the interests of the
individual do not account and his views are of useless value. Therefore, he has to
appropriate his individualistic interests to those of the Brotherhood organisation. Yet,
like Bledsoes obssession with material success, the members of the Brotherhood are
obssessed with their selfish individualistic ends. That is, they successfully managed to
indoctrinate him through manipulation and used him to serve their political goals. By
way of illustration, though his artistic oration skills have a powerful impact on the
audience, yet the Brotherhoods members insist that the invisible man should
accommodate his views to be in total conformity with the rigidity of the scientific
method, under the training of the white theoretician Brother Hambro. Moreover, he
discovers that the white Communists of the Brotherhood are full of racist attitudes. For
instance, while recognising his skin color, a drunken member of the Brotherhood
requests that the hero should sing a spiritual. In addition, Brother Jack's mistress Emma
whispers her regret that the hero was not darker in complexion.
Being envious of his success, the Brotherhood committee decides to remove the
narrator from a leadership role in Harlem and ordered him to lecture downtown on
Woman Question. To his surprise, he discovers after the lecture that the white woman
representing the Brotherhood is more interested in his sexuality as a black man than in
the Woman Question. To his disappointment, the narrator becomes outraged and
confused about the Brotherhood leaders decision not to use the anger of the people to
gain strength for the movement. He also becomes shocked when the Brotherhood's
theoretician Hambro reveals that Harlem is no longer a priority(298) to the
movement. Upon organising a funeral to Brother Tod Clifton who was killed by a white
policeman, the narrator was accused of betraying the principles of the Brotherhood
organisation.
After these bitter incidences, the invisible man finally discovers that the
Brotherhoods ideology is not reliable and that he was used as a production tool to
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advance the Brotherhood like his friend Tod Clifton.What is worse is that Cliftons
death becomes like an entertainment for the brotherhood: their entertainment had been
his death (359), in the same way the protagonist was used to entertain the tipsy whites
of the Battle Royal.
In the third place, Ras the Exhorter or the Destroyer represents the ideological
paradigm of Black Nationalism. The roots of Black Nationalism can be traced back to
two eminent Afro-American figures: Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) and Martin Delany
(1812-1885). The former advocates a mass exodus return to Africa as the original
motherhood for blacks, the recovery of its lost glorious past and the revival of the
prestigious heritage of African civilisation. In 1914, Garvey established the Universal
Negro Improvement Association in Jamaica as one of the most significant black
movement to be the vanguard for establishing a nationalist autonomous fatherland for
the blacks in Africa. The latter on the other hand, is a leading spokesman for black
independence, self-determination and the Negros racial purity. Indeed, the
establishment of a national homeland for the Blacks in Africa or in Central America is
the core of his political stance. In short, both of them advocate radical views of black
solidarity, black ethno-historical specificity and racialism.
In fact, Ras the Exhorters philosophy is grounded in this cultural nationalism. For
him, the absolute break between the whites and the blacks is due to what Paul Gilroy
calls cultural insiderism2 The essential trademark of cultural insiderism is an absolute
sense of ethnic difference. As a case in point, Ras the Exhorter reminds Clifton of this
racist principle during their fight:
Dont be stupid, mahn. They white, they dont have to be allies
with no black people. They get what they wahnt, they turn
against you. Wheres your black intelligence? . . . . I ahm no
black educated fool who tinks everything between black mahn
and white mahn can be settled with some blahsted lies in some
bloody books written by the white mahn in the first place. (302)
For Ras, the color line determines not only cultural differences, but geographical
boundaries as well: This is Harlem. This is my territory, the black mahns territory.
(302) In addition, the revolutionary rhythm of his eloquence reinforces the struggle
towards racial homogeneity and ethnic particularism, thus rejecting any kind of

Paul Gilroy. The Black Atlantic: Double-consciousness and Modernity, (England: Verso, 1993) p. 23.

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integration or assimilation into the white community: You my brother, mahn. Brothers
are the same colour; how the hell you call these white men brother? Shit, mahn. Thats
shit! Brothers the same colour (302).
In fact, his moving sermon reveals a preoccupation with Black Nationalism with
the aim of inspiring his disciples to be seriously commited to the pursuit of race goals:
the socio-political autonomy and the recovery of African parental history. To convince
Clifton and the invisible man to join his movement, Ras for instance invokes the
traumatic horrors of slavery: Leave that shit, mahn. They sell you out. That shit is oldfashioned. They enslave us-You forget that? How can they mean a black mahn any
good? How are they going to be your brother?(299) Moreover, he reminds them of the
historical scars of economic exploitation and political oppression: Its three hundred
years of black blood to build this white mahns civilization and wahnt be wiped out in
a minute. Blood calls for blood! You remember that. (303)
The tune of Ras political sermons clearly stresses both the recovery of African
ancestery: We sons of Mama Africa, You done forgot? You black, black! (304) It
also confirms a denunciation of all kinds of thinking systems or knowledge structures
which take assume that Africanity is an indication of inferiority: You got bahd hair!
You got thick lips! They say you stink! They hate you, mahn.You African. African.
(303) Furthermore, the portrayal of Ras during the riot in Harlem reinforces his essence
of Africentricity. Etymologically, 'Ras' as a name, refers to an Ethiopian prince in his
determination and bravery. When the riot broke out, he was riding a black horse,
wearing an old lion skin on his shoulders, and taking a shield and a spear. Describing
him in such caricature manner, Ras becomes a source of mockery and absurdity for the
white heavy drinkers:
this is some night, one of them said. Aint this some night?
Its about like the rest.
Why you say that?
Cause its fulla fucking and frighting and grinking and lying-gimme
that bottle.
You know that stud Ras the Destroyer?Well, man, he was spitting
blood.
That crazy guy?
Hell, yes, man, he had him a big black hoss and a fur cap and some
king of old lion skin or something over his shoulders and he was raising
hell.Goddam if he wasnt a sight, riding up and down on this ole hoss,
you know, one of the kind that pulls vegetable wagons, and he got him a
cowboy saddle and some big spurs.(362)

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Ras racial discourse is founded on separation between races to the extent that
any co-operation between them is a kind of betrayal to his race: [Ras] is not afraid to
be black. Nor is he a traitor to the black people for the white people. Nor is he a traitor
for white men. Remember that: I am no black traitor to the black people for the white
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people.(303)
As a charismatic black leader, Rus the Exhorter makes use of all the collective
events that constitute "race" consciousness and therefore participates in African agency,
black self-determination, and self-actualization. He also expresses himself a new
Negro, proud of being black. With such slogans as dont play youself cheap, mahn.
Dont deny youself, You young and intelligent, and You black and beautiful-dont
letem tell you different(301), he seeks to inculcate a sense of pride among blacks so
as to organise themselves together in the struggle for their freedom and against racial
domination.
Conversely, the invisible man is against the idea of race as an organizing theme
in human relations. He reacts to Rass perspective by asserting that thinking like that
will get you lost in the backwash of history (302). This attitude provides meaningful
insights and implications. First, it aims to transcend the limitations of the colour line
and to renounce race-thinking essentialism. Second, magnifying the differences
between people will generate antagonism and clashes between them instead of coexistence and cooperation. Third, focusing on the discourse of tradition or
Africentricity is not feasible because of the historical ruptures and discontinuities
throughout the period of history. Instead, African-Americans become aware of their
duality of existence or what W. E. B. Du Bois calls a sense of double-consciousness.
It refers to the historical patterns of contradictions between the ideals of white America
and the harsh reality of black America. For Du Bois,
One ever feels his twonessan American, a Negro; two souls,
two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in
one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being
torn asunder. . . . He simply wishes to make it possible for a man
to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and

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spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity

closed roughly in his face.3
Put it differently, the blacks in America are conscious of what Richard Wright names
double vision or split subjectivity.
To conclude, the protagonist has passed through painful experiences towards his
self-fulfilment. During his odyssey, he discovers that all those social institutions betray
him, and all ideologies from Booker L.Washingtons philosophy, via the Communist
Brotherhood, to the Black nationalism of Rus the Exhorter are but guises to mask
individualistic interests and moral corruption. Moreover Since the truth was only a lie
(405), he opts for withdrawal. His retreat to the underground hole indicates his
conviction to trust his own senses because the world falls into chaos. Put it differently,
his alternative for the collapse of ideologies is the freedom of every human being to
decide his own destiny and to search for his suitable mode of being far away from the
strictures of social institutions which sacrifice the personal value so as to meet the
fraudulent needs of society.
From this angle, Invisible Man as a novel can be read as a critical evaluation of
black historical leadership as well as a sociological study about the unresolved
dilemmas of blacks in the American society or what Ellison himself calls [the]
problem of nationhood. It is true that many critics cover different aspects of the novel
such as music, vernacular literature and its narrative structure.Yet, the quest for an
identity over historical moments remains one of the major concerns of the novel as
Ralph Ellison confirms that all [his] work is grounded in a concern with the hidden
aspects of American history as they come to focus in our racial predicament.4 On his
comment on Invisible Man's artistic and literary accomplishments, Eric Sundquist
writes that No book . . . sums up the psychological and cultural effects of segregation
in the United States more thoroughly than Ellisons.5

W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk, in Du Bois: Writings (New York: Library of America,
1986) p. 57.
4
Bernard W. Bell, the Afro-American Novel and Its Tradition, (Massachusetts: Massachusetts UP, 1987)
p.12.
5

Eric J. Sundquist, ed. Cultural Contexts for Ralph Ellisons Invisible Man. (Boston: St. Martins
Press, 1995) p. 2.

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34- Robert Omeally, New Essays on Invisible Man, (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1988)
p.7.
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Busby, Mark. Ralph Ellison. Boston: Twayne, 1991.

Callahan, John F. Introduction: Ralph Ellisons Invisible Man: A Casebook. New
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Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. New York: Vintage, 1989.
Ellison, Ralph, and Albert Murray. Trading Twelves: The Selected letters of Ralph.
New York: Vintage, 2001.
Foley, Barbara. Ralph Ellison as Proletarian Journalist. Science and Society 62
(1997): 24 pars. Aug. 1, 2007 <http://victorian.fortunecity.com/holbein/439/
bf/foleyreleft2.html>.
Graham, Maryemma, and Jeffrey Dwayne Mack. Ralph Ellison, 19131994: A Brief
Biography. A Historical Guide to Ralph Ellison. Ed. Stephen C. Tracy. New York:
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Jackson, Lawrence. Ralph Ellison: Emergence of Genius. New York: Wiley, 2002.
Murray, Albert. South to a Very Old Place. 1971. New York: Vintage, 1991.
OMeally, Robert G. The Craft of Ralph Ellison. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1980.
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Rampersad, Arnold. Ralph Ellison: A Biography. New York: Knopf, 2007.
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West, Hollie. Growing Up Black in Frontier Oklahoma . . . From an Ellison
Perspective. 1973. Speaking for You: The vision of Ralph Ellison. Ed. Kim- berly W.
Benston. Washington, DC: Howard UP, 1987. 1114.
Wright, John S. Shadowing Ralph Ellison. Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 2006.

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Jackson, Lawrence. Ralph Ellsons Invented Lfe: A Meetng wth the Ancestors. The Cambridge Companion to Ralph Ellison. Ed. Ross Posnock. Cambrdge:
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Adrienne Kennedy in One Act. M nneapol s: U of M nnesota P, 1988. 123.
PREFACE x
K rn, Walter. Book Jacket. The Intuitionist. By Colson Wh tehead. New York:
Anchor-Random, 2000. Parr, Susan Resneck, and Pancho Savery, eds. Approaches to
Teaching Ellisons Invisible Man. New York: MLA, 1989 Time. Book Jacket.
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