Invisible Man

I believe anyone can be invisible. It all depends on what one is going through and how they feel on a specific day. Depending upon what definition of “being invisible” you are using it can be affected by race, but that is not the reason. The reason is the person and their situation. A person’s invisibility can be caused for the same reason the narrator is suffering – a lack of self-identity. The narrator of the Invisible Man is “invisible” only because of himself. While he is clearly a part of the lower class in society, he enables the invisibility. He does not know what role he is playing yet; therefore, he does not have a clear identity. Being black is simply a factor to his invisibility, not the cause. Because he is a part of a lower class, he just has to work harder at being visible. He is trying to find his identity by depending on others. He depends on Dr. Bledsoe to write him letters of recommendation, yet he betrays him and he is left with no work. This is a good example of the narrator’s invisibility. He was betrayed without a single thought. It is because he has not discovered his role in life yet. He is depending on others to carry him through a part of his life, while he really needs to be is confident in himself. He needs to form his identity and stand on his own two feet. From what I have read so far, I feel like he continuously attempts to be visible. He attempts to be a leader, public speaking, yet after that experience, he is told to only sit, listen, and take notes in order to learn the brotherhood’s doctrine. Looking at these examples more closely, I have begun to believe that at times his environment causes his invisibility. At the school Dr. Bledsoe saw his as a speck of dust. Not because of his ethnicity, but because he was an employee, he betrayed him because in reality the narrator screwed up so Dr. Bledsoe owed nothing to him. While he is delivering his speech he is in a “black setting”, which I think contributes to his invisibility, but at the same time he is trying to find an identity in this setting, so I am unsure of what role the setting plays.