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Perception, visibility and invisibility in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man

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 International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Culture
Available online at https://sloap.org/journals/index.php/ijllc/
Vol. 6, No. 3, May 2020, pages: 18-35
ISSN: 2455-8028
https://doi.org/10.21744/ijllc.v6n3.892

Perception, Visibility, and Invisibility in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible

Man1

Beugre Zouankouan Stéphane a

Article history: Abstract

This study analyses three essential motifs which are perception, visibility and
Submitted: 27 February 2020 invisibility and how their relationships determine and legislate the interracial
Revised: 18 March 2020 relationships between whites and blacks in Ralph Ellison’s novel, INVISIBLE
Accepted: 09 April 2020 MAN. Through insightful analysis, this paper aims to show how from a
visible status in existence, the perception that white people have about black
people transforms this visibility into an invisible status both in human
existence and society and namely in the white American society. And also it
Keywords: aims to clear out how this metamorphosis of black people from visibility to
black people; invisibility at first based on white people's perception, is principally based
invisibility; and due to their color of skin, and to another “Blackness” of Black people or
perception; African-Americans color of skin. Creating a real problem of existence and
visibility; identity for black people through the question: “do I exist?”, the refusal of
white people; such perception and invisibility constructed by racism, stereotypes,
prejudices and the concept of white people superiority will oblige black
people to struggle for their visibility, their true existence, their identity and
recognition by white people as an equal human being. And to achieve this
goal or to well conduct this struggle, Ellison advises a metaphorical weapon
which is "light".

International journal of linguistics, literature and culture © 2020.

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Corresponding author:
Beugre Zouankouan Stéphane,
English Department, University of Pelefero Gon Coulibaly, Korhogo, Côte d'Ivoire.
Email address: [email protected]

a
English Department, University of Pelefero Gon Coulibaly, Korhogo, Côte d'Ivoire
1
Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the second vintage international edition of March 1995 or on that of Vintage Book Edition.
(The Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable
Trust or on that of Vintage Book Edition), March 1995. Copyright-1947-1948-1952 by Ralph Ellison. The title of the novel will
be written in this typography in this paper.

18
IJLLC ISSN: 2455-8028  19

1 Introduction
Developing the notion of black people invisibility as a major and central theme b in his “experimental novel”c
INVISIBLE MAN, Ralph Ellison evokes the question of African Americans' existence, status, identity and value in
the white American society. And at large, he evokes the question of any black human existence, status, identity, and
value in a world controlled and dominated by white people.
More specifically, the problems of black people's invisible existence and identity experienced by Ralph Ellison in
the racist American society are so real and topical that he cannot prevent himself to state that his major character (the
protagonist-narrator) is invisible in the society in which he lives. And to better characterize this realistic aspect, he
even assigns him (the major character) the name “Invisible Man”d.
Indeed, the motif of invisibility being central to the meaning of the novel; it plays a key role in questioning the
existence of the protagonist-narrator (a black man) as a human being as well as the other human beings (white
people) of his living environment or the society. Such a perpetual questioning on the existencee in turn highlights
three important interrelated themes in the same novel which are the themes of perception, visibility, and invisibility.
Because as a careful reading of a scenef from the novel may let us observe; those three entities play together by
examining their interactions. And it is important to know their relationships and especially to know how those three
entities work together to construct “an invisible existence to black human being” in general. That is why the first
fundamental question in this paper is, therefore, to know how perception can constructg someone’s visibility or
invisibility in society?
Set up in the context of the American society, we realize that this notion of invisibility linked to “Invisible Man”
the major character, not only foreshadows the racial relationships between white people and black people in terms of
superiority and inferiority, but it describes, denounces and reveals the margin place and the status that black people
have in the white American society as it is the case for the protagonist in the novel.

… the Negro problem of identity and existence in the postwar American Negro novel with special reference to
the saga of survival and invisibility of a nameless young black man in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man … this man
living, in a blind, nihilistic, and a racist American world denies his existence and reducing him almost to a non-
entity making him ever more restless, possessed and exhausted.h

Encapsulating the notion of invisibility, the first sentence “I am an invisible man” is a riddle for both the meaning of
the whole novel and its interpretation. Moreover, it is the first expression that puts forth the notions of perception,
visibility, and invisibility simply when we consider the simple question: how someone who exists, in reality, can be
at the same time invisible in the society or an invisible man? In other words, how can this person move from
visibility in existence to invisibility in society? We observe that these important questions let us comprehend the
role played by the notion of perceptioni, and how perception can move someone from visibility (in existence, in the
real world) to invisibility in the society (Sesko & Biernat, 2010).
Analogously, we may argue that the first sentence of the novel (“I am an invisible man”) as a fundamental
sentence set at the beginning of the prologue introduces us to a major contradiction through the meaning of the

b This theme is central simply because the words “invisible”, “invisibility”, and the expressions “I am an invisible man”, “I am
invisible”, “my invisibility”, “invisible man”, “that invisibility”, “an invisible man” appear several times at the beginning of the
novel (the prologue) and control the sense and orientation of the narration of the prologue and of the whole novel.
c Jennifer DeVere Brody, “The Blackness of Blackness . . . Reading the Typography of Invisible Man” in Theatre Journal 57 by
The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 679–698, © 2005.
d “Invisible Man” is the name of the protagonist-narrator and the major character in the novel INVISIBLE MAN. And the name of
the protagonist-narrator or major character will be written this way or by this typography in this paper.
e ‘’ Or again, you often doubt if you really exist” p. 4.
f The scene of his encounter with a white man one night: “One night I accidentally bumped into a man, and perhaps because of
the near darkness he saw me and called me an insulting name … a man almost killed by a phantom”.
g create something in mind: to create something such as a theory as a result of systematic thought
h Khamis Khalaf Mohammad, “Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man: A Quest of Identity”, Abstract, January 2018 on
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331745357_Ralph_Ellison's_Invisible_Man_A_Quest_of_Identity visited on April
16, 2020.
i Perception being an intuition of the mind on https://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-7/descartes-i-think-
therefore-i-am
Stéphane, B. Z. (2020). Perception, visibility and invisibility in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. International Journal
of Linguistics, Literature and Culture, 6(3), 18-35.
https://doi.org/10.21744/ijllc.v6n3.892
20  ISSN: 2455-8028

expression itselfj. Because in this sentence “I am an invisible man”, the visibility through the expression “I am” and
at the same time the invisibility through the expression “an invisible man” obliges us to ask the second fundamental
question in this paper which is indeed the central problematic: How white people perception constructs invisibility
for black people in the society while they do exist in the real world?
Based on the hermeneutic approach, the larger project of this essay is, therefore, to know specifically, how white
people's perception about black people constructs black people's invisibility or “an invisible man” as it is the case for
the major character? Or again, how white people's perception of black people can shift black people from visibility in
existence to invisibility in the society in which they live or from a visible existence to an invisible existence in the
society?
The theoretical background that will be used in analyzing black people invisibility will be theories such as
African American criticism, psychoanalytic criticism, and stylistics and as approach; it will be a hermeneutics
analysis meaning the critical interpretation of the way white people perception about black people shifts black people
from visibility in existence to invisibility in society or from a visible existence in reality to an invisible existence in
human life and society (Tallal, 1980; DeLoache et al., 1979; Carmon & Nachshon, 1973).
It is important to precise in terms of theoretical background that stylistics is important here because Ralph Ellison
veiled his message about the notion of black people invisibility principally through metaphors k, ironyl, symbolsm,
images, and rhetoric such as contradiction.
African American criticism is useful in this study because it is the African American who is invisible in the
American society, this invisibility is mainly performed and experienced in whites and blacks relationships, in race
relation problems, and the pursuit of the American dream. And finally, the African-Americans are the main concern
by the notion of invisibility and its drawbacks through the protagonist-narrator in the white American society.
Psychoanalytic criticism is very important for two main reasons. First, this theory is important because of the
notion of perception, which is considered as an intuition of the mind, the mental picture that white people have
about black people; meaning the way white people conceive in their mind, intuition and inner eyes black people
in the society. Second, this theory is important because black people react to this status of invisibility. Indeed, how
black people and namely African Americans are affected by the fact to exist and at the same time to be invisible in
the society in which they live because due to this invisibility cast on them they sometimes doubt their real existence.
The concepts of human existence and perception being central in this study, it is necessary to clarify that to better
cope with those interrelated questions and the central problematic, this study will revolve around three key issues
that will constitute the blueprint of our analysis:
Firstly, it will be important to understand why the main character identifies himself as “Invisible Man” and how
does it come that he identifies himself as “Invisible Man”? This first issue will tackle the aspect or notion of
perception, meaning the way white people look at him and refuse to see him.
Secondly, it will be very important to look for the reasons why the main character is invisible or why the main
character seems to be invisible? Through this second issue, we will scrutinize the causes of his invisibility in society
and therefore analyze the aspects of the color of skin, Blackness of Blackness, and humanless status.
Thirdly and finally, it will be important to analyze why Ralph Ellison advises the metaphor of light to solve this
invisibility or the problem of black people invisibility? Why light is the solution to solve the invisibility of black
people and the like such as identity and recognition in society? In clear terms, why "light" is important and necessary
in black people struggle for visibility, true existence, identity and recognition as equal human beings by white
people? Through this last issue, we will consider the riddle saying that “Light confirms my reality, gives birth to my
form” while admitting that light chases “blackness” or darkness.

j Of course his existence through the expression “I am” becomes automatically invisible through the expression “an invisible
man”
k The main metaphor of his invisibility resides in the sentence “I am an invisible man”.
l The story of his encounter with a man one night: “One night I accidentally bumped into a man, and perhaps because of the near

darkness he saw me and called me an insulting name … a man almost killed by a phantom”.
m Many symbols pertain the prologue (invisibility, visibility, light, darkness, blackness, power etc.)

IJLLC Vol. 6, No. 3, May 2020, pages: 18-35

IJLLC ISSN: 2455-8028  21

2 From Visibility in Existence to Invisibility in Human Existence Society

Described as being an intuition of the mind n, generally speaking, the perception (mental picture, impression) that
someone has about you can create your visibility or your invisibility: meaning either he considers you; either he does
not consider you.
And namely, in Ellison’s text the perception that white people have about African Americans (or Black people)
constructso their invisibilityp (black people invisibility) as human beings among white people on the one hand. And
on the other hand, the perception that white people have about African Americans (or Black people) constructsq also
their invisibility as individuals and members of the society in which they live and which is controlled and dominated
by white people.
Characterized by the image “inner eyes” and which we may consider as a metaphor, the notion of perception is
an important factor that determines and accompanies the relationship between white people on the one hand and the
relationship between white people and black people on the other hand. This notion of perception r that we may define
as “their inner eyes”s in the context of the novel is a central key to comprehend efficiently the invisibility put on
black people through the mind of the white people. Because this central key sets both the context and the decor of
this (fiction-reality) novel about “Invisible Man” and the kind of behavior white people have toward black people in
general. And the protagonist-narrator is very clear about the fact that his invisibility is due to the perception that
white people have about him when he clearly says:

That invisibility to which I refer occurs because of a peculiar disposition of the eyes of those with whom I come
in contact. A matter of the construction of their inner eyes, those eyes with which they look through their physical
eyes upon reality.t

The perception that white people have about black people permits them not to consider black people in the
society or to “refuse to see” black people in the society occasioning a kind of invisibility of black people or a kind of
invisibility of the black man: “I am invisible, understand, simply because [white] people refuse to see me.” u
In clear terms, while he exits or “do exist in the real world”, while he is visible in existence through their
“physical eyes” because he is “a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids”v, the perception of white
people or the “inner eyes” of white people renders him invisible in human existence and society. And this attitude
creates a new reality in which it is as if he has an invisible existence to other people’s minds namely to white
people’s minds: “You wonder whether you aren't simply a phantom in other people's minds. Say, a figure in a
nightmare which the sleeper tries with all his strength to destroy.” w
And practically speaking, such invisibility puts on the black man in the society and his relationships with white
people causes a real problem to the black man existence as to question himself and doubt about his real existence or
his true existence among other human beings namely white people: “Or again, you often doubt if you exist.”x

n https://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-7/descartes-i-think-therefore-i-am
o Create their invisibility or contribute to their invisibility as human being.
p In reference to the expression “my invisibility” used by the protagonist narrator “Invisible Man”
q Create their invisibility or contribute to their invisibility as human being.
r The notion of perception refers to the semantic of the sentence: “a matter of the construction of their inner eyes” in INVISIBLE

MAN, (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The Ralph and Fanny Ellison
Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition ), p.3.
s Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The

Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p.3.
t Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The

Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p.3.
u Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The

Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p.3.
v “I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie

ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids -- and I might even be said to possess a mind.”
w Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN, (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The

Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p.4.
x Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The

Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition),, p.4.
Stéphane, B. Z. (2020). Perception, visibility and invisibility in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. International Journal
of Linguistics, Literature and Culture, 6(3), 18-35.
https://doi.org/10.21744/ijllc.v6n3.892
22  ISSN: 2455-8028

That is why, in the sentence or expression “I am an invisible man”, we should understand simply that the “I am”
means that he exists, he is visible in existence so he has a visible existence. Then the perception or “inner eyes” of
white people renders him “an invisible man” therefore he has an invisible existence both in human existence and in
the society. That is why he has despite his visible existence an invisible existence between human beings and among
individuals of the society he belongs to.
In conclusion, we can say that on the one hand, we should understand simply that the “I am” in the expression “I
am an invisible man” means that the black man exists which also means “to be” which in turn means finally; his
visibility too.
And we should, on the other hand, understand simply that the expression “I am invisible”, means that the black
man despite his visible existence is not considered as part of human beings and not considered as individual and
member of the society which in turn means finally; his invisibility too.

I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in
circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach
me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination -- indeed, everything and
anything except me.”y

Indeed, being part of a society means to be taken into account, to be valued as a human being with the same rights,
facilities, opportunities, respect, love, and humanity but here it is not the case for “Invisible Man” the protagonist-
narrator who is valued and considered as a “thing”, “a thing and not a man; a child, or even less--a black amorphous
thing”z and who dwells in an “I-It relationships”:

A helpful way to understand the Invisible Man as a character is to use the ideas of the noted twentieth-century
Jewish philosopher, Martin Buber. Buber distinguishes between I-Thou relationships and I-It relationships. When
we love someone, there is an I-Thou relationship, one between two individuals who truly care for one another as
persons. In an I-It relationship, we use others as things. We like people for what we can get out of them. If you
apply this idea to Ellison’s central character, you may conclude that he is invisible because people always see him
as an “It,” never as a “Thou.”aa

Of course, white people’s perception (inner eyes) moves him from a visible existence to an invisible existence
among human beings and in the society because with their physical eyes, he does exist and he is visible. So with their
physical eyes, he is part of the existence but the problem of black people's existence and invisibility resides through
the inner eyes of white people because it is there that the black man is invisible. It is there that the black man is
invisible as an equal human being and also invisible as an individual and a member of the same society. And the
narrator is clear about this fact:

Nor is my invisibility exactly a matter of a bio-chemical accident to my epidermis. That invisibility to which I
refer occurs because of a peculiar disposition of the eyes of those with whom I come in contact. A matter of the
construction of their inner eyes, those eyes with which they look through their physical eyes upon reality”bb

Such a permanent perception, such as permanent invisibility and the doubt that accompanies one’s cc true existence
among other people (white people) is clearly noticed at the beginning of the prologue through the contradiction
between the fact “to be” and at the same time to be “an invisible man” through the sentence: “I am an invisible man.”

y Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The
Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p.3.
z Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The

Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p.95.
aa Anthony S. Abbott, RALPH ELLISON’S THE INVISIBLE MAN, (C) Copyright 1985 by Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., p. 21.
bb Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The

Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p.3.
cc
We mean by “one’s” : Black people true existence

IJLLC Vol. 6, No. 3, May 2020, pages: 18-35

IJLLC ISSN: 2455-8028  23

He realizes man’s invisibility; in this case, the narrator’s lies in society and imposed rules. Therefore, the vet
addresses the narrator as a ‘walking zombie’, ‘a black amorphous thing’, ‘a walking personification of the
Negative’, ‘the mechanical man’, who ‘has eyes and ears’, but ‘fails to understand the simple facts of life’ (94).
He is rejected and ‘unseen’ by the society both as an Afro-American and an individualdd

In white people’s minds, “Invisible Man” is not a human being but “a walking zombie, a black amorphous thing, a
walking personification of the Negative, the mechanical man”. He is only an object, visible in existence but invisible
in human existence and in human society as a human being endowed by human beings' values. Simply because in
white people’s minds, it is not sure he “possesses a mind”: “Understand. Understand? It’s worse than that. He
registers with his senses but short-circuits his brain. Nothing has meaning. He takes it in but he doesn’t digest it.” ee
Indeed, it is a puzzle he possesses a mind that is why he says: “-- and I might even be said to possess a mind”
because it is something to be verified, that is why white people refuse to see him, they don’t recognize him as a
human being part of human existence and part of human society.

Ellison’s character depiction includes many postwar existentialist elements, which are an emphasis on a
character’s vulnerability, inauthenticity, loss of identity, and search for identity and struggle for visibility in mass
society. ‘Two major aspects could be considered while analyzing it in greater detail, namely the narrator’s
struggle for visibility and acknowledgment both as a human being and as an Afro-American’ (Mazlaveckiene,
2010).ff BECAUSE
A reading of Ellison’s novel suggests that the theme of invisibility has different dimensions: (a) Invisibility
suggests the unwillingness of others to see the individual as a person. The narrator is invisible because people see
in him only what they want to see, not what he is. Invisibility, in this sense, has a strong sense of racial prejudice.
White people often do not see black people as individual human beings. gg

The controversial existence, controversial status, controversial identity and controversial value of the black man
“Invisible Man” characterized mainly by a visible existence in real life and at the same time an invisible existence in
human life and white American society can be represented by the scheme as follows:

is visible in existence as
physical eyes
of
White people object

is body in physical as
existence
↓

versus
↓

human
inner eyes is invisible in existence as Not a human
of human being
White people society or

dd Yildiray Cevik, “The Motifs of Blindness and Invisibility within the Influence of Postwar Existentialism as Reflected in
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison” Athens: ATINER'S Conference Paper Series, No: LIT2012-0278. (2012), p. 9.
ee Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The

Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p.94.
ff Yildiray Cevik, “The Motifs of Blindness and Invisibility within the Influence of Postwar Existentialism as Reflected in

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison” Athens: ATINER'S Conference Paper Series, No: LIT2012-0278. (2012), p. 7.
gg Anthony S. Abbott, RALPH ELLISON’S THE INVISIBLE MAN, (C) Copyright 1985, by Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., p.

45.
Stéphane, B. Z. (2020). Perception, visibility and invisibility in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. International Journal
of Linguistics, Literature and Culture, 6(3), 18-35.
https://doi.org/10.21744/ijllc.v6n3.892
24  ISSN: 2455-8028

or Not an
White individual
people's Abstract life and member
minds is phantom in Abstract as of the society
existence
Abstract
society
↓
result

↓
Physical eyes ↔ ↔ ↔ Inner eyes
↓
↓ ↓ ↓
From visibility ↔ ↔ ↔ To invisibility (society and
(in existence) ↓ human existence)
Result into a
problem
↓
↓
I do really exist in the real world or I don’t really exist in the real world

This problem of controversial existence that the black man is facing because of the invisibility sheds on him through
the perception that white people have about him; is reinforced by the “anomalous position” white people give to him
in the “American society” because of this same invisibility.

In the thirty years since its original publication, INVISIBLE MAN has become firmly established as an American
classic, not only as a triumph of storytelling and characterization but also as a profound and uncompromising
interpretation of Negro’s anomalous position in American societyhh

The perception that white people have about him [what he is “in other people's minds”] creates a problem of
invisibility for the protagonist-narrator (a black man). And this problem of invisibility creates as a cause and effect
relationships a problem of existence for him for “you often doubt if you exist”) and as a concrete result; this problem
of invisibility creates consequently a problem of an “anomalous position” in the society in which he lives.

The motif of invisibility treats a black man’s situation in the United States. For a long time, an Afro-American’s
individuality was ignored by society, and the narrator in Invisible Man faces the same problem. For centuries
blacks were oppressed by the whites and treated as inferior creatures, a cheap workforce, and ‘a flock of invisible
people’ (Juozapaitytė, 2001). Afro-Americans were considered as people of lower social and intellectual status:
they were not allowed the same possibilities as the white people, like receiving education, participating in public
events, even deciding upon their future. They were simply deprived of their individuality (Juozapaitytė, 2001).ii

Invisibility, the problem of existence and “anomalous position” in the society oblige black people to fight or to
struggle all their existence or during their lifetime. Indeed, black people fight for their visibility in the “inner eyes” of
white people or their visibility “in [white] people's minds” so that to make themselves visible by them. But also all
their existence or during their lifetime, black people fight to persuade themselves that they do exist (or have a true
existence like the others in the world). And consequently, all their existence or during their lifetime, black people
fight for their recognition (consideration and respect as human beings and as part of the world and society). We
observe therefore that they are at least confronted with three kinds of fighting in their life: a fight for visibility in

hh Forewords of the edition of the novel INVISIBLE MAN published by Random House, (New York: Random House, Copyright
1952).
ii Yildiray Cevik, “The Motifs of Blindness and Invisibility within the Influence of Postwar Existentialism as Reflected in
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison” Athens: ATINER'S Conference Paper Series, No: LIT2012-0278. (2012), p. 8.

IJLLC Vol. 6, No. 3, May 2020, pages: 18-35

IJLLC ISSN: 2455-8028  25
human existence and society as equal human beings (so a fight from visibility to visibility jj); a fight for a real
existence among human beings in the society; and a fight for recognition and good position as human beings in the
society as well as white people:

VISIBILITY + EXISTENCE + RECOGNITION

“You ache with the need to convince yourself that you do exist in the real world, that you're a part of all the sound
and anguish, and you strike out with your fists, you curse and you swear to make them recognize you. And, alas,
it's seldom successful.”kk

Considering this testimony on the part of “Invisible Man” the main character, the question that arises from the
observation we made about his effort to be visible is, therefore, the following: why is it seldom successful? Or again,
why are black people still invisible in human existence and society and namely in the white American society despite
all their effort to be visible?
In the following part, we will see how black people (or the black man) invisibility thanks to the perception that
white people have about them (or him) is inherent and linked to the color of their skin (Blackness) or the color of
their race and how this invisibility and color of skin work together to deprive an identity to black people in the
society or to influence the identity that black people should have in the society.

3 Black People Invisibility, Color of Skin, and Identity are Intrinsically Linked and Work
Together
Drawing a relation to the analysis above, we recognize the main character as a human being but he reclaims himself
invisiblell “understand, simply because people refuse to see me” and namely “understand, simply because white
people refuse to see him”. So when analyzing the first cause or reason why he claims himself invisible, we can say
that his invisibility is related to the refusal of other people (white people) to see him. White people refuse to see him
not with their physical eyes [because with these physical eyes they do see him for they are not blind] but with “their
inner eyes, those eyes with which they look through their physical eyes upon reality” mm.
It means clearly that he does exist but he is not part of reality for the white people so that with the physical eyes,
he is not invisible (he is part of existence) but with the inner eyes, he is invisible (he is not part of reality meaning
human existence and human society). This clarity lets us imagine that there is a reality dedicated to the inner eyes
which are quite different from the reality of the physical eyes or rather the reality (true reality) is dedicated to the
inner eyes and is a reality quite different from the apparent reality of the physical eyes.
This kind of two realities (reality dedicated to the inner eyes and reality of the physical eyes) shed light on the
numerous dualities in the prologue such as (physical eyes / inner eyes); (they see only my surroundings / except me);
(people refuse to see me / people see me (he saw me) nn); (I am a man / I am an invisible man); (I am a man of
substance / I am invisible).
And because it is the inner eyes which is related to reality and it is also that inner eyes which render him
invisible, we are obliged to ask ourselves those following questions: why do white people refuse to see him with their
inner eyes so that he becomes invisible in the reality or again, why do white people refuse to see him in the reality as
if he is not part of this reality?
To respond to those questions means simply to find the real and true cause or reason why white people exactly
perceive him as invisible in the reality and with their inner eyes and at a larger sphere, why exactly white people
perceive all black people as invisible men. And to those questions, the protagonist-narrator answers that for him; his
invisibility (or black people invisibility) is due to "the 'Blackness of Blackness.' ":
"Brothers and sisters, my text this morning is the 'Blackness of Blackness.' "

jj from visibility in existence to visibility in human existence and human society.

kk Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The
Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p.4.
ll “I am invisible” in INVISIBLE MAN, p.3.
mm Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The
Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p.3.
nn "One night I accidentally bumped into a man, and perhaps because of the near darkness he saw me and called me an insulting
name" in INVISIBLE MAN, p. 4.
Stéphane, B. Z. (2020). Perception, visibility and invisibility in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. International Journal
of Linguistics, Literature and Culture, 6(3), 18-35.
https://doi.org/10.21744/ijllc.v6n3.892
26  ISSN: 2455-8028

And a congregation of voices answered: "That blackness is most black, brother, most black . . ."
"In the beginning . . ."
"At the very start," they cried.
". . . there was blackness . . ."
"Preach it . . ."oo

In clear terms, the real or true cause and the reason why white people perceive the protagonist-narrator (black
people) as invisible is the notion of "'Blackness of Blackness.' " We observe clearly that Ralph Ellison develops a
new theory related to the invisibility of black people through the relationship between the same repeated word which
is the word "Blackness" [ a metaphor and symbol of black people invisibility].
The major character or “Invisible Man” is black and this "Blackness"pp [the fact to be black: his color of skin] has
another "Blackness"qq or is surrounding by another "Blackness"rr [which is a kind of darkness] that prevents him to
be seen or that allows him to be invisible to white people.
More specifically in this new theoryss: "the 'Blackness of Blackness'"; we have the following relationship: "the
'Blackness " (the first one) is related to a kind of shadow or a kind of darkness and "of Blackness'" (the second one) is
related to the color of the skin of any black man and this color is the color black. Therefore we have two levels of
"'Blackness' ":
First "'Blackness' " = the darkness which hides his value as a human being (or as a black human being). "That
blackness is most black, brother, most black . . ." because it prevents him to be visible, to be considered as human
being and individual in the society; and it obliges him to be invisible.
Second "'Blackness' " = the color of the skin (which is black because he is a black man). This second
"'Blackness' " is natural and through it, he is visible as an object, a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and
liquids.
1) "'Blackness' " because he is invisible [no value, no identity, no rights, not a human being]
2) "'Blackness' " because he is black [color of skin]
By examining this new theory, we realize that being black leads to a "'Blackness' " and being invisible [people
refuse to see me] is the result of a second or another "'Blackness' " that is why we conclude in terms of the
relationship that:
1) Physical eyes lead to a blackness equal to a person who is black, the color of skin, the black race or the
“darker brother”.
2) Inner eyes lead to another blackness equal to invisibility, not human being, and no value, no identity, no
respect, no right, no consideration, etc.
When coming back to the different dualities or ambivalence tt we mentioned above [(physical eyes / inner eyes);
(they see only my surroundings / except me); (people refuse to see me / people see me (he saw me) uu); (I am a man /
I am an invisible man); (I am a man of substance / I am invisible)], we may draw those new parallels:

FIRST:
1) Physical eyes = 2nd "'Blackness' " so white people see black people [color of skin].
2) they see only my surroundings = 2nd "'Blackness' " [color of skin] = "a man of substance, of flesh and bone,
fiber and liquids".
3) people see me (he saw me) = 2nd "'Blackness' " [human existing] = " he saw me and called me an insulting
name."

oo Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The
Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition ), p. 9.
pp The underlined one "Brothers and sisters, my text this morning is the 'Blackness of Blackness.' "
qq The underlined one "Brothers and sisters, my text this morning is the 'Blackness of Blackness.' "
rr The underlined one "Brothers and sisters, my text this morning is the 'Blackness of Blackness.' "
ss In the very first theory, he states that he is invisible because White people refuse to see him but in this new theory, he states
metaphorically that he is invisible because of " the 'Blackness of Blackness.' " , a kind of metaphor in which the word "the
'Blackness " becomes the symbol and also the synonym of his invisibility.
tt "I too have become acquainted with ambivalence," I said That’s why I’m here”. in INVISIBLE MAN, p.10.
uu "One night I accidentally bumped into a man, and perhaps because of the near darkness he saw me and called me an insulting
name" in INVISIBLEMAN, p. 4.

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IJLLC ISSN: 2455-8028  27
SECOND:
1) inner eyes = 1st "'Blackness' " = white people see black people that they cannot consider as a human being and
part of reality for they are invisible.
2) except for me = 1st "'Blackness' " = white people do not take into account his me which is most of the time
used to affirm oneself as responsible so he is denied thinking, mind, recognition, consideration, rights,
respect, and value by white people.
3) refuse to see me = 1st "'Blackness' " = he is considered as inferior, as not a human being, he is considered as a
third-degree person.

The Invisible Man is the rhetorically flamboyant unnamed narrator of Ellison’s novel. He is invisible not
because he is a “spook”—literally unseen—but because he is a black man living in the racist atmosphere of
America in the 1920s and 1930s, unrecognized because of his skin colorvv… The motif of invisibility treats a
black man’s situation in the United States. For a long time, an Afro-American’s individuality was ignored by
society, and the narrator in Invisible Man faces the same problem. For centuries blacks were oppressed by the
whites and treated as inferior creatures, a cheap workforce, and ‘a flock of invisible people’ (Juozapaitytė, 2001).
Afro-Americans were considered as people of lower social and intellectual status: they were not allowed the same
possibilities as the white people, like receiving education, participating in public events, even deciding upon their
future. They were simply deprived of their individuality (Juozapaitytė, 2001).ww

He is not seenxx because of the other "Blackness"yy [darkness] of his "Blackness"zz [color of skin] makes him
invisible and hides all his personality, identity, value, etc. It is a kind of shadow or darkness or exactly "Blackness"aaa
which hides his individuality as a human being in the white men's vision and the perception that is why white people
refuse to recognize him, to take him as an equal human being, as a human of quality, rights, thinking, mind, and
importance. White people consider him in reality as an inferior and namely "a third-degree"bbb person and this
duality of superiority and inferiority make him invisible and at last “an invisible man.” His equality and quality as a
human being have been denied so that he has become logically an object, a tool, a sort of monument and only his
"surroundings" are seen not himself "me" as a person of reality like "those" ccc who see him meaning white people.
This analysis about the new theory leads us to another important relationship in which we observe that his
invisibility is clearly and intrinsically related to the color of his skin or his complexion and these two entities which
are color of skin and invisibility are intrinsically related to his lack of identity and personality as an equal human
being for white people. The narrator states clearly that the black man invisibility in the society is linked to the color
black of his skin, and the color black or his complexion creates invisibility which in turn creates a lack of identity
and personality as an equal human being for white people:
"Black will make you . . ."
"Black . . ."
". . . or black will un-makeddd you."eee

The fact to be a black person (color of skin) or (race) leads automatically to the fact to be twice black or rather leads
automatically to the fact to have another “Blackness” which means to be invisible. Indeed, the first "'Blackness' " of
this theory ("' the Blackness of Blackness.' ") is "most black" and darker than it becomes really the "the 'Blackness of

vv Harold Bloom, “List of Characters”, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, Bloom’s Guides: Invisible Man, Copyright © 2008 by
Infobase Publishing, p. 19.
ww Yildiray Cevik, “The Motifs of Blindness and Invisibility within the Influence of Postwar Existentialism as Reflected in
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison” Athens: ATINER'S Conference Paper Series, No: LIT2012-0278. (2012), p. 8.
xx He is invisible.
yy The underlined one "Brothers and sisters, my text this morning is the 'Blackness of Blackness.' "
zz The underlined one "Brothers and sisters, my text this morning is the 'Blackness of Blackness.' "
aaa The underlined one "Brothers and sisters, my text this morning is the 'Blackness of Blackness.' "
bbb Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The
Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p. 13.
ccc "the eyes of those with whom I come in contact" in INVISIBLEMAN, P.3.
ddd To unmake: undo something: to undo the effects of something/change something completely: to make a fundamental change
or changes in something/remove somebody from power: to remove somebody from office or a position of authority, in
Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. Tous droits réservés.
eee Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The
Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p.10.
Stéphane, B. Z. (2020). Perception, visibility and invisibility in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. International Journal
of Linguistics, Literature and Culture, 6(3), 18-35.
https://doi.org/10.21744/ijllc.v6n3.892
28  ISSN: 2455-8028

Blackness' " because due to that "blackness" which is "most black, most black . . ."fff the protagonist-narrator is in
reality invisible. So it is seldom successful for black people to be visible because of the " the 'Blackness of
Blackness' ". And white people refuse to take the protagonist-narrator or “Invisible Man” as an equal human being,
he is rather as a humanless, a mindless, statusless person and therefore he becomes invisible to them.
The "Blackness" of his complexion gives him another "Blackness" on his value, quality, and status; denying him
many things and allowing restrictions, negativity, evil, hatred, death, mask and at last invisibility. And all these
emphasize the contradiction that initially Americans declared human equality but lived the contradiction of slavery,
Jim crow laws, segregation, discrimination, etc.
On the metaphorical level, we observe that the frontier or boundary between civilization (whites) and savagery
(blacks), superiority (whites) and "third degree" (blacks) synthesizing such opposing forces as freedom/restriction,
life/death, self/mask, visible/invisible... reveals firstly, the intrinsic connection between blackness and invisibility.
Secondly, it reveals the intrinsic connection between the color of skin and invisibility or between blackness and
color of skin and blackness and invisibility. Thirdly, it reveals the intrinsic connection between blackness and
mindless, between blackness and humanless, between blackness and statusless.
And finally, the dialectic and paradoxical result permits question such as: "What Did I Do to Be so Black and
Blue"ggg— and in a better contextual mood concerning invisibility: "What Did I Do to Be so Black and invisible"—
When asked the question, how black people should struggle to be "visible"hhh, Ralph Ellison responds that black
people need "light" to be visible or rather black people should be in interaction with "light" to be visible because the
"The truth is the light and light is the truth" iii creating, therefore, another theory for black people's existence.

4 The Metaphorical Weapon of Light: Black People Need "Light" to be Visible -- Have
Visibility, True Existence, Identity and Recognition by White People
The perception that white people have about black people constructs black people invisibility and such a perception
based on racism and stereotypes and sustained by the concept of white people's superiority and the ideology of white
supremacy creates a real problem of existence to black people. Due to such a perception and invisibility, black
people should struggle for their visibility and their true existence, for their identity and their recognition by white
people.

Ellison seems to criticize the downsized scope of the happenings in the novel. His protagonist – an unnamed
Afro-American youth, designated as ‘the narrator’ – is invisible in the eyes of the white American society; he is
forced to seek his identity, struggle for visibility, and analyze himself throughout the whole novel only to find out
that he has been constantly manipulated by other people, both white and black… ‘Two major aspects could be
considered while analyzing it in greater detail, namely the narrator’s struggle for visibility and acknowledgment
both as a human being and as an Afro-American’jjj

To achieve this goal or to well conduct this struggle, Ralph Ellison advises a metaphorical weapon which is "light"
stating clearly that: "Nothing, storm or flood, must get in the way of our need for light and ever more and brighter
light. The truth is the light and light is the truth." kkk
As we may observe and as the major character used to state: "In the beginning . . ." "At the very start," they
cried. ". . . there was blackness . . ."lll meaning the color black is the color of the skin of any black people. But there

fff "That blackness is most black, brother, most black...” in INVISIBLE MAN, p.9.
ggg Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The
Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition),, p.8.
hhh That is to say to realize the struggle for their visibility, the struggle for their true existence, the struggle for their identity and

the struggle for their recognition by white people.

iii Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The

Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p.7.
jjj Yildiray Cevik, “The Motifs of Blindness and Invisibility within the Influence of Postwar Existentialism as Reflected in

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison” Athens: ATINER'S Conference Paper Series, No: LIT2012-0278. (2012), p. 7
kkk Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The

Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p.7.
lll Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The
Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p. 9.

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IJLLC ISSN: 2455-8028  29
is another "'Blackness' " (the first "'Blackness' " of the theory "the 'Blackness of Blackness.' ") which is a kind of
shadow, a kind of darkness qualified as "most black"mmm and which hides the value and the individuality of any
black human being so that “Invisible Man” the protagonist-narrator (being a black person) needs "light" to light
himself.
This light will certainly put off the first "'Blackness' " which hides his original "'Blackness' " [the color of his
skin]. In clear, "the 'Blackness'" [invisibility] of "'Blackness' "[color of skin] obliged the major character to look for
"light" to cope with that first "'Blackness' "[invisibility] because it is indeed his real problem while the second
"'Blackness' " [color of skin] seems to be natural nnn.

And I love light. Perhaps you'll think it strange that an invisible man should need light, desire light, love light.
But maybe it is exactly because I am invisible. Light confirms my reality, gives birth to my form. ooo

Black people due to "the 'Blackness of Blackness.'" need to be visible, need to have true existence, need to be
recognized by white people and the metaphor here is that for all these, black people need "light"ppp. They will need
light, desire light, love light because "light" will give them visibility and this visibility, in turn, will give them true
existence and this true existence, in turn, will give them their identity and recognition by white people. It becomes
therefore very important for him (“Invisible Man”) to love light and to need light to illuminate "That blackness"qqq
which is "most black, most black . . ."rrr and which creates his invisibility: "I love the light... need light...desire
light...love the light... because I am invisible. Light confirms my reality, gives birth to my form." sss

Without light, I am not only invisible but formless as well, and to be unaware of one's form is to live a death. I
myself, after existing some twenty years, did not become alive until I discovered my invisibility ... It allows me to
feel my vital aliveness.ttt

The necessity of light or need for light as a metaphorical weapon for black people and the multiple functions
attributed to this light permits us to draw those equivalences to show the importance of light in the lives of African-
Americans or black people:
First equivalence:
invisible man should need light = Light gives birth to my form
invisible man should desire light = Light confirms my reality
invisible man should love light = Light allows me to feel my vital aliveness
Second equivalence:
Light gives birth to my form = visibility
Light confirms my reality = true existence
Light allows me to feel my vital alivenesss = identity
Third equivalence:
invisible man should need light = Light gives birth to my form = visibility
invisible man should desire light = Light confirms my reality = true existence
invisible man should love light = Light allows me to feel my vital aliveness = identity

To compensate for his first "'Blackness' " or invisibility, the ultimate need, desire, love of "light" for “Invisible Man”
is so real and necessary to be visible, have true existence, have an identity and gain recognition by white people that

mmm "And a congregation of voices answered: "That blackness is most black, brother, most black . . ."
nnn "At the very start," they cried.". . . there was blackness . . ." in INVISIBLEMAN, P.9.
ooo Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The
Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p. 6.
ppp "Nothing, storm or flood, must get in the way of our need for light and ever more and brighter light. The truth is the light
and light is the truth" in INVISIBLE MAN, p. 7.
qqq "the 'Blackness of Blackness.' "
rrr Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The
Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p. 9.
sss Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The
Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p. 6.
ttt Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The
Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p. 7.
Stéphane, B. Z. (2020). Perception, visibility and invisibility in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. International Journal
of Linguistics, Literature and Culture, 6(3), 18-35.
https://doi.org/10.21744/ijllc.v6n3.892
30  ISSN: 2455-8028

he confesses: "My hole is warm and full of light. Yes, full of light. I doubt if there is a brighter spot in all New York
than this hole of mine, and I do not exclude Broadway" uuu

Without light, I am not only invisible but formless as well, and to be unaware of one's form is to live a death. I,
after existing some twenty years, did not become alive until I discovered my invisibility ... That is why I fight my
battle with Monopolated Light & Power. The deeper reason, I mean: It allows me to feel my vital aliveness. I also
fight them for taking so much of my money before I learned to protect myself. In my hole in the basement, there
are exactly 1,369 lights.vvv

The symbolismwww and metaphorxxx in the expression "Monopolated Light & Power" tells us the importance and
necessity of "light" in the existence of black people because "light" and "power" work together and it is therefore
important for black people to have the monopoly of light to have power too. That is why the home or hole of “Invisible
Man” is "full of light"yyy another metaphorzzz which is explained and reinforced by this other metaphor "in my hole in the
basement there are exactly 1,369 lights" aaaa so that we can comprehend that "full of light" means also or exactly 1,369
lights.
The ascendant gradation that we see through the needbbbb, the desirecccc, and lovedddd of light is the same gradation that
we have in the metaphor concerning numbers in 1,369 lights. And this metaphor concerning the number 1,369 is most
simple to understand when we admit that the black man as a single person can be symbolized by the number 1 eeee which
indeed is separated from the numbers 3, 6, and 9 by a punctuation mark ffff which is a comma. So the protagonist-narrator
“Invisible Man” who is the one who needs light for his visibility is represented by the number 1 in the number 1,369 and
separated from the numbers 3, 6, and 9.
Then thanks to the ascendant gradation we observe in need, desire, and love of light; we can reconsider the ascendant
gradation symbolized in and by the numbers 3, 6 and 9. Therefore we may admit that the need gradates in a desire which
in turn gradates in love and here too with the numbers 3, 6 and 9; we observe that the number 3 doubles (so gradates) to
become 6, and later it triples (so gradates) to become 9. It is, therefore, the same logic:
need → desire → love
3 → 6 → 9
So the need corresponds to the number 3, the desire corresponds to the number 6, and love corresponds to the number 9,
and when coming back to the different equivalences, we have the following new ones with the ascendant gradation that
we see through the need, the desire, and love of light and the numbers 3, 6, and 9:
invisible man should need light = 1st degree of gradation = 3
invisible man should desire light = 2nd degree of gradation = 6
invisible man should love light = 3rd degree of gradation = 9

Also the ascendant gradation that we have in the metaphor concerning 1,369 lights is the following:
invisible man should need light = Light gives birth to my form = visibility = 1st gradation = 3
invisible man should desire light = Light confirms my reality=true existence=2nd gradation = 6
invisible man should love light=Light allows me to feel my vital aliveness=identity=3rd gradation = 9

uuu Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The
Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p. 6.
vvv
Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The
Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p. 7.
www The symbol of light and the symbol of power
xxx To have the monopoly of light and power, to have the monopoly of light so that to have power.
yyy "My hole is warm and full of light. Yes, full of light. I doubt if there is a brighter spot in all New York than this hole of mine,

and I do not exclude Broadway" in INVISIBLE MAN p. 6.

zzz Meaning a kind of complete light which permits to solve his problem definitively: visibility, true existence, identity and

recognition : “I’ll solve the prolem” at the page 7.

aaaa Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The

Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p. 7.

bbbb Le besoin peut être unique.
cccc Le désir peut être incessant.
dddd L’amour doit être eternel.
eeee The black man symbolizes = 1 in the number 1,369.
ffff sign used to divide writing: a symbol that is used to organize and clarify the meaning of writing, e.g. a comma, full stop, or

question mark

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IJLLC ISSN: 2455-8028  31

And knowing that "full of light" or "1,369 lights" permits him to be complete that is to say, to be at the same time
visible, have true existence, have an identity and be recognized by white people gggg; we may admit this other
equivalence of gradation:
1st degree of gradation = 3 = visibility
nd
2 degree of gradation = 6 = true existence
3rd degree of gradation = 9 = identity

We observe through these equivalences that the number used here is not merely a light bulbs but metaphorically
meaning graduation when we take the numerical order (3-6-9). It is a sort of ascent, a growing mutation toward
positiveness thanks to the doubling and triplication of the number 3. And thanks to such a gradation, we can argue
that the fact to move from 3 to 6 then to 9 encompasses visibility, true existence, and identity for “Invisible Man”
thanks to "full of light" or the monopoly of light and power. The monopoly of light permits him to be no more “an
invisible man” but a visible man with all the values:

to be visible - to have true existence - and - to have an identity

3 -then- 6 -then- 9
It is, therefore, the same logic when we include “Invisible Man” who is represented by the number 1:
1----------which moves to------3--------then to----------6-----------then to -------9
Invisible man—who moves to—visibility—then to--- true existence---then to---identity

Considered as “an invisible man” by white people in human existence and human society, the major character
“Invisible Man” lights himself with 1,369 lights to compensate his lack so that he doubles and he trebles himself
with light to be visible. Moreover, he does it to keep his self-identity and his self-personality to avoid to be a
"mechanical man" as said by the vethhhh in the Golden day or to avoid fulfilling the need of white men as Bledsoe iiii
who says "white is right" or as Lucius Brockway jjjj who says "if it is optic white it is right white":

Nothing has meaning. He takes it in but he doesn't digest it. Already he is—well, bless my soul! Behold! a
walking zombie! Already he's learned to repress not only his emotions but his humanity. He's invisible, a walking
personification of the Negative, the most perfect achievement of your dreams, sir! The mechanical man!" kkkk

“Invisible Man” will need light, desire light, love light to avoid be such a thing (a walking zombie, the
mechanical man) and his development to avoid it will go through a metamorphosis from blackness to light,
ignorance to enlightenment; invisibility to visibility, inexistence to true existence but also from a "mechanical man"
to self-identity meaning self “me”. Indeed, the need, the desire, and love of light are the three steps of the
metamorphosis to give birth to his form but also to confirm his reality, his consideration, and his recognition
because "without light, I am not only invisible but formless as well; and to be unaware of one's form is to live a
death. I, after existing some twenty years, did not become alive until I discovered my invisibility".llll
The discovering of his invisibility provokes the need for his visibility and the need for his visibility passes by
the need for the light that is why he has to fight his battle with "Monopolated Light & Power" a metaphor meaning
oneself enlightenment and struggle to have power and recognition. The relation between light and power is
important and symbolical to his "vital aliveness" and to make himself clear he says "The truth is the light and light is
the truth". Throughout light, “Invisible Man” “solves the problem” and achieves a sort of ascent to become a visible
man in human existence and human society. Thus light and visibility are inter-related, light and truth are inter-
related and because light and power are also inter-related therefore visibility and power and truth are also inter-
related.

gggg "I love light... need light...desire light...love light... because I am invisible. Light confirms my reality, gives birth to my
form.... It allows me to feel my vital aliveness" in INVISIBLE MAN pp. 6-7.
hhhh A character of the novel
iiii A character of the novel
jjjj A character of the novel
kkkk It is what the vet is saying about the "mechanical man" in the Golden day in INVISIBLE MAN pp. 94-95.
llll Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The
Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), p. 7.
Stéphane, B. Z. (2020). Perception, visibility and invisibility in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. International Journal
of Linguistics, Literature and Culture, 6(3), 18-35.
https://doi.org/10.21744/ijllc.v6n3.892
32  ISSN: 2455-8028

This movement from darkness to light, from invisibility to visibility, from ignorance to enlightenment in which
is set our character “Invisible Man” is quite important because it makes him alive and it makes him feel his "vital
aliveness" but also it calls to the notion of identity when we take into account dualities such as black-white, self-
mask, visible-invisible. That is why “Invisible Man” says:

Hence again I have stayed in my hole because up above there's an increasing passion to make men conform to a
pattern . . . Whence all this passion toward conformity anyway?—diversity is the word. Let man keep his many
parts and you'll have no tyrant states. Why, if they follow this conformity business they'll end up by forcing me,
an invisible man, to become white, which is not a color but the lack of one. Must I strive toward
colorlessness?mmmm

5 Conclusion
At the end of this analysis, we can say that the notion of black people invisibility that Ralph Ellison develops as a
central theme in his novel, and which puts in question African Americans or black people existence, status, identity
and value in the white American society; has obliged us to study three important and essential interrelated motifs in
this novel which are the motifs of perception, visibility, and invisibility.
Indeed, is also central to the meaning of the novel, we have explored the relationships between the motifs of
perception, visibility, and invisibility and namely how their relationships determine and legislate the interracial
relationships between whites people and black people in the novel because:

Ralph Ellison, in Invisible Man, relies heavily on the symbolism of vision: light, color, perception, sight, insight.
These, his master symbols, are organically related to the dualism of black and white, the all-absorbing and
bafflingly complex problem of identity. How does the Negro see himself and how do others see him? Do they
notice him at all? Do they see him as he is or do they behold a stereotype, a ghostly caricature, a traditionally
accepted myth? What we get in this novel, creatively elaborated, is the drama of symbolic action, the language of
the eyes, the incredibly complex and subtle symbolism of vision. All this is structurally bound up with the
underlying theme of transformation. All this is imaginatively and, for the most part, successfully worked out in
terms of fiction.nnnn

Doing so, we have tried to answer the question of how from a visible status in existence, the perception that white
people have about black people transforms this visibility into an invisible status both in human existence and society
and namely in the white American society. And more specifically, we have tried to answer the question of how white
people's perception of black people constructs invisibility for black people in society while they do exist in the real
world?
Answering those questions has permitted to notice that in the Prologue to Ralph Ellison’s INVISIBLE MAN, the
narrator explicates the novel’s central metaphor by telling us that he is invisible because “[white] people refuse to see
[him].” And this simple but important central metaphor shows that black people are moved from visibility in
existence to invisibility in human existence and society simply by the way white people perceive them or see them
through their inner eyes.
The most natural theme, to begin with, is that of invisibility. What is an invisible man? How is the kind of
invisibility Ellison writes about different from the physical invisibility of the English writer H. G. Wells’ famous
book The Invisible Man? A reading of Ellison’s novel suggests that the theme of invisibility has different
dimensions: (a) Invisibility suggests the unwillingness of others to see the individual as a person. The narrator is
invisible because people see in him only what they want to see, not what he is. Invisibility, in this sense, has a
strong sense of racial prejudice. White people often do not see black people as individual human beings oooo

Through a perception, and inner eyes, or an intuition of mind based on prejudices, stereotypes, racism, and white
men superiority and hegemony; the white people transform black people existence into an invisible existence. They

mmmm Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN, (the Second Vintage International Edition of March 1995, Copyright renewed 1980 by The
Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust, Vintage Book Edition), (Epilogue) pp. 576-577.
nnnn Anthony S. Abbott, RALPH ELLISON’S THE INVISIBLE MAN, (C) Copyright 1985 by Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.,
p. 155
oooo Anthony S. Abbott, RALPH ELLISON’S THE INVISIBLE MAN, (C) Copyright 1985 by Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.,
p. 45.

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IJLLC ISSN: 2455-8028  33
automatically consider them as invisible men in the society and in human existence depriving them all human beings
status and value.
Responding to the question, why do white people construct black people visible existence into an invisible
existence as being the result of the perception that white people have about black people, a critic says: “The Invisible
Man is the rhetorically flamboyant unnamed narrator of Ellison’s novel. He is invisible not because he is a
“spook”—literally unseen—but because he is a black man living in the racist atmosphere of America in the 1920s
and 1930s, unrecognized because of his skin colorpppp”:

One final point: The narrator is an Afro-American. Part of the reason he’s invisible is that Ellison feels white
people do not see black people. Much of what he suffers comes at the hands of white people and those blacks
who work for white people. From this point of view, the narrator may be interpreted as a symbol for the black
person in America.qqqq

This clear answer means that it is invisibility, that white people put on black people simply because black people are
born black and, this invisibility encompasses no consideration for black people, a loss of identity and value as a
human being for black people, and also a quest for recognition by white people. So, in conclusion, black people are
invisible because of their black color of skin or their blackness, and both this invisibility and this blackness, in turn,
hide their real identity in the society.

You might think of the Prologue as a personal introduction. “I am an invisible man,” is the first sentence of the
novel. It establishes immediately the fact that this is to be a first-person narrative and that the theme of
invisibility- which gives the novel its title- is extremely important. The nameless narrator explains that this
invisibility is not literal but metaphorical or symbolic. He is invisible, he tells you because people don’t see him.
They see only “my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination.” One reason for this is racial. A
narrator is a black man, invisible because white people in America refuse to see black people as human beings, as
individuals. He is also invisible because he has never developed his own identity but has instead played the roles
that other people, especially white people, have required of him. But he doesn’t know that yet. It is something he
will come to learn as he tells his life story. rrrr

Realizing that all the problems the black people encounter in the white American society or the world are due to their
color of skin and also to another blackness that surrounds this black color of skin; Ralph Ellison advises light but
exactly full of light to solve the black people problem. Indeed, Ellison proposes a metaphorical solution or weapon
which is light to solve black people's problems for thanks to light black people will be visible, will have true
existence, will have a true identity and will get recognition by white people. In clear, thanks to light but exactly full
of light, as recommended; the black man or “Invisible Man” will at last move from invisibility to visibility, from
non-existence to true existence, from a problem of identity to a self and true identity which will contribute to his
recognition as an equal human being by white people in the world and the white American society.

Well, there are certain themes, symbols, and images that are based on folk material. For example, there is the old
saying amongst Negroes: If you’re black, stay back; if you’re brown, stick around; if you’re white, you’re right.
And there is the joke Negroes tell on themselves about their being so black they can’t be seen in the dark. In my
book, this sort of thing was merged with the meanings which blackness and light have long had in Western
mythology: evil and goodness, ignorance and knowledge, and so on. In my novel the narrator’s development is
one through blackness to light; that is, from ignorance to enlightenment: invisibility to visibility. He leaves the
South and goes North; this, as you will notice in reading Negro folktales, is always the road to freedom- the
movement upward. You have the same thing again when he leaves his underground cave for the open.ssss

pppp Harold Bloom, “List of Characters”, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, Bloom’s Guides: Invisible Man, Copyright © 2008 by
Infobase Publishing, p. 15.
qqqq Anthony S. Abbott, RALPH ELLISON’S THE INVISIBLE MAN, (C) Copyright 1985 by Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.,
p. 24.
rrrr Anthony S. Abbott, RALPH ELLISON’S THE INVISIBLE MAN, (C) Copyright 1985 by Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.,
p. 51.
ssss Anthony S. Abbott, RALPH ELLISON’S THE INVISIBLE MAN, (C) Copyright 1985 by Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.,
p. 154
Stéphane, B. Z. (2020). Perception, visibility and invisibility in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. International Journal
of Linguistics, Literature and Culture, 6(3), 18-35.
https://doi.org/10.21744/ijllc.v6n3.892
34  ISSN: 2455-8028

Being the core issue in this paper, through this in-depth analysis of the relationships between perception, visibility,
and invisibility we observe that generally speaking the perception that white people have about black people is a
perception which transforms black people visible existence into an invisible existence in human life and human
society with all its drawbacks. And Even if Descartes states that perception “may be imperfect and confused” tttt, we
should admit that through their racist perception and all that contribute to this perception, the black man is
moved from a visible existence into an invisible existence in human life and human society. In clear terms, we
observe finally that their racist perception about black people constructs black people invisibility in the world. And
the topicality of racism through today's world justifies the fact that such a perception constructing black people's
visibility into an invisible existence is, therefore, transhistorical and transnational because it goes beyond the
frontier of the white American society and it is also still topical.

Conflict of interest statement

The author declared that she has no competing interests.

Statement of authorship
The author has a responsibility for the conception and design of the study. The author has approved the final article.

Acknowledgments
I am grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the earlier version of this paper.

tttt “[P]erception is neither an act of vision, nor of touch, nor of imagination … but only an intuition of the mind, which
may be imperfect and confused … or clear and distinct … according as my attention is more or less directed to the
elements which are found in it, and of which it is composed …” https://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-
7/descartes-i-think-therefore-i-am

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 IJLLC ISSN: 2455-8028  35
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Stéphane, B. Z. (2020). Perception, visibility and invisibility in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. International Journal
of Linguistics, Literature and Culture, 6(3), 18-35.
https://doi.org/10.21744/ijllc.v6n3.892

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