Invisibility and identity in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

Callahan, John F. "Before Publication." In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man: A Casebook. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Within a compendium of essays related to Ralph Ellison's work, Callahan provides broad social and political context to better understand the theme of invisibility. The contextual analysis provided in this article allows the reader to gain considerable insight into the social and political implications of perceived invisibility and the factors that led Ellison to write about this theme. Callahan discusses Ellison's cultural zeitgeist and how it impacted the evolution of the novel. Thus, "Before Publication" encourages deeper insight into the theme of invisibility. Invisibility is related to racism, but also to the "great formlessness of Negro life wherein all values are in flux," (Callahan 24). With no formal social or cultural institutions, as a subordinate and not a dominant culture, without access to predictable patterns of identity formation let alone behavior, still influenced by dominant culture prejudices and violence like the fight scene in the early part of the novel, African-American culture struggles to assert itself and the culture remains embryonic. Callahan's analysis helps gain perspective on the theme of invisibility, which makes itself known at the intersections of race, class, gender, and power.

Franklin, Anderson J. "Invisibility Syndrome and Racial Identity Development in Psychotherapy and Counseling African-American Men." The Counseling Psychologist, Vol. 27, No. 6 (Nov 1999), p. 761-793.

Investigating the theme of invisibility invariably led to social science research on how the topic is not constrained to the literary domain or the realm of fiction. In fact, Ellison brought to light an experience common to African-American men, particularly at the turn of the century. Invisibility was a response to and a product of rampant racism and discrimination, and the inability of white America to recognize its black counterpart. Invisibility also refers to the deliberate hiding, often construed as "passing," as when biracial or light-skinned blacks "pass" for white, or when gay men "pass" for straight. Their hiding is a deliberate invisibility that responds to discrimination, a coping mechanism. The other type of invisibility is imposed by white society, and because research like this continues to reveal unique cognitive constructs in the African-American psyche, Franklin's work testifies to the lasting importance of The Invisible Man.

Goldner, Ellen J. "The Lying Woman and the Cause of Social Anxiety: Interdependence and the Woman's Body in The House of Mirth." Women's Studies, Vol. 21, Issue 3, 1992.

Starting off by noting the linguistic similarity between the act of fibbing (lying) with the horizontal position of the human body (also lying), Goldner draws attention to the feminization of lying as it is depicted in The House of Mirth. A lie can be defined as hiding the truth, or making the truth invisible, which is why this article permits a creative conjoining of some of the core issues and themes in The House of Mirth, which can also be linked to Invisible Man. Wharton makes sure that the only lying characters are female, which Goldner claims implies that that women are invisible and also that their sexuality is too because of the sexual connotation of lying in a bed. Women's sexuality and sexual potency is invisible. A lie possesses subversive power, as the teller of a lie has control over perceived reality. Yet that power is deviant in nature. Lying perfectly parallels the experience and perception of invisibility. This article can be linked with Hardin's, which also raises the issues of sexuality and sexual invisibility through an analysis of homoeroticism in Ellison's novel.

Hardin, Michael. "Invisibility, Race, and Homoeroticism from Frederick Douglass to E. Lynn Harris." The Southern Literary Journal. Vol. 37, No. 1 (2004), pp. 96-120.

Hardin's treatment of invisibility in Invisible Man bridges race, class, gender, and power and also sexuality. The author discusses the ways invisibility served as a survival mechanism vis-a-vis lynchings and other relatively common responses to visible deviances from the white establishment, like skin color. Passing as white could mean passing one's way into freedom, avoiding the brutality of racism. At the same time, passing can mean biracial identity construction, which is an even more problematic brand of invisibility. The biracial individual ultimately does not get away with "passing" for anything, and does not fit neatly into any pre-established ethnic category. The person is without a social home, without an identity. Yet invisibility can also be a response to and defense of homoeroticism and what Hardin calls a "transgressive sexuality," (96). Hardin effectively connects homoeroticism to miscegenation, as both signify liminal positions. Biraciality implies one does not fit into acceptable categories, just as homosexual desire precludes a person from squeezing into neatly defined social structures or normative behaviors. As Lily Bart likewise fails to fit into neatly defined social structures, this astute analysis will prove helpful in crafting my argument.

Kaplan, Amy. "Crowded Spaces in The House of Mirth." In Singley, Carol J. Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth: A Casebook. Oxford University Press, 2003.

Beginning with a discussion of Lily Bart's seemingly fake and unrealistic appearance when we readers first meet her, Kaplan launches into a deep discussion about social structures and stratifications. The stratifications and structures embedded in society have invisible origins; those who control social norms and power hierarchies are invisible to the masses and particularly to those who are disempowered by those very structures they create. Women in the case of The House of Mirth, and African-Americans in the case of Invisible Man are two major but marginalized groups. Their invisibility is manifest in Lily Bart's subversion of the institution of marriage and the patriarchal power it symbolizes, and the narrator's subversion of multiple types of dysfunctional structures.

Merish, Lori. "Engendering Naturalism." In Singley, Carol J. Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth: A Casebook. Oxford University Press, 2003.