Ralph Ellison--Invisible Man 看不见的人
简析《看不见的人》中的象征手法-英文
A Brief Analysis of Symbolism in Invisible ManAbstract: Ralph Ellison’s representative work Invisible man tells a story about a black youngster’s mentally maturity course for seeking for the sense of self-belongings in a society congested with racial segregation and discrimination. Ralph Ellison has made the novel the volume of realism, naturalism, expressionism and surrealism, especially symbolism, telling a straightforward story but expressing quite profound and sophisticated theme, so that the novel could be considered from different levels and angles. The present paper attempts to analyze one of the most obvious rhetoric devices in the novel ——symbolism, to see how the author reveals the theme and expresses the thoughts of the novel by using this rhetoric device.Key words: Invisible man; Ralph Ellison;symbolism; self-belonging简析《看不见的人》中的象征手法摘要：拉尔夫·埃里森的代表作《看不见的人》描写了一个黑人青年在充斥种族隔离和种族歧视的社会里寻找自我归属感的心理成熟历程。
看不见的人 Invisible Man
毕业论文题目The Pathetic Negro —Analysis ofProtagonist’s Mentality in Invisible Man 专业英语语言文学___年级2011级_ 学生姓名Hyleehom学号******** __ 指导教师周云川2013-12可怜的黑人——《看不见的人》中主人公的心理分析专业：英语语言文学姓名：hyleehom指导教师：周云川摘要：美国黑人作家拉尔夫·艾里森的小说《看不见的人》出版于1952年，它讲述了一位在白人主宰的社会里,没有任何的社会地位，没有人承认他的存在的黑人青年，在自我探索的过程中遭遇各种挫折的悲惨故事。
本文以黑人时代的背景和小说《看不见的人》的创作背景为前提，将主人公自我探索的心理状态分为积极、挣扎和绝望三个阶段，通过分析每个阶段主人公成长经历中的心理状态的表现，以及主人公对于自我认识的阶段性心理变化的原因，揭露出当时社会，黑人境况的困惑与命运的悲哀。
关键字：《看不见的人》，黑人，困境，自我，探索The Pathetic Negro——Analysis of Protagonist’s M entality in Invisible ManMajor: English Language and Literature Name: hyleehomSupervisor: Zhou YunchuanAbstract:American Negro writer, Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man, published in 1952, tells a story that a black youngster, who is ignored by society in the white-dominated society, searches for who he is. And in his self-exploring, he encounters so many troubles. This paper, premised on Negro background and creating background of the novel, divides the process of the protagonist’s mentality into 3 stages —hope, struggle and desperation, and then analyzes the protagonist’s mental behaviors in his growing experiences and reasons why he shows the mental behaviors so as to draw a conclusion about the plight of Negro and the misery of their fate.Key words:Invisible Man; Negro; Plight; Self; ExplorationCONTENTSIntroduction (1)Chapter 1 Background (2)1.1 Introduction of Negro (2)1.2 Creation Background of the Novel (2)Chapter 2 Stage with Hope (4)2.1 Behaviors with Hope (4)2.2 Reasons for His Behaviors (5)2.3 Conclusion of This Stage (6)Chapter 3 Stage in Struggle (8)3.1 Struggling Behaviors (8)3.2 Reasons for His Behaviors (9)3.2.1 Social Phenomenon (9)3.2.2 The Efforts and the Result (9)Chapter 4 Stage in Desperation (11)4.1 Desperate Behaviors (11)4.2 Reasons for His Behaviors (12)Conclusion (14)The Pathetic Negro——Analysis of Protagonist’s M entality in Invisible ManIntroductionRalph Ellison (1914 - 1994), is known as one of the most distinguished Black writers in the history of American literature. He is among the list of the most influential and successful writers, in the contemporary United States of America. In 1992, Ellison was awarded a special achievement award from the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. Ellison was also an accomplished sculptor, musician, photographer and college professor. He taught at Bard College, Rutgers University, the University of Chicago, and New York University. Ellison was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Professor Margolies considers Invisible Man a recapitulation of the entire history of the Negro, presenting a view of life described by Ellison himself as blues. [1]Invisible Man is a novel by Ralph Ellison, published by Random House in 1952. It addresses many of the social and intellectual issues facing African-Americans early in the twentieth century, including black nationalism, the relationship between black identity and Marxism, and the reformist racial policies of Booker T. Washington, as well as issues of individuality and personal identity.Invisible Man won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1953.[2]In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Invisible Man nineteenth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.[3]Time magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. [4]This paper will analyze the protagonist’s mentality in self-exploring to discuss the main reasons why the Negro is pathetic.Chapter 1Background1.1 Introduction of NegroSince the 16th century, blacks had been sold as commodity from Africa to America and treated as slaves, which treaded their rights underfoot and was also a sad tragedy to all human. The blacks are considered as poor, lazy, dirty criminals and violent in the white’s eyes. And they are enslaved, oppressed and discriminated in the society. Firstly, the majority of blacks are deprived of the right to vote. Besides, they have to be normally engaged in the heavy and the most despised job, while their average wage is only one third or half of the white’s and they have the highest unemployment rate. In many states, they can not study in the same school with the white, not have meals in the same table with the white and not travel by the same bus or train. Moreover, the United States government, the Ku Klux Klan and other racists often arrest, torture and kill the blacks at will. There, the eleven states in southern United States, gathers about fifty percent blacks and their life being discriminated and persecuted is particularly appalling.Invisible Man is just one of the black classic literatures in contemporary American which reflects the Negro issues.1.2 Creation Background of the NovelPublished in 1952, Invisible Man explores the theme of man's search for his identity and place in society, as seen from the perspective of an unnamed black man in the New York City of the 1930s. In contrast to his contemporaries such as Richard Wright and James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison created characters that are dispassionate, educated, articulate, and self-aware. Through the protagonist, Ralph Ellison explores the contrasts between the Northern and Southern varieties of racism and their alienating effect. The narrator is "invisible" in a figurative sense, in that "people refuse to see" him, and also experiences a kind of dissociation. The novel, with itstreatment of taboo issues such as incest and the controversial subject of communism, won the 1953 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. [1]Ralph Ellison says in his introduction to the 30th Anniversary Edition, that he started to write what would eventually become Invisible Man in a barn in Waitsfield, Vermont in the summer of 1945 while on sick leave from the Merchant Marine. The letters he wrote to fellow novelist Richard Wright as he started working on the novel provide evidence for its political context: the disillusion with the Communist Party that he and Wright shared. In a letter to Wright August 18, 1945, Ellison poured out his anger toward party leaders for betraying African Americans and Marxist class politics during the war years. "If they want to play ball with the bourgeoisie they needn't think they can get away with it.... Maybe we can't smash the atom, but we can, with a few well chosen, well written words, smash all that crummy filth to hell." [5] In the wake of this disillusion, Ellison began writing Invisible Man, a novel that was, in part, his response to the party's betrayal.Chapter 2Stage with Hope2.1 Behaviors with HopeThe protagonist, a docile slave, has neither the name nor the identity at that time, because he is an American Negro. At the beginning, he is seventeen or eighteen years old. And for his successfully speech at high school’s commencement, the protagonist is invited to atten d to prominent figures party. In fact, it is the informal men’s social assembly. To grab the chance to have a speech again, the protagonist joins in a Negro’s game — he and other Negro kids have to fight with each other. Putting up with the sufferings, he wins a briefcase as a prize. After that, he takes pride in the game. Furthermore, he believes he can succeed as long as he is hard-working. “I wanted to deliver my speech more than anything else in the world, because I felt that only these men could judge truly my ability, and now this stupid clown was ruining my chances.”[6] Obviously, his behavior tells that his ignorant hope comes from what he believes — obedience to the white.When entering the Negro college, the protagonist wins recognition from Bledsoe, the headmaster, which seems perfect as he wishes. One day, the protagonist drives a car to Black area with a member of the white board of trustees of the college. On the way to the Black of the slave-quarter section, the protagonist takes the guest to a bar, where there is full of prostitutes and madmen. Owing to the ignominious side in Black of the slave-quarter section to be seen by the respected guest, unfortunately, the protagonist is expelled for disobeying school rules. Before Bledsoe expels him, the protagonist believes in the principles of the Founder with all his heart and soul, and that he believes in Bledsoe’s goodness and kindness in extending the hand of benevolence to helping poor, ignorant people out of the mire and darkness.[7] Bledsoe persuades him to find a job in North and writes a recommendation for him. And the protagonist appreciates what Bledsoe does for him. He even gives himself a reason that he should be punished to comfort himself. Then the protagonist does all whatBledsoe tells him. However, all he gets is the rejection. When he knows the fact of the recommendation letter in which Bledsoe writes — not to give the Negro any chance to get a job, he is fully confused and hurt. In short, his obedience to White and his humility show his ignorant hope; he sees the good in people and has too beautiful and unreal dream.2.2 Reasons for His BehaviorsIn Invisible Man，the American Dream has been a crucial factor leading to the protagonist’s psych ological conflicts and his initiation．Although the blacks’ actual social status is low and living conditions are miserable, after they have been announced to be free, most of the African Americans still hold that they can rank among the mainstream society through their humiliation and diligence.[8] As an intelligent, deeply introspective and highly gifted young man, the protagonist, without exception, surely has his own ideals and ambitions — he wants to be another“ Booker T．Washington” in the educational circle. He has been occupied with the dream throughout every stage of his initiation. Thus, all his behaviors and efforts are aiming at this target, which leads up to his habitual thinking and final disillusionment. At the beginning of the story, he and other black children are stripped their coats and blindfolded, picking up the coins in an electrified blanket. Thereafter, he will get a scholarship to a black school. As he imagines that his humility and hard-working will make him stand out in the crowd，he seems to have deeply devoted himself to a myth or a fairy tale. So he just obeys the rules the white set for his American dream.The Negro's grandfather is a former slave, usually with humility and obedience. And his grandfather is respected by the black and appreciated by the white. The protagonist is also affected by his grandfather. At first, he wins the so-called “success”through his humility and obedience. After a series of events, he is always lost in thought about himself admitting his original nature and his grandfa ther’s last wor ds about silent enduring. Besides, the cruelty of the reality prompts him to remember hisgrandfather’s admonition. Though he does not know the real intention of his grandfather, he decides to take some actions and test his advice. “I’d overcome them with yeses, undermine them with grins. I’d agre e them to death and destruction (I)would hide my anger and lull them to sleep; assure them that the community was in full agreement with their program…”[6]2.3 Conclusion of This StageAs a black man, it is the invisible man who has been thinking about the problem how to find his own identity in the white dominated society. As the offspring of the former slaves，when he begins to relate his story, the protagonist concludes: “ I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time been ashamed.’’[6]Obviously, the protagonist has realized the importance of his race and its tradition after he has experienced so much. As early as those pre-invisible days, the protagonist has visualized himself as a potential Booker T. Washington, so unconsciously he is ashamed of his race and the past. There is no doubt that in the Battle Royal episode, he “felt superior to them(other Black boys) in my wa y, and I didn’t like the manner in which we were all crowded together into the servants’ elevator.” [6]At the beginning of the story, the protagonist even has no independent personality. His confusions are caused by his naive and ignorance. Under the infl uence of the White’s education, he always considers to cater for the White’s taste. Besides, he rejects to his own national culture. In the southern United States, at that time, the protagonist resigns himself to adversity. He accepts all insults and humiliations silently, in order to find a space for one person living in the existing social. The protagonist says:“I was naive. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appear to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself”[6] Since suffering from much pain, he has to initiate to consider his own fate. Why is he whohas such a terrible life? When he knows who Bledsoe really is, he makes a decision that he no longer depends on anybody. He feels the whole world neglect him and his life is filled with lies. This stage is his first step to his self-searching — he makes a decision that he will prove himself in his future job on his own.Chapter 3Stage in Struggle3.1 Struggling BehaviorsFortunately, the protagonist finds his first job in a paint factory by using another one’s name. There he is sent to make the paint whiter by putting ten drops of ‘black drop’ into white paint. However, the protagonist makes a mistake by adding the wrong black liquid. It is in the factory that the protagonist has learnt something about the reality:“ I had a feeling that something had gone wrong…either I had played a trick on Kimbro, my boss or he, like the trustees and Bledsoe, was playing one on me…”[6] It all goes to show that the invisible man is not ready to fight against the society, for he has not been awakened completely yet. After that, he goes to the furnace room. There he is wrongly guided for some reason, which leads to a boiler explosion. Later, the protagonist is sent to a hospital and a doctor carries an operation on his brain, which marks a turning point actually. When he wakes up, he remembers nothing. Moreover, he does not know who he is.While the protagonist recovers from his operation, he lodges in a friendly Negro lady Mary’s home. The lady lives in New York, however, she still insists on who she is and keeps her own nature. What Mary does and what Mary says make the protagonist recall his life in South. Happily, he gets rid of the sense of disgust towards Negro’s life and he does not need to cater to the White. Gradually, he begins to realize and accept himself. Once a time, he witnesses the eviction of an old Black couple．For his experiences in the Harlem district, it seems to see himself evicted. Using his power of speech，he makes a passionate speech，which starts a small demonstration and a full-scale riot. Subsequently, a political organization, the Brotherhood, employs him as a spokesman for the Harlem district. The protagonist needs to live a life on his own, not the Negro lady, so he accepts the offer in the end, which means he abandons the real him he just finds.The Brotherhood gives him a new identity, pays off his rental and provides hima new accommodation. These treatments make him overjoyed and he takes the organization as his new dreamful place. Because he is becoming another person and he is gaining recognition. In fact, The Brotherhood is an organization which stresses absolute obedience. What the protagonist will do must follow the rules the white boss has set with no doubt. He has not realized that he is just their tool. The protagonist has worked so hard that gradually he has established his fame as a spokesman. But as we all know life never goes as we wish. The protagonist is faced with undeserved accusation who declares that the protagonist is an opportunist and wants to use the Brotherhood movement to advance his own interest. Later, he is forced to give up his assignment in Harlem district.[9]3.2 Reasons for His Behaviors3.2.1 Social PhenomenonAfter being forced to the United States with suffering from the oppression and exploitation more than two hundred years, blacks gradually lost the independent character and the spirit of resistance. In order to survive in the harsh living conditions under brutal and inhuman oppression, they have to resign themselves to adversity —not to fight and be grateful after suffering from pains. For a long time, Negro struggle between assimilation and keeping self, as Dubois said: In the American society, every black man can feel his own duality as an American and Negro — every slave has two souls, two thoughts, two competitions to reconcile and two ideological struggles in one black body. Despite the end of the civil war gains "free" status for black, this freedom does not means the blacks get rid of the oppressed, discriminated fate. Most different, their being oppressed and discriminated is no longer as slavery period as the physical torture, but a kind of spiritual maltreatment and penetrates into all aspects of their life.3.2.2 The Efforts and the ResultThe second stage is his self-struggling. From the paint factory, Mary’s home tothe Brotherhood, the protagonist does his best to make himself visible. We can easily see that every time he has a dream, he has troubles. Then he begins to think about his present life. No matter how to adapt his attitude towards his life, he just cannot get what he wants.In the paint factory, the protagonist only needs to work fast but carefully because “the least thing done incorrectly would cause trouble”[10] Later, the protagonist is sent to the furnace room in the basement to assist a Black engineer. He gradually comes to realize the frustrating fact that coming to the North — the land of freedom — fails to make him gain his individuality. The boiler explodes and the protagonist falls unconsciously under a pile of machinery. He is not only physically injured, but also psychologically. He has overlooked the fact that the road of initiation is full of ordeals and even blacks can betray blacks, even though they are all negligible in the minds of the white people. When he becomes one member of the Brotherhood, he seems to find a new opportunity and begins to work for the Brotherhood with the same single-minded faith that he has brought to the college and to New York. This period of experience, again implies his unquestioning willingness to do what is required of him by others as a way to success.[11] The protagonist has subtly sensed that his own past experiences might teach him about the present condition: “ I knew of some things he didn’t know. Let him find someone else. He only wanted to use me for something. Everybody wanted to use you for some purpose. Why should he want me as a speaker? Let him make his own speeches. I headed for home, feeling a growing satisfaction that I has dismissed him so completely.”[6]It is clear to see that he has suspected the Brotherhood’s ideals at the very beginning, but ultimately is seduced by the Brotherhood because it provides him with a system of belief which makes him significant. He cannot resist the seducement of finding some meaning in the world. Indeed, he initially sees through the tricks of the organization, yet he consciously prevents him from looking at the organization with any skepticism, and his self-deception makes himself vulnerable once again to the betrayal.[12]Chapter 4Stage in Desperation4.1 Desperate BehaviorsIt is not long before the protagonist is ordered to be back in Harlem district. Because Clifton, another spokesman and leader before just like him, is missing. The protagonist holds members related together to look for Clifton. In fact, after the invisible man leaves Harlem district, Clifton is not willing to be a doll controlled by the White and he chooses to get rid of the Brotherhood. The protagonist feels quite ashamed of what he does, so he sells black dolls in street. It symbolizes not only his self taunt, but a reminder to others. On the way to looking for Clifton, the invisible man witnesses the scene that Clifton is shot by a white cop in the daylight. On seeing the miserable death of Clifton, the protagonist realizes that he can never deny his responsibility for his race any more. For the first time, the protagonist realizes the significance and necessity of his struggle: “We have got to fight…We must remember now that we are fighters, and in such incidents we must see the meaning of our struggle. We must strike back.”[6]The protagonist then plans a public funeral for Clifton in the hope of organizing the Black community, which differs strikingly from the Brotherhood’s decision, because he places such a premium on individuality and race. In the organization, one has to act by following the discipline and discipline is sacrifice. Yes, and blindness.[13] Within the Brotherhood, he is as invisible as he used to be. He is only a tool and a doll which is used and manipulated by the organization. The protagonist realizes that he will find no purpose or meaning for his life by upholding the Brotherhood's ideology. It is Clifton’s death that shocks him into stimulating his inner struggle and considering his own condition.He finally resolves to undercut the ga me(the Brotherhood’s)by pretending to play it. His betrayals have made him believe that no ideology and no institution are completely reliable. Therefore, the protagonist disguises him as Rinehart to circumvent the problems of being himself and to enjoy the benefits of being others.The protagonist believes that he will protect himself from further deception and frustration by feigning compliance. This strategy works for a spell of time. He tells the leaders only those things which they wish to hear and reinstates himself in the Brotherhood. During the Harlem riot，however, he is astonished to find that his false compliance has made things worse. Unknowingly, he has been implicated in a conspiracy. In the riot, he is caught up in a plan to bum down a tenement building, only to realize that the Brotherhood has designed the racial riots all the way. He has intended to organize the Black community; however, he has been involved in the Brotherhood’s conspiracy of the racial fratricide:‘‘ I could see it now, see it clearly and in growing magnitude. It was not suicide, but murder. The committee had planned it. And I had helped, had been a tool. A tool just at the very moment I thought myself flee. By pretending to agree I had indeed agreed，had made myself responsible for that huddled form⋯”[6] Then, in the course of his escape from the police, the protagonist accidentally falls into a coal cellar. Staying in the underground coal cellar, he breaks away from his past by burning all the items in his briefcase. He also illuminates the hole by tapping electricity from Monopolated Light and Power Company.4.2 Reasons for His BehaviorsAmerica has been a White-dominated country since its establishment due to its economical，political，historical and social reasons．African Americans are usually in an inferior state compared with the white. Although there have been some advances after protesting for the civil rights, the Blacks still feel alienated in the White-dominated societ.The identity of the blacks is stipulated by white. Under the sin of slavery, the blacks suffer all kinds of hardships. They are seen as ignorant and barbaric, uncivilized inferior people. Standard to measure the value of blacks is set by the white and slavery makes the black lost free citizenship and become "the other". It is all white’s sense of superiority that leads to the result.Obviously, all the ordeals and pains are necessary and inevitable for theprotagonist to recognize the absurdity of the world，and now he is able to recognize himself by recalling what he has experienced:“It was a joke, an absurd joke. And now I looked around a corner of my mind and saw Jack and Norton and Emerson merge into one single white figure. They were very much the same, each attempting to force his picture of reality upon me. 1 was simply a material, a natural resource to be use…I now recognized my invisibility.”[6]After being fooled and deceived for such a long time, the protagonist comes to realize the full complexity of the society and the hardship of initiation. The protagonist has always been thinking that he has moved from blindness to sight, but now comes to realize that what he has gained is only half-sighted.The illumination stands for the enlightenment he has finally gained. At this stage, his maturity has not been completely achieved yet. Only when his face turns toward the society once again, will he probably achieve his decisive maturity and reborn. The protagonist neither chooses to cut himself away from the society nor plunge out of the history．He only hibernates in the cellar and it is in the cellar that he has shaped his own perception:“My problem was that I always tried to go in everyone’s way but m own…and a man shouldn’t accept (the values of) any other…Life is to be lived, not controlled；and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.”[6]Besides，he comes to the realization that the world is full of infinite possibilities before a mall finds himself first. He says:“In going underground, I whipped it all except the mind, the mind,”[6] therefore, he decides to be “up”. According to him, the world has set a ridiculous role to play for the black. Up to now, the protagonist’s desperation has been formed.ConclusionThis paper firstly presents the background about Negro and the creation background of the novel. And secondly, this paper mainly analyzes the protagonist’s mentality in Invisible Man by his attitude towards his life. In the analysis, it pays attention to the behaviors at different stages and analyzes the reasons why he behaves in that way.Undoubtedly, the aim of this paper is to disclose the accusation against the inhuman life where the pathetic Negro live.In America, the racial discrimination is everywhere. The racial conflicts often happen and the black people are treated as slaves by white people; at least, they are considered inferior. The black often have the lowest salary, poor insurance and many unfair treatments. Nowadays, the racial discrimination is not just between the white and the black, many other races in American are discriminated by the local people and they do not have right to protect themselves. Although many people do constant efforts, racial discrimination is still a hard and long-lasting task for humans.Bibliography[1] Rusby,Mark．Invisible Man．Boston：Twayne Publishers，1991．[2] Li Yanfang. “Perplexity, Struggle and Initiation in an Invisible World-A PsychologicalApproach to Initiation in Invisible Man” [ph D].Zhengzhou: Zhengzhou University, 2010. [3] Callahan，John，ed．Ratph Ellison’s Invisible Man：a casebook．New York：Oxford UniversityPress，2004．[4] Howe，Irving．“A Negro in America”．The Critical Response to Ralph Ellison．Ed．RobertJ. Butler．Connecticut：Greenwood Press，2000．[5] O’Meally, Robert，ed．New Essays On Invisible Man．New York：Cambridge UniversityPress，1988．[6] Ellison Ralph．Invisible Man[M]．Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2000．[7] Bellow,Saul．“Man Undergroun d—Review of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man”.[8] 陈晓菊: 《荒谬的极限处境与自我追寻—＜看不见的人＞之存在主义解读》，《宁波大学学报》( 人文科学版) 2010 年第5 期.[9] 赵丽丽．“《麦田里的守望者》和《看不见的人》中的成长过程的比较”.哈尔滨工程大学硕士学位论文，2005．[10] 李加莉．“《看不见的人》：一曲为黑人生存境遇呐喊的爵士乐”．华中师范大学硕士学位论文．2004．[11] 庄庆法．“评《看不见的人》中土人公的身份危机”．山东大学硕士学位论文。
从“羞耻”到“感动”——论《看不
海外艺术 ｜１６从“羞耻”到“感动”——论《看不见的人》中布鲁斯音乐与主人公身份认同□郑瑛/文《看不见的人》是美国黑人作家拉尔夫·艾利森（Ralph Ellison ，1914-1994）于1952年出版的著名的小说，被称为是二战以来最具影响力的小说之一，艾利森也因此获得举世盛名。
小说描写的故事是一位无名无姓的黑人青年— “看不见的人”认识社会、寻找自我、最终回归文化传统的成长历程。
该书自问世以来就获得广泛关注，评论家们对讨论书中黑人被压迫和追寻身份的主题乐此不疲。
“身份认同”是西方文化研究的一个重要方面，其基本含义是指个人与特定文化身份认同。
而身份认同中的个体身份认同是指个体在特定文化认同过程中，文化机构的权力运作促使个体积极或消极地参与文化实践活动，以实现其身份认同。
《看不见的人》中主人公的身份认同正是在积极地参与黑人音乐活动的过程中得以实现。
艾利森将黑人音乐加入其中，不论是直接添加布鲁斯音乐，还是以布鲁斯音乐结构构建整篇小说，又或者运用布鲁斯一样即兴化的语言书写内容，所有这些黑人音乐元素都给读者留下了深刻的印象。
艾利森能将黑人音乐完美地结合到小说中，与他早年对音乐的狂热有关。
众所周知，他曾在塔斯凯吉大学学习音乐，他在学校系统地学习过欧洲裔白人和非洲裔黑人的音乐传统和技巧，具有较高的音乐造诣，并一直对爵士乐有很浓厚的兴趣。
在《看不见的人》中艾利森就恰到好处地将布鲁斯音乐与小说主题、结构、语言以及人物形象结合起来。
而小说中音乐的出现还与主人公“隐形人”的身份认同过程相结合，进而到对黑人种族文化及自我身份的理解和接受。
1 布鲁斯的吟唱——可怜的知更鸟布鲁斯是美国黑人的一种民间音乐，由非洲贩卖至美国南部庄园中做奴隶的黑人创作，包括劳动歌曲、灵歌和田间号子三种形式。
作为一种可以表达人内心想法和情感的音乐，布鲁斯能反应人们对于生活和命运的一种态度，或者说是一种感性的表达，所以也就成为我们去了解一个人心理的重要依据。
Ralph-Ellison--Invisible-Man-看不见的人复习过程
incidents Main character has no name: the nature of
these experiences and the cumulative effect on him is important
Ralph-Ellison--Invisible-Man看不见的人
Tennessee Williams Questions
What dose the title of the play stand for? What is Stanley and Stella's neighborhood
like? What's wrong with Blanche? What is Belle Reve? What does Stanley know about Blanche's
past? What would you find more disagreeable?
Blanche's upper class snobishness, or Stanley's working class vulgarity?
Ellison Quotes
Good fiction is made of that which is real, and reality is difficult to come by. So much of it depends upon the individual's willingness to discover his true self, upon his defining himself -- for the time being at least -- against his background.
论《看不见的人》中的主人公成长历程
论《看不见的人》中的主人公成长历程作者：张雯来源：《魅力中国》2010年第23期摘要：《看不见的人》是拉尔夫·艾里森的代表作，小说描述了一位黑人青年从迷失中寻找自我，最终找到真正自我的成长历程。
主人公的一系列的经历也体现了他从对黑人文化的漠视，到对黑人文化的接受，最后到对黑人文化的认同的过程。
关键词：看不见的人;自我身份;黑人文化;异化中图分类号：I106 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1673-0992（2010）08-0290-拉尔夫·艾里森的《看不见的人》被一致认为是美国黑人文学最优秀的作品之一,评论家称其为“划时代的小说”。
小说的中心主题突出了主人公在白人至上的文化意识中逐步发现自我,实现真正自我的成长过程。
小说采用第一人称回顾性叙述方式，开篇就以独特方式表明了主人公寻找自己身份的生存状态。
小说没有连贯的故事情节,而是由主人公一系列的经历组成。
这些经历是主人公寻找自我,发现自我，接受黑人文化真正存在的过程。
作者深刻描写了黑人在黑、白两种文化冲突中所遭受的苦闷、失落等心理和精神上的创伤。
一、自我的迷失主人公是一个普通的黑人青年,没有名字。
名字是社会个体最基本的身份认定符号，作者在开篇就暗示他是一个没有自我身份的人。
小说的主线既是主人公寻找自我、确认身份的过程,也是他接受黑人传统文化的过程。
作品一开始就点明了这个主题：“我一直在寻找自我，曾有过许多只有我自己才能够回答的问题。
我不问自己，却老是去问别人。
只是在经过漫长的时间，体验过种种期望遭到毁灭的痛苦以后，我才获得别人与生俱有的认识：我就是我自己。
［1］对身份的探索伴随主人公的成长过程，而对自我的认识和定位是他这一过程中获取的重要认知。
主人公是一个十七、八岁的黑人青年，他曾是南方的一个好孩子，从懂事起就一直努力按照学校教育所灌输的一整套价值观念塑造自己。
在白人俱乐部里他为了能演讲而违心参与黑人少年之间的格斗，爬过带电的毯子去抢钱币；为了使演讲继续他吞下口里的血水。
1《看不见的人》初稿精讲
摘要《看不见的人》是美国黑人作家拉尔夫·埃里森的代表作。
埃里森凭借该作品一举成名，成为二十世纪最有影响力的美国小说家之一。
小说以主人公“看不见的人”的人生经历为线索展开故事情节，主要涉及了主人公南方的大学生活、在纽约自由油漆工厂的遭遇和在哈莱姆区的经历等三个方面的内容。
本文立足于小说的情节，从种族歧视的表现入手，深入地分析了种族歧视的根源、影响和该作品的文本价值。
关键词：看不见的人；拉尔夫·埃里森；种族歧视AbstractInvisible Men is the representative work of Ralph Ellison,and he works with the fame,becoming one of the most influential American novelist of the twentieth century.The novel starts with the hero “invisible man” life experience as a clue,mainly related to the college life of the South,suffered in the New York Liberty and content of the paint factory and experiences in Harlem in three dimensions and the like.This paper was on the basis of the plots of this novel,starting from the performance of racial discrimination,in-depth analysis of the root causes and influences of racial discrimination and the value of the work.Key Words: invisible man; Ralph Ellison; racial discrimination目录摘要 (i)Abstract (ii)引言 (1)1 论《看不见的人》中看得见的种族歧视的表现 (2)1.1 看得见的白人对黑人文化的侵略 (2)1.2 看得见的白人对黑人权利的剥夺 (3)2 论《看不见的人》中看得见的种族歧视的影响 (3)2.1 抑制看不见的人的自我意识…………………………………………………………2.2 促使看不见的人的民族反抗…………………………………………………………3 论《看不见的人》中看得见的种族歧视的根源…………………………………………3.1 作者的自身经历……………………………………………………………………3.2 历史渊源……………………………………………………………………………3.3 时代根源……………………………………………………………………………4 论《看不见的人》中看得见的种族歧视的价值 (7)4.1 打破美国黑人抗议文学的局限 (8)4.2 探索美国黑人自我生存的意义 (8)结语 (10)注释 (11)参考文献 (12)致谢 (13)引言拉尔夫·埃里森是当代著名美国黑人作家，也是二十世纪最有影响的美国小说家之一。
论《看不见的人》中的成长主题
论《看不见的人》中的成长主题【摘要】拉尔夫·埃里森是二十世纪最优秀最有影响力的美国作家之一，他的唯一一部长篇小说《看不见的人》使他成为了美国文学界举足轻重的人物。
本篇论文将试从“成长小说”的视角来展现小说中主人公艰难的成长过程，从而阐释小说中深刻的成长主题。
【关键词】拉尔夫·埃里森；《看不见的人》；成长小说1.引言拉尔夫·埃里森（1914-1994）是当代著名美国黑人小说家、文学评论家，是二十世纪最有影响力的美国作家之一，他的唯一一部长篇小说《看不见的人》成就了他在美国文学界的重要地位。
在我国，对于《看不见的人》的研究主要集中在黑人如何努力实现人生价值并寻找自己的身份；从存在主义的角度研究；从小说主人翁的黑人身份角度出发，而从成长小说角度的研究却不多。
本文试以此为切入点解析小说中主人翁的成长过程，探索小说中的成长主题。
2.《看不见的人》中的成长主题“成长小说展示的是年轻主人公经历了某种切肤之痛的事件之后，改变了原有的世界观，这种改变使他摆脱了童年的天真，并最终把他引向了一个真实而复杂的成人世界”（chris 2000）。
回顾一下美国文学史中大部分的成长小说，大体上都是按照以下的结构叙述，开始是主人翁由对美好事物的诱惑到离开自己熟悉的地方，后来对自己未知的事情感到迷惘，最后由于一些事件的刺激而产生顿悟，从而了解自己的处境，变得成熟。
《看不见的人》主要是关于一个无名无姓的美国青年在一个地下室里回顾反思他二十多年的艰难历程，以第一人称讲述的他由南方到北方、从混沌状态到自我意识觉醒的成长过程。
下面根据“诱惑—出走—迷惘—顿悟”的结构分析小说主人翁的成长历程。
2.1诱惑在此小说中，黑人主人翁无名无姓，没有任何的社会地位，总是被人使唤来使唤去，可是在他的人生道路上，诱惑总是陪伴在他的左右。
起初无名主人翁绝对是一个艰苦奋斗、任劳任怨的模范黑人青年，他深信通过艰苦好学与容忍谦卑就可以实现自己的梦想。
原创好资料!invisible man 看不见的人 隐形人 Ralph
Blindness Betray limitation
Seeking Individual Identity
renew his knowledge about the fields of defining self
seeking self and self discovery
deciding to emerge from his hibernation, face society and make a visible difference
What is his identity?
Rinehart
The narrator
The Limitations of Ideology
“Brotherhood”
LSimaivt eofthinedpiveidoupalel freedom AGwahiniteanmiadne'sntpituyppet
• (P6) “I doubt if there is a brighter spot in all New York than this hole of mine... Or the Empire State Building on a photographer's dream night. But that is taking advantage of you (deceive). Those two spots are among the darkest of out whole civilization … our whole culture (an important distinction, I’ve heard) –which might sound like a hoax. Or a contradiction … Not like an arrow, but a boomerang. ”
- 1、下载文档前请自行甄别文档内容的完整性，平台不提供额外的编辑、内容补充、找答案等附加服务。
- 2、"仅部分预览"的文档,不可在线预览部分如存在完整性等问题,可反馈申请退款(可完整预览的文档不适用该条件!)。
- 3、如文档侵犯您的权益，请联系客服反馈,我们会尽快为您处理(人工客服工作时间：9:00-18:30)。
Bildungsroman Novel
A coming of age novel which chronicles a character’s development and maturation over the span of several years.
Main character begins as a bright high school student and matures to a man who understands the nature of the world.
Invisible Man is the story of a man in New York City who, after his experiences growing up and living as a model black citizen, now lives in an underground hole and believes he is invisible to American society.
The narrator remains a voice and never emerges as an external and quantifiable presence. This obscurity emphasizes his status as an “invisible man.”
For much of the story, the narrator remains extremely innocent and inexperienced. He is prone to think the best of people even when he has reason not to, and he remains consistently respectful of authority. Ellison uses heavy irony to allow the reader to see things that the narrator misses. After the “battle royal” in Chapter 1, for instance, the narrator accepts his scholarship from the brutish white men with gladness and gratitude. Although he passes no judgment on the white men’s behavior, the men’s actions provide enough evidence for the reader to denounce the men as appalling racists. While the narrator can be somewhat unreliable in this regard, Ellison makes sure that the reader perceives the narrator’s blindness.
The narrator begins telling his story with the claim that he is an “invisible man.” His invisibility, he says, is not a physical condition—he is not literally invisible—but is rather the result of the refusal of others to see him. He says that because of his invisibility, he has been hiding from the world, living underground and stealing electricity from a Light & Power Company. He burns 1,369 light bulbs simultaneously and listens to Louis Armstrong’s “(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue” on a phonograph. He says that he has gone underground in order to write the story of his life and invisibility.
Though the narrator is intelligent, deeply introspective, and highly gifted with language, the experiences that he relates demonstrate that he was naïve in his youth. As the novel progresses, the narrator’s illusions are gradually destroyed through his experiences as a student at college, as a worker at the Liberty Paints plant, and as a member of a political organization known as the Brotherhood. Shedding his blindness, he struggles to arrive at a conception of his identity that honors his complexity as an individual without sacrificing social responsibility.
always stand for something beyond surface level
Invisible Man (1952)
First published in 1952 and immediately hailed as a masterpiece, Invisible Man is one of those rare novels that have changed the shape of American literature.
Won the national book award
Episodic Novel
Story is told in a series of incidents or events. The episodes succeed each other, with no
particular arrangement Protagonist experiences a string of occurrences
Universal Novel
Invisible Man is a quest to know oneself
Struggle for acceptance Although it concerns race, it is really about
our desire to succeed and be happy in life. Events are in real settings, but settings
The understanding of art depends finally upon one's willingness to extend one's humanity and one's knowledge of human life.
“I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fibre and liquids- and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible because people refuse to see me…When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination- indeed, everything and anything except me.”
Invisible Man is unique not only in the literature world, but also in the political world for adding a new voice to the discussion about blacks in America.
American Literature Week 13
Ralph Ellison and Invisible Man
Prof. Zhou zhoufuqiang@
03/12/2013
Outline for Today
Review Tennessee Williams through dictation and questions.
Understand Ralph Waldo Ellison
Focus on Invisible Man
Tennessee Williams Questions
What dose the title of the play stand for? What is Stanley and Stella's neighborhood
Ellison Quotes
Good fiction is made of that which is real, and reality is difficult to come by. So much of it depends upon the individual's willingness to discover his true self, upon his defining himself -- for the time being at least -- against his background.