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Existential Motifs In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

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The prologue of Invisible Man portrays the origin of his existential ideas and pain through the motif of not being seen.
The motif connects with other essential motifs in the novel such as race relations and invisibility. The first sentence introduces Ellison as an “invisible man.” He explains that his invisibility extends not from some “biochemical accident" but rather because of the unwillingness of other people to notice him because of his race. After all, he is a black man in a time where race overrules personality when judging others. This is related to the notion of being blind to the truth or forced ignorance which is common in human nature. He describes it clearly when he refers to the “peculiar disposition of the eyes of those who[m]

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