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Invisible Man Impact

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Impact In the novel of Invisible Man, written by Ralph Ellison, the reader follows the chain of events that occur throughout the African American narrator's life. He struggled with the color of his skin rendering him “invisible” and the various social issues that existed in the early twentieth century for African Americans. He begins and ends the novel as invisible to all those who are unable to see him for what he is. But, his followers don’t see him as “invisible”; they take in his thoughts. His thoughts are mostly shown to his followers when he speaks his mind in his speeches. He gives four major speeches in the novel: the graduation speech, the eviction speech, the speech for the Brotherhood, and Brother Tod Clifton’s funeral oration. All his speeches are effective, however some hold a greater impact than others. The effectiveness of his speeches all coincide with the chronological order in which they are given in the novel. His first speech, graduation speech being the least effective speech and his last speech, Brother Tod Clifton's funeral oration being the most effective. After the torment of battle royal where the narrator and other boys are electrocuted and brutalized, …show more content…

However despite their effectiveness, all the speeches did relate to modern issues today. Currently there is a lot of racism and discrimination in America, which is an issue in Invisible Man. The novel and modern today relate in the aspect of both having the same issue and also in that both American citizens and the narrator in Invisible Man stand up for what they believe in. Many of the speeches the narrator gives and activist give today serve the purpose to encourage people to make a difference. In both his funeral speech and his eviction speech, the narrator is trying to influence the emotions of others to push them to take action, similarly to what activist and citizens who speak up, try to do

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