Sight And Blindness In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

Invisible Man is the story of an educated black man that has been controlled by the white power structure, which is defined by the overarching level of power from the white man to the black man, throughout his life. The main character is nameless until the novel ends, which gives the novel a very sketchy and dehumanizing tone. Throughout the novel the narrator realizes that he isn’t seen by others as he sees himself which makes him “invisible.” Ellison uses brother Jack’s eye and sambo dolls to define the invisibility of the narrator, the stereotypes against the average black man, and realization that all things are not what they seem to be.
Brother Jack unknowingly admits that he has deceived the narrator when his glass eye falls out of his eye socket. Sight and blindness are shown throughout the novel as very important symbols. Jack's eye is not reveal as phony until Jack is fully revealed as such himself. By him being partially blind, from an injury he that he took for the Brotherhood, Ellison wants us as readers to know that the

Once the narrator gets a closer look at the paper doll that Clifton was selling, he realizes that Clifton used a thin black string that the audience couldn’t see to control the dolls. The sambo doll related to the invisible man because of the stereotypes behind the doll. The Sambo Dolls are an image to represent the Sambo Slave. Having the dolls dancing and singing, mocking the black slave is another form of damaging entertainment for the white man. This is very ironic, because brother Clifton was once a member of the Brotherhood and is now selling these degrading dolls. Brother Clifton goes directly against what he once fought for when he began to sell these dolls, which basically he goes against his own