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The Role Of Conformity In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

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“’Play the game, but play it your own way…’” (Ellison 153) In essence, Ellison Says that a person follows the ideas of those around him; however, they have their own thoughts and feelings that change as they act. In his book, Invisible Man,Ellison’s narrator has “that outward existence that conforms, [and] the inward life that questions.” He plays the game of those around him, but plays it in a way that he sees fit, changing his opinions and view of the things around him. Throughout The novel, the Invisible Man (the narrator who provides a first person point of view)consistently yields to the whims of more authoritative powers that surround him,but he questions their purpose and his role in society. Eventually, his individual desires supersede those of those around him and he shed his conformity. …show more content…

He had just received an opportunity to deliver a speech in front of a prominent white audience; basically, he was rewarded for a speech advocating conformity that the dominating race considered preeminent. he openly conforms to the white dominated society in which he lives. The First initial example of this conformity that is reiterated throughout the book is the battle royale. The most interesting aspect of this battle royale is that it sets the idea for the theme of the entire book: outward conformity versus inward

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