The Unknown Narrator In Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man

In the novel The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, the unknown narrator represents how members of his entire community are manipulated by white men. By portraying the narrator as a stereotypical African American, Ellison is able to show the constant struggles African American men have to face and the vicious cycles that often prevent them from succeeding.

Ellison portrays the unknown narrator as an individual who represents his community by allowing the reader to see how the white people in the novel are superior to the African American community. In the battle royale, the narrator was sure of being granted a scholarship to an all black college. The narrator was well known for his speeches, so the town’s leading white citizens wanted to see

Men who are in power began to feel threatened. He was gifted, so men always found it in their nature to sabotage his success, which made it seem as if he were a stereotypical mediocre black man. When the narrator entered the all black college, he met Dr. Bledsoe who was the president. From the point when the narrator began to interact with the president, Dr. Bledsoe wanted to maintain his image of power in the college by telling the narrator “Negroes don’t control this school or much of anything else--haven't you learned even that? No sir, they don't control this school, nor white folk either. True they support it, but I control it.” (Ellison 143). Bledsoe wants to taunt the narrator into realizing that the only man who has power around the campus is him and no one can interfere. Though he is an African American male with power he obtains his power by white people allowing him to have it. In reality those white people control Dr. Bledsoe, who then controls the young African American men at the college. Dr. Bledsoe is being manipulated by the white men who are superior to him because they believe a black man can get through to other black men better than a white man can. They want him to run the college and be able to control the students. The white men make it seem like Dr. Bledsoe is their equal, but really he is not. So far the narrator