Invisible Man

Invisible Man (1952) by Ralph Ellison is a landmark American novel about a young, unnamed Black man who discovers that he is 'invisible' to the society around him - not physically, but socially, because people refuse to see him as an individual, perceiving only his race. The novel traces his journey from the American South to Harlem, New York, through a series of disillusioning experiences with white authority, Black leadership and radical politics.

The narrator begins as a naive, ambitious young man who believes in the meritocratic promise of education and hard work. He is expelled from a Southern Black college after inadvertently showing a white benefactor the uglier side of Black life. In New York, he works in a paint factory, is recruited by the Brotherhood (a political organisation modelled on the Communist Party), and rises as a public speaker, only to discover that the Brotherhood, like every other institution he has encountered, uses him as a tool rather than seeing him as a person.

The novel culminates in the Harlem riot, after which the narrator retreats to an underground room, a literal and metaphorical space of invisibility, from which he narrates the entire story. He concludes that his invisibility, while painful, also offers a unique perspective on American society. For the WAEC SSCE examination, candidates should focus on the themes of identity, race, invisibility, disillusionment and the search for authentic selfhood.