Plan ralph Ellison's Biography Summary of Invisible Man

Create Invisible Man notes faster than ever before
StudySmarter's FREE web and mobile app
Get Started Now
The Harlem riots
In Harlem, the narrator is being followed by a group of Ras' men and acquires a disguise. He becomes mistaken for a man named Rinehart. Knowing that Rinehart has become enmeshed in white society, the narrator decides to report misleading information to the Brotherhood about the group's membership in Harlem.
Soon riots break out in Harlem and the narrator realizes that the Brotherhood has been wanting a crisis to occur for their own benefit. The narrator becomes wrapped up with a gang of violent rioters who set a building on fire. When he leaves the scene, he finds Ras riding a horse and carrying a spear and shield. Ras calls for the crowd to lynch the narrator, but the narrator responds by attacking Ras and escapes into an underground coal bunker. He gets locked inside by two white men.
Epilogue
The Epilogue returns to the frame tale of the Prologue, and the narrator has been considering his experiences. He plans to return from his hibernation, unsure of how to do so, but knowing that it must be done. He gives up trying to figure out what his grandfather meant by his dying words and, instead, opts to commit to the principles of freedom and love. The prologue ends with the narrator claiming that even though the reader may distrust him, the narrator could potentially be speaking for the reader (Epilogue).
Invisible Man's Characters
Let us take a look at the characters involved in the invisible man.
The Narrator
The narrator is the unnamed storyteller of the novel––telling the story in first person. Though the body of the novel illustrates the narrator's quest for an identity, in the frame the narrator reveals that this quest has been a failure. Many times throughout the novel he is asked his name, and he is given different names and identities throughout the events. These identities are never disclosed to the reader, and the narrator claims this is because he has never taken control of his identity. His embracing of "invisibility" is his first and only attempt to identify himself.
Dr. Bledsoe
Dr. Bledsoe is the president of the all-Black university. At university events, Dr. Bledsoe plays the role of a servant and spokesperson to the white investors, eats his meals alone away from the crowd, and runs the university from a small office. At first, the narrator believes Dr. Bledsoe and the founder to be a hero, but once the events with Mr. Norton become known, Dr. Bledsoe calls the narrator a fool for not knowing what to hide from white people. When expelling the narrator from the school, Dr. Bledsoe reveals his cruelty.
You're nobody, son. You don't exist––can't you see that?...I've made my place in [the world] and I'll have every Negro in the country hanging on tree limbs by morning if it means staying where I am." (Dr. Bledsoe, Chapter six)
Brother Jack
Brother Jack is the white leader of the Brotherhood. He sees the narrator give his speech at the old couple's eviction, follows him, and invites him into the group. Brother Jack is a Marxist revolutionary, and talks about the movement of history, claiming to represent all of the "common people." While in Jack's presence, the narrator feels like he's a part of the movement of history.
Tod Clifton
A youth leader within the Brotherhood, Tod Clifton is well-respected by the narrator. As membership in the Brotherhood diminishes, Clifton goes missing, and eventually becomes a street peddler of Black Sambo dolls. A policeman shoots Clifton in an event that sets off the Harlem riots.