Invisible Man: How will we be defined

As I continue my independent reading of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, I can't help but to wonder how I myself have felt as though I was in the some of the same predicaments and mentality of the narrator. Being a minority, it is almost as though you can not help but to have felt inferior to "The Man", as Ellison describes, at some point in time. Many of times there has been an ignorant comment, selfish action, or an all together ignoring to us all in one way or another. Although the novel was set in the 19030's, many of the returned feelings and washed up emotions can and often are still felt today. It is difficult to explain to the exact being of feeling less than, but Ellison has painted the picture beautifully. Everyone can, in some way or another relate to the injustice within the novel, whether it be racially, religion based, or gender wise. Although I am still in the early chapters of the novel, its obvious self doubt and emptiness of the narrator grasps the readers attention from the very beginning.

Only months prior to making the transaction from high school to higher education, Invisible Man also forces me to ponder one nagging question; As I continue into becoming an educated young women, how will I leave my footprints in the "real" world? Will I allow myself to be invisible among all of the others or force my voice, my beliefs, my ideas to be heard? Soon becoming a student of a prestigious private University this fall, I am most certainly want to leave my mark someway or another, not allowing my campus to define me, but that who I am can rightfully represent the University.

Invisible Man is defined by so much more than simply a young mans journey and a coming of age novel, but rather a recognition of each one of our significant rolls in the book of life.

-Jasmine C