About the Book
The author of Invisible Man
Who is Ralph Ellison?
A character whose name is pointedly never revealed
Who is the narrator?
The city in which the narrator is sent for work after his expulsion from college
What is New York?
The titular motif/metaphor of the novel
What is invisibility?
A movement, named after a neighborhood, of rich literature, art, music, and philosophy.
What is the Harlem Renaissance?
A prestigious award, given annually, won by Invisible Man
What is the National Book Award?
The president of the narrator's former college
Who is Dr. Bledsoe?
A New York-based civil rights organization that recruits the narrator
What is the Brotherhood?
A relative who the narrator is constantly thinking about throughout the course of his life
Who is the narrator's grandfather?
The decade(s) in which Invisible Man takes place
What are the 1930s-40s?
The decade in which Invisible Man was published
What is the 1950s?
The leader of the Brotherhood
Who is Brother Jack?
In addition to giving his speech, the narrator is invited to do this with other African Americans for the entertainment of white men
What is fighting?
How the narrator's grandfather describes himself, and what the narrator aspires to never become
What is a traitor?
A period of widespread movement of African Americans from the South to other regions of the United States
What is the Great Migration?
One of two authors who the author of Invisible Man was most inspired by
Who is T.S. Eliot or Ernest Hemingway?
Who is Ras (the Exhorter)?
The bar that the narrator drives Mr. Norton to, ultimately resulting in his expulsion
What is the Golden Day?
A motif of duality, representing truth and ignorance
What is light and darkness?
A promise for former slaves that was later reversed, symbolizing the ultimate failure of Reconstruction
What is 'forty acres and a mule'?
A New Deal project that Invisible Man's author was a part of
What is the Federal Writers' Project (FWP)?
The antithesis of the narrator, whose persona the narrator accidentally takes
Who is Rinehart?
The job in which the narrator is fired from, ultimately leading to his joining of a civil rights organization
What is a paint factory worker?
A symbol of ever-present racism, which the narrator takes from Brother Clifton
What is a paper doll?
The President whose compromise ultimately ended Reconstruction.
Who is Rutherford B. Hayes?