What does it mean to be invisible?

Invisibility-- not being seen; not able to be seen. or are we just not looking hard enough? :-D

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is an interesting book. It's actually a pretty hard read so far. But it's getting better. To me, it's one of those books that you give to a friend and say read until the 8th chapter and if you still do not like it then put it down. The word invisible is a pretty interesting one. And the fact that the narrator has NO NAME makes it even better because it shows how he is just a nobody. He has no label.

In the last couple of chapters I have read, the main character is having trouble figuring out what is right and what is wrong. Well at least he is right now. Who knows what's down the road. At the moment, he is on the way to find a new job after getting expelled. When one of the trustees comes down from the north, the narrator takes him on a tour of the school's property. When they get back, Dr. Bledsoe is furious that the narrator showed the trustee the bad parts around the school. He claims there were "enough decent homes and drives" to show the trustee (138) and that he shouldn't have shown him the "slum" (138). He wants to lie to the trustee about what is around the school. The narrator does not. The words of his grandfather that he claims have stuck with him all this time go with what he's been doing-- "overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction, let'em swoller you till they vomit" (16). His grandfather is basically telling him to kill them (the white people) until they "vomit" all of the kindness back up. The narrator is struggling-- he wants to follow his grandfather, wants to do what the trustee wants, but upsets Dr. Bledsoe in the process. He cannot make anyone happy!

The part that really stuck out to me recently is when Dr. Bledsoe says to him, "You don't exist--can't you see that?" (143). Three words: exist. see. invisibility. You cannot see something that does not exist. He cannot SEE that. He didn't say "you're missing the point" he said "can't you see that." What a coinkydink.The way Ellison uses the words exist and see here amazed me. I don't know if I'm explaining it well but it makes sense in my head. It reminds me of Hamlet and how he uses words to mean two or more different things at once. Then again, everything is Hamlet, right?