Identity is not just an ethnicity or different characteristics. Identity cannot be recognize by surface vision, but by a
combination of surface vision and inner vision. Environmental factors, culture, and religion all contribute to self- identity. However,family values and
personal experience play an important role in the nameless protagonist's life in Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.
In the novel , the nameless narrator’s journey to discover
who he is begins with his grandfather's words at his deathbed. Due to the inferiority of African Americans, the
narrator was told to obey the whites, no matter what the situation is. With
this idea engraved in the narrator’s mind, he obeys every force that was
placed on him. One incident was the royal battle, in which he chooses to conform as
other African Americans who follow the orders of the whites. Later, the
narrator encounters Mr. Norton. Similarly, the narrator did everything that Mr.
Norton to do so; however, his obedience leads to his expulsion from his college. With the words of his grandfather, the narrator does not have an identity, but an identity that others place on
him.
Later in the novel, the narrator
experiences a rebirth in a factory hospital. Not only he forgets who he is, he
even forgets the name of his enemies. Without the presence of the identity that
others once placed on him, the narrator is able to discover who is. He begins to
question outwardly about the inequality in the society, especially when he delivers a speech regarding an evicted
couple. The rebirth also leads him to the Brotherhood, in which he serves as an
orator. As a member of the Brotherhood, the narrator also discovers the blindness of certain people. He realizes people often view him as an instrument to
advance their own interest, and they refuse to see the individuality within the
narrator.
With the experience of the narrator, he finally discovers who he is. He is not one of many African
Americans who submits to whites. He is not one of many African Americans who
would let others to take advantage of him. Toward the ends of the book, the
narrator neglects the materialistic things he has been pursuing for is
useless. He begins another journey to discover who he is.
He becomes an African American who
takes advantage of his invisibility. He becomes an African American who acknowledges the environmental factors that shaped him.
The nameless narrator and I both share the
obstacles to find self-identity. One factor is that contribute to an identity is love. People
often give up their identity for the ones they love. When a couple first met
each other, they like the originality within each other. As time passed by, one
person from the relationship would often change himself or herself for the
other person. Once the person is changed, their identity changed as well. Love
can alter the identity of an individual, and the can be positive, negative, or
both. For me, it is the ones I love and the ones who love me motivated me to become the person I want to be. It is love that I find my
self-identity and the importance of self-identity.
