Ellison begins his novel: “I am an invisible man” (p. 3). Charles Johnson articulates the profound significance of this statement: “And, as if this were not enough, Ellison gave our age a new metaphor for social alienation. His definition of ‘invisibility’ is so common now, so much a part of the culture and language—like a coin handled by billions—that it is automatically invoked when we talk about the situation of American blacks, and for any social group we willingly refuse to see” (p. vii – viii). Reflect on Ellison’s Prologue, and address one or more of the following questions: How does this concept of human “invisibility” resonate for you in your own life experience? Have you been on one side or the other of this sort of experience? Have you been on both sides? Does Ellison’s narrator provide a new insight for you personally? Does the recording by Louis Armstrong amplify or reinforce the tenor of Ellison’s narrator? Do the song’s words establish further connections? Does the matter of the narrator’s “invisibility” raise additional questions, such as: What about gender? What about women? What about black women? Are there possibly “layers” of “invisibility,” based on prevailing categories of social dismissal? How does the issue of social justice relate to the phenomenon of human “invisibility”?
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