Abstract

Ralph Ellison is one of the most significant writers of African-American literature since 1950s. Invisible Man is his only novel finished and published while he is alive. This novel talks about the black protagonist who wants to gain success and status. So he meets the preferences of others and accepts the identity given by others. Gradually he loses himself. After experiencing a series of ordeals, he realizes if one is divorced from his own national culture and tradition, it’s impossible for him to achieve the so-called success in the society dominated by the White.

   In this novel the writer illustrates the protagonist’s hard growing process from self-examination to maturity with a unique point of view, which corresponds to the main growing patterns in the genre of initiation story. This kind of literary genre is mainly based on the growth of the character, which focuses on the protagonist’s psychological process from innocence to maturity. This thesis attempts to analyze the process of the protagonist’s growth especially the process of his psychological change in Invisible Man. At the same time, this paper analyzes the hard process of the black soul seeking for their true identities under the impact of American white culture. 

Key words: Initiation Story; invisible; identity; epiphany

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1 Introduction.1

2 Being innocent in South America.2

3 Experiencing ordeals in New York5

4 Gaining maturity through epiphanies8

4.1Epiphanies from daily life9

4.2Epiphanies from sudden incidents10

5 Conclusion11

References .13