Abstract

Ralph Ellison, a famous contemporary African-American writer, is also one of the most influential American novelists in the twentieth century. Through seven years’ hard working, he created and then published the novel Invisible Man in 1952. The novel depicts that a black youth who lived in a society which is full of racial segregation and discrimination, found the process of psychological maturity of himself. It belongs to coming-of-age novels. The novel sets realism, naturalism, expressionism and surrealism in one, through the seemingly simple story to express complex and esoteric topic, especially that it used much symbolism to make the novel can be understood from different levels and angles. Among all kinds of artistic expression the writer used, the frequent use of symbolism is an important element contributing to the success of this novel.
This paper consists of three parts: the first part is about the introduction of the author, the content and the major theme of the novel. The second part introduces the symbolism; the third part attempts to explore how to use the symbolism to reveal the theme of novel and express their thoughts from a symbol of blindness, invisibility, doll, and briefcase and so on. The writing style that extended the space of language and imagination was changing with the development of the plot. It makes us speculate and ruminate, let us know the social phenomenon and its characteristics of America and also gave us a better understanding of western culture.

Key words: Ralph Ellison; Invisible Man; symbolism; theme

摘  要

拉尔夫•埃里森，是当代著名美国黑人作家，也是二十世纪最有影响的美国小说家之一。1952年出版了经过七年精心创作而成的小说《隐形人》，小说描写了一个黑人青年在充斥种族隔离和种族歧视的社会里寻找自我的心理成熟历程，属于成长小说类。小说集现实主义、自然主义、表现主义和超现实主义于一身，通过看似简单的故事情节表达了复杂深奥的主题，尤其是大量象征手法的运用，使小说可从不同层次和角度进行理解。在作家运用的各种艺术表现手法中, 象征主义的运用是这部小说获得成功的一个重要元素。
本文主要分为三大部分，第一部分主要介绍小说作者，内容以及主题；第二部分主要介绍象征手法；第三部分试图从盲目的象征、隐身的象征、娃娃的象征、公事包的象征等方面, 探讨作者如何运用象征主义这一艺术表现手法来揭示小说主题并表达其思想。在此小说中，写作手法随着情节的发展不断变化，这些手法扩展了语言和想象的空间，令人思索，使我们看到了美国所存在的社会景象及其特征，并且让我们对西方文化的认识得到升华。

关键词：拉尔夫•埃里森；隐形人；象征主义；主题