Abstract

  Invisible Man, the most important work of Ralph Ellison, is regarded as one of the American classics and an epic which reflects the modern African-American life, and it shows the narrator’s process of searching for self-identity. This thesis tries to analyze the four steps in the narrator’s process of searching: the narrator’s bewilderment, ordeal, awakening and his final acceptance. During the process, the narrator undergoes a lot of unhappy experiences, and in the end, he realizes his invisibility and accepts his identity as a black man.

Key words: Invisible Man, identity-searching, awakening

摘 要

  《隐形人》是拉尔夫•艾里森最重要的作品，一直被认为是一部反映美籍非裔生活的经典和史诗。它展示了主人公追寻自我身份的历程。本文从四个方面描述了主人公自我探索的历程：迷茫，煎熬，醒悟和接受。在这一过程中，主人公经历了很多不幸的遭遇，最后意识到自身的隐形并接受了其作为一个美国黑人的身份。

关键词：《隐形人》，身份探求，醒悟

1. Introduction
Ralph Ellison, the most important African-American writer since 1950s, is also an outstanding literary critic, and one of the most significant pioneers of the American cultural studies. The grandson of slaves, Ralph Ellison was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on March 1st, 1914. His father was a constructive worker, and his mother was a servant who also volunteered for the local Socialist Party. Ellison’s parents knew he was bound for prosperity. His father even named him for the great writer Ralph Waldo Emerson in an effort to ensure such success. Mrs. Ellison, a maid, would bring home books, magazines, and record albums that had been discarded in the homes she cleaned. When he was a teenager, Ellison and his friends dreamed of being “Renaissance Men.” (Jing 62) Therefore, they studied the values and attitudes of Native Americans and whites, as well as blacks.