Invisible Man
First novel by Ralph Ellison, published in 1947.
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Ralph Ellison’s first novel, *Invisible Man*, was also the only one he saw published while alive. A section of the book, the “Battle Royal” scene, appeared in the British magazine *Horizon* in 1947, and the full novel came out in 1952. The story tackles a range of social and intellectual struggles facing African Americans in the early 1900s: black nationalism, the link between Black identity and Marxism, the reformist racial ideas of Booker T. Washington, and broader questions of individuality and personal identity. In 1953, it won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction, making Ellison the first Black writer to earn that honor.
Ellison began writing what would become *Invisible Man* in the summer of 1945 while on sick leave from the Merchant Marine, working in a barn in Waitsfield, Vermont (actually in neighboring Fayston). The project took five years, with a year off for what he called an “ill-conceived short novel.” The “Battle Royal” scene had been shown to *Horizon* editor Cyril Connolly by Frank Taylor, an early supporter. In his 1953 National Book Award acceptance speech, Ellison said the novel’s chief significance was its “experimental attitude.” Unlike many earlier novels about African Americans—such as *Native Son* and *Uncle Tom’s Cabin*—which were written mainly for social protest, *Invisible Man*’s narrator states, “I am not complaining, nor am I protesting either.” In his essay “The World and the Jug,” responding to Irving Howe’s “Black Boys and Native Sons,” Ellison argued against critics who judged Black literature by narrow political or sociological standards. He posed three questions: why critics abandon advanced analysis when confronting an American who is Black, why sociology-oriented critics value politics over literature, and why so many who claim to explain Black life never learn how varied it really is.
Placing *Invisible Man* within the Harlem Renaissance or the Black Arts Movement is tricky; it belongs to both and neither. Ellison resisted being pigeonholed. In his exchange with Howe, he distinguished between “relatives” and “ancestors”: Richard Wright was a “relative,” but Ernest Hemingway was an “ancestor.” This refusal to commit fully to one camp drew criticism. John Oliver Killens, for instance, denounced the novel as “a vicious distortion of Negro life.” Ellison’s chosen ancestors included T. S. Eliot, from whose *The Waste Land* he learned imagery and improvisation techniques he had previously seen only in jazz. He also studied William Faulkner, whom he called the South’s greatest artist, and Hemingway, whose sentence structure and story organization he copied. Ellison said reading Hemingway taught him how to lead a bird while hunting. The first line of *Invisible Man*—“I am an invisible man”—consciously echoes Dostoevsky’s *Notes from Underground* (“I am a sick man”), a borrowing Ellison acknowledged in his 1981 introduction. Biographer Arnold Rampersad noted that Herman Melville’s *Moby-Dick* also shaped Ellison’s approach to race, with the narrator resembling Ishmael. Ellison signaled this debt in the prologue, where the narrator recalls a moment.
In 1998, the Modern Library ranked *Invisible Man* 19th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. *Time* magazine included it on its list of the 100 Best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005, calling it “the quintessential American picaresque of the 20th century.” Critics Malcolm Bradbury and Richard Ruland saw a black existentialist vision with a “Kafka-like absurdity.” According to *The New York Times*, Barack Obama modeled his 1995 memoir *Dreams from My Father* on Ellison’s novel.
- author
- Ralph Ellison
- first_published
- 1947 (in Horizon magazine)
- full_publication
- 1952
- award
- U.S. National Book Award for Fiction (1953)
- genre
- Novel
- themes
- Black nationalism, Marxism, individuality, identity
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Ellison started writing what would become Invisible Man in a barn in Waitsfield, Vermont (actually in the neighboring town of Fayston), in the summer of 1945 while on sick leave from the Merchant Marine. The book took five years to complete with one year off for what Ellison termed an 'ill-conceived short novel.' Invisible Man was published as a whole in 1952. Ellison had published a section of the book in 1947, the famous 'Battle Royal' scene, which had been shown to Cyril Connolly, the editor of Horizon magazine by Frank Taylor, one of Ellison's early supporters. In his speech accepting the 1953 National Book Award, Ellison said that he considered the novel's chief significance to be its 'experimental attitude.' Before Invisible Man, many (if not most) novels dealing with African Americans were written solely for social protest, notably, Native Son and Uncle Tom's Cabin. The narrator in Invisible Man says, 'I am not complaining, nor am I protesting either', signaling a break from the usual protest novel. Ellison resisted being pigeonholed by his peers, stating to Irving Howe that 'while one can do nothing about choosing one's relatives, one can, as an artist, choose one's 'ancestors'. Wright was, in this sense, a 'relative'; Hemingway an 'ancestor'.'
Ellison's 'ancestors' included, among others, T. S. Eliot. In an interview with Richard Kostelanetz, Ellison states that what he had learned from his The Waste Land was imagery and also improvisation techniques he had only before seen in jazz. Some other influences include William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway. The first line of Invisible Man ('I am an invisible man') is a conscious echo of Notes from Underground ('I am a sick man'). Ellison acknowledged this borrowing in his 1981 introduction to his novel. Arnold Rampersad, Ellison's biographer, says that Herman Melville had a profound influence on Ellison's way of writing about race: the narrator 'resembles no one else in previous fiction so much as he resembles Ishmael of Moby-Dick.'
Reader's Guide
Invisible Man won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1953, making Ellison the first African-American writer to win the award. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Invisible Man 19th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Time magazine included the novel in its 100 Best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005 list, calling it 'the quintessential American picaresque of the 20th century.' Malcolm Bradbury and Richard Ruland recognize a black existentialist vision with a 'Kafka-like absurdity.' According to The New York Times, Barack Obama modeled his 1995 memoir Dreams from My Father on Ellison's novel. Placing Invisible Man within the canon of either the Harlem Renaissance or the Black Arts Movement is difficult. It owes allegiance to both and neither. Ellison's resistance to being pigeonholed led to criticism from some black writers, such as John Oliver Killens, who once denounced Invisible Man by saying: 'The Negro people need Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man like we need a hole in the head or a stab in the back. ... It is a vicious distortion of Negro life.' The letters Ellison wrote to fellow novelist Richard Wright as he started working on the novel provide evidence for his disillusion with and defection from the Communist Party USA for perceived revisionism. Ellison resisted attempts to ferret out such allusions in the book itself, however, stating 'I did not want to describe an existing Socialist or Communist or Marxist political group, primarily because it would have allowed the reader to escape confronting certain political patterns.'
Did You Know?
- Ellison started writing Invisible Man in a barn in Waitsfield, Vermont (actually in the neighboring town of Fayston) in the summer of 1945 while on sick leave from the Merchant Marine.
- The first line of Invisible Man ('I am an invisible man') is a conscious echo of Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground ('I am a sick man').
- Ellison learned imagery and improvisation techniques from T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land that he had only before seen in jazz.
- In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Invisible Man 19th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.
- According to The New York Times, Barack Obama modeled his 1995 memoir Dreams from My Father on Ellison's novel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote Invisible Man and when did it first appear?
Ralph Ellison authored Invisible Man, the only novel he saw in print before his death. It debuted in 1947 in the British periodical Horizon, followed by its full book edition in 1952.
What are the central themes of Invisible Man?
The novel wrestles with Black nationalism, how Black self-determination intersects with Marxist ideology, and the reformist racial framework associated with Booker T. Washington. It also probes deeper questions of individuality and how a person constructs identity in a society that refuses to see them.
What major award did Invisible Man receive?
In 1953, the novel was honored with the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction, cementing its place as a landmark of mid-century American literature.
What genre is Invisible Man and what is its setting?
It is a literary novel set in early-to-mid 20th-century America, following an unnamed Black protagonist as he moves through various political and social worlds. The narrative functions as a deeply personal exploration of what it means to be unseen in a racially stratified society.
Why is Invisible Man considered so important in American fiction?
As Ellison's sole published novel, it gave unprecedented literary depth to the lived experience of African Americans grappling with race, politics, and selfhood. Its layered treatment of identity, ideology, and individuality set a new standard for how American novels could engage with social questions.
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