The Darkness of Invisible Man as a Symbol

Ellison’s Invisible Man is one of those books that is so full of symbols that it is near impossible to ignore them. While Invisible Man may have more symbols than a drum set, there are definitely a few that really stand out. The most prominent symbols are the overabundance of darkness and blindness throughout the novel. This concept can be found in a number of places and plays a major part in the development of the story. While the main character, Invisible Man (IM) takes pride in the fact that he has nothing to do with neither darkness nor blindness in the prologue, there are other characters that not only possess these undesirable characteristics, but embrace them as well. These characteristics define their personalities and direct their actions, just as the darkness of the city directs their actions, but in a much more powerful manner.
Right from the get-go, IM expresses his pride in his lack of darkness. His “hole” that he makes mention of in the prologue is so fu...