Ralph Ellison - Invisible Man

Presentation (Handout) from the year 2001 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: none, University of Heidelberg (Anglistik Seminar), course: Upper Seminar Text in Context, language: English, abstract: The Quest · can be defined as a voyage with a goal, a “Suchwanderung”. · the goal is usually a treasured item or one’s own soul. · 3 major parts: the departure, the voyage with adventures, and the return or the heightening of the hero. · Invisible Man: the search for identity or for his self. I. The departure of the hero The hero parts from his social group reason: a disharmony within the society he lives in. Invisible Man: his departure from the hole he lives in or his expulsion from college after which he tries to find himself. II. The voyage with adventures The hero undertakes a voyage and has to get through several adventures: fighting monsters and/ or giants, being seduced by beautiful women, being led on the wrong track. Helpful figures: good spirits who aid him and show him the right track. The height of adventures: reached in the death struggle or supreme ordeal, where the hero dies a symbolic death. This means that his former self dies, and this death is followed by a spiritual rebirth. à initiation 1. bus trip to New York fatherly advice by the vet: learn to look beneath the surface (127); play the game, but play it your own way. Learn how it operates, learn how you operate (128); be your own father, young man. And remember, the world is possibility if only you’ll discover it (130). 2. disillusionments: The letters of recommendation from Bledsoe [...]