On The Protagonist’s Imposed Identity as a Modern Running Slave in Invisible Man

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On The Protagonist’s Imposed Identity as a Modern Running Slave
in Invisible Man
Abstract:Invisible Man created by Ralph Ellison mainly discusses the protagonist’s identity issue and this paper focuses on one of his imposed identity as a modern running slave to disclose the oppression suffered by modern black people and the progress they make in self-identity quest.
Key words:imopsed identity;mosern running slave;Invisible Man Identity is a complex term for its rich connotations. It can be simply viewed as “knowing who one is” (Weeks, 27). It can be further explained to be “our understanding of who we are and who other people are” (Weeks, 35). As for a single person, identity covers both born features and the influences caused by the circumstances. It is a continuous process of forming and reforming rather than a fixed state or result. During this process, people will have a series of identities. Some of them can be counted as people’s self-identities which work as major benchmarks for them to understand and define themselves. However, the others of them are imposed on people. These imposed identities are unable to embody people’s active understanding of themselves. In Invisible Man, the protagonist also has imposed identities, such as a “modern running slave”.
The image of “running slave” originates from an African American folkloric motif “Keep the Nigger-Boy Running”. It mirrors the oppressive and unsettled aspect of black slave’s life because “running” works as a pun which has two layers of meanings: “escaping” and “unsettled”. In Invisible Man, the protagonist also lives as a running slave when he is expelled from the college trying to find a job with Dr. Bledsoe’s recommendation letters.
However,the recommendation letter turns out to be a false one which only bears words “keep this nigger-boy running”. Because the president asks him not to read these letters, the protagonist presents them to white celebrities one by one in the northern city. As a result, he is refused to get any jobs but he continues sending the rest letters out with hope. In this way, the protagonist falls into a negative circle of running from a white man to another. Finally, because he cannot have any job, the protagonist faces material crisis. Thus, he is unable to settle his life in the strange city and becomes a modern running slave.
Fortunately, The tricks played by Dr. Bledsoe to make the protagonist as a “running slave” is exposed by Mr. Emerson’s son. Mr. Emerson is one of the white celebrities to whom Dr. Bledsoe writes recommendation letter. As the protagonist goes to Mr. Emerson’s office sending his recommendation letter, Mr. Emerson’s son gets this letter and shows the contents of it to the protagonist. At that time, the
protagonist still holds an illusion and wants to “return and help” (Ellison, 192). Later, a folk song whistled by a black man in front of him on a bus breaks his illusion of the college authority and leads him to realize his identity as a running slave. This folk song goes like this:。