Dear Ralph Ellison,
“A classic is a book that has never finished” - Italo Calvino. When reading this quote it reminds me of how your book ( Invisible Man) was far ahead of its time. It addressed issues that although were occurring during the era you wrote the story, would still be very prevalent in today’s society. A textual example of this could be found in the Royal Rumble scene of your book, where all the blacks were blind folded and forced to fight to the death. This scene is relevant in today’s society because although in the story their eyes were closed physically, they were also closed metaphorically by the blind fold put on by whites. Such as with education, religion, drugs, money and etc. These things can be considered blinders because they are used to control and manipulate.
Another textual example seen in the book was in chapter 7, while the narrator was on a bus to New York, and he encounters a veteran who tells him to become invisible to the white man and hide himself. This is still very relevant today because in today’s society police shootings are still a problem we encounter today. We are told to basically told become invisible and change things about our selves to become less likely to be a target. Such as not wearing hoods. Although this is supposed to be a method to help, in the end their is one factor that we can not change is our skin color. No matter how we much change our apparel, how we walk, and how we talk. We can cannot change the pigmentation in our skin.
In conclusion we thank you for your literary masterpiece, that was way ahead of its time and helped project what would be awaiting us even in the future.
Sincerely,
Caitlyn Rackley
“A classic is a book that has never finished” - Italo Calvino. When reading this quote it reminds me of how your book ( Invisible Man) was far ahead of its time. It addressed issues that although were occurring during the era you wrote the story, would still be very prevalent in today’s society. A textual example of this could be found in the Royal Rumble scene of your book, where all the blacks were blind folded and forced to fight to the death. This scene is relevant in today’s society because although in the story their eyes were closed physically, they were also closed metaphorically by the blind fold put on by whites. Such as with education, religion, drugs, money and etc. These things can be considered blinders because they are used to control and manipulate.
Another textual example seen in the book was in chapter 7, while the narrator was on a bus to New York, and he encounters a veteran who tells him to become invisible to the white man and hide himself. This is still very relevant today because in today’s society police shootings are still a problem we encounter today. We are told to basically told become invisible and change things about our selves to become less likely to be a target. Such as not wearing hoods. Although this is supposed to be a method to help, in the end their is one factor that we can not change is our skin color. No matter how we much change our apparel, how we walk, and how we talk. We can cannot change the pigmentation in our skin.
In conclusion we thank you for your literary masterpiece, that was way ahead of its time and helped project what would be awaiting us even in the future.
Sincerely,
Caitlyn Rackley
Comments
Post a Comment