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Invisible Man Study Guide

by Ralph Ellison

Invisible Man study guide contains a biography of Ralph Ellison, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

The novel opens with a Prologue describing the depressed state of the narrator, who remains nameless throughout the novel. He is an invisible man, he proclaims, and has taken to living unknown underground, sucking electricity from the state of New York into his many light bulbs that he has hung in his lair. The novel is to be the story of how he came to be in this position.

As a young boy, the narrator overhears the last words of his dying grandfather, whose message lingers with him through high school. He is struck with this idea when he is asked to give his college oration to the town's most honored white men. At the fancy ballroom where he attends the occasion, he is ushered into the battle royal with the other boys hired for the…

Read the full Invisible Man Summary

• Invisible Man Summary
• About Invisible Man
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis of Prologue and Chapters 1-2
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 3-5
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 6-8
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 9-11
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 12-14
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 15-17
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 18-20
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 21-23
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 24-25 and Epilogue
• Related Links on Invisible Man
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 1
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 2
• Author of ClassicNote and Sources

• Invisible Man: Essays
• Invisible Man: Questions
• Invisible Man: Purchase the Novel and Related Material
• Ralph Ellison: Biography