Anticipating Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

1. In the photograph “After ‘Invisible Man’ by Ralph Ellison, We see what seems to be an African American male in a small room surrounded by lots of light bulbs and his belongings. In the description of the picture, it talks about the place being a basement and that the man was surrounded by 1,369 light bulbs powered by stolen electricity. This reminds me of the story of Anne Frank that was written during the holocaust. Like Anne Frank, the African American male is isolated from the rest of the world in his crowded basement. The electricity is stolen so it can be implied that he does not have a job or he cannot afford to pay for having light in his basement. Everything is in one room. The room is messy, however, it is like that from the lack of space. The light bulbs on the ceiling are very decorative. Although most of the light bulbs look like they are not working, the room is still luminous. The man looks sad. He is just sitting in a chair looking down.

2. The tone of the song is very pensive and gloomy. The jazz music in the background reminds me of something you could hear in a cartoon, however, when the singer begins singing the song begins to become gloomy. The lyric to the song reflects the image of the song because the male in the picture looks very pensive and stressed. He is all alone surrounded by his belongings. If you play the song while looking at the picture, you can connect the two together. As I was taught in United States history, people of color were restrained from having the same equal opportunities as a white person was given.   The song was written in the late 1920’s while the image was created in the 1950’s meaning that discrimination and racism was still a big issue. As stated in the lyrics, it says, “My only sin…is in my skin What did I do…to be so black and blue.” the message it was trying to portray is that they (African Americans) are being discriminated based on the color of the skin. Of course, they will most likely be upset because they cannot choose what the color of their skin will be.

 3. I believe that there is no useless person in this world. Everyone has a purpose in life, some people just know how to better express their self better than others. I am convinced that I do exist in the real world and that I am a part of the sound and anguish, however, the time hasn’t come yet for me to show myself. For me personally, I am a very quiet and not talkative. I’m more of an observer. When I have a strong opinion about something I do express it. I do believe that if you strongly oppose something that you should stand up for it no matter how many people are for or against your opinion. If people do feel like they are being hidden they shouldn't stay quite. They should voice out their opinion.