African-American Literature

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the African-American experience as it is expressed in the work of several notable writers. The author states that the works of black writers reflect aspects of American life and the development of American society over time. Several works are discussed that highlight various themes in African-American life, such as slavery and discrimination. The paper concludes by stating that the black experience is as American as any other and complements the experience of the majority society in many respects even as it extends it to new areas.

From the Paper:

"Ralph Ellison is a black man and approaches the world from that perspective, finding a way to express how society treats the black man through the character of the Invisible Man, a persona that enables him to hide even when in a crowd. For Ellison, blackness has been made by society into the defining characteristic of his existence. In a sense, he adopts the point of view of the white by making himself invisible. He is treated as if he were invisible, and he finds the benefit in that stat and uses it to his advantage in commenting on whit society. The main character in The Invisible Man is invisible only in a metaphorical sense, so that he seems invisible both to himself and to others. The hero of this novel is a black man who is invisible in white society because he is black. He is invisible in black society because of the way he takes on various roles expected of him by white society, though he recognizes how demeaning and false many of those roles are. He is invisible to himself because he has adopted certain roles and so cannot allow himself to exist as a real person with his own point of view. The existence of such a character is a devastating indictment of the dehumanization process in American society based on racial discrimination."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Bantam Books, 1970.
• Chesnutt, Charles W. The Marrow of Tradition. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1969.
• Ellison, Ralph. The Invisible Man. New York: vintage Books, 1989.
• Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Perennial Classic, 1990.
• Larsen, Nella. Passing. New York: Modern Library, 2000.

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