Many literary pieces, often offer the thoughtful reader lessons to retain and apply throughout their own lives. In Invisible Man by Ralph Waldo Ellison, racism and the struggle for racial equality are examined throughout the course of the novel. The narrator attempts to define himself and his true identity, yet time and again finds himself being limited by racial prejudice from the people around him. The brotherhood, the job at the Liberty Paints Plant, and …showed first 75 words of 932 total…

…showed last 75 words of 932 total…naive. I was looking for myself and asking everybody except myself the questions which I, and only I, could answer...I am nobody but myself." (Pg. 15) The Invisible Man realizes that only he himself has the true answer to who he is and that no other person can define it for him. His grandfather, Bledsoe, Liberty Paints, and the Brotherhood all have their own beliefs, yet the Invisible Man is only himself, and nothing more.