Summary:
The Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, is one of those types of books. Invisible man`s content includes violence, racial discrimination, sexual material, and vulgar language. This content was grounds for banning the book in the U.S.
To Ban or not to Ban"
There have been many books in the history of man. Some have been excellent, some have been horrible, and some have been inappropriate. In response to some books' obscene material, the books have been banned from schools and other institutions. A controversial book named Invisible man, by Ralph Ellison, is one of those types of books. Invisible man's content includes violence, racial discrimination, sexual material, and vulgar language. This content was grounds for banning the book in the U.S.
Ralph Ellison was a great American author, one of the most influential black American writers of the 1900's. Ralph Waldo Ellison was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and became well learned at Tuskegee Institute. His best-known book, Invisible Man, reveals the truth that American society willfully ignores African Americans. The novel is the about an unnamed young black man's journey that sets out to search for his place in the world. Ellison uses the vocabulary of a learned man, to portray the extravagant experiences of the main character. The novel was one of first books to openly state and describe the racial problems in the United States from a black American's point of view. It received the National Book Award for fiction in 1953 (Encarta 1 of 1).
The setting of invisible man was in the 1950's in the United States. The 1950's the world was recovering from WWII. The world was coming together to repair itself and become prosperous again. Although most of the world began to thrive again, the black community in the United States was still being discriminated against. But the blacks began to take action and take a stand on their place in society. The NAACP fought for them but they did receive equality until the around 1980's.So in the 1950's there was still heavy segregation and discrimination against blacks.
The book is too feverish and hysterical, and Ellison overwhelms the reader. The book could possibly be true throughout the entire story except one part, when the Harlem Stalinist tells the narrator, "You were not hired to think," (Howe 1 of 2). Although Invisible Man has many faults of Invisible Man do not destroy it because Ellison has an abundance of that primary. His scenes rise and drop with tension, his people hurt, his language stings. No other writer has captured so much of the confusion and agony, the hidden sadness and of the black person's life at the time. His ear for black speech is magnificent: a share-cropper calmly describing how he seduced his own daughter, a Harlem street-vender spinning jive. The observation is expert: Ellison knows the exact way zoot-suiters walk, making stylization their principle of life, and exactly how the hostility between American and West Indian Negroes works itself out in speech and comedy (Howe 2 of 2).
Invisible man is definitely a disputable book, which most likely caused many problems in the 1950's. In Invisible man there was extreme violence shown. The first chapter is called the "battle royal" because white men pay for a few 'Negro' young men to fight for their entertainment. At the same scene, a white, nude striper taunts them. After the staged fight they are brought to a mat with money on top of it. When the young men lung for the money they discover that the mat is wired with electricity and then the whites attempt to press their faces pressed to the mat. This violence and sexuality along with the vulgar language probably show why many parents would prefer for their children not to read this book. The author tells extreme detail, i.e. the battle royal, speaks of disturbing things, i.e. the incest that the farmer had with his daughter and the lust the white donor had for his deceased daughter. The book shows the face of evil of society that may be looked down upon by some. Overall the book had good content, but maybe went a little too far with detail and the extreme truths.
In conclusion, this book should not be banned from high schools. It has obscene material but all high school students need to be prepared for the truth of the real world. So this book is acceptable for the general public to read.
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