Literary and Philosophical Influences in Invisible Man Flashcards
What is the philosophical framework underlying Invisible Man?
Existentialism.
Who is the key philosopher associated with existentialism in the essay?
John Paul Sartre.
What is a key element of Sartre’s existentialist philosophy?
The search for meaning in an absurd world and the individual’s responsibility to define their own essence.
Which novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky influences Ellison’s Invisible Man?
Notes from the Underground.
How does the unnamed narrator in Invisible Man relate to Dostoevsky’s protagonist?
Both retreat to isolation, symbolizing resistance and self-reflection.
Which literary movement does Ellison draw upon in addition to existentialism?
Literary naturalism.
Which writer is associated with naturalism and influences Ellison’s work?
Richard Wright.
What key themes in Wright’s works influence Invisible Man?
Deterministic forces of race, class, and environment.
How does Ellison’s approach differ from Wright’s in terms of human agency?
Ellison suggests the possibility of individual agency and transcendence, while Wright’s work focuses more on rigid determinism.
What is the concept of double consciousness, and who developed it?
The internal conflict experienced by African Americans navigating their dual identities, developed by W. E. B. Du Bois.
How does the protagonist of Invisible Man experience double consciousness?
He oscillates between invisibility and hypervisibility, grappling with societal stereotypes.
Which of James Weldon Johnson’s works also explores themes of racial identity?
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man.
What modernist work influences Ellison’s Invisible Man, particularly in its fragmented structure?
T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land.
How does The Waste Land connect to the themes of Invisible Man?
Both works depict spiritual desolation, disconnection, and use fragmented, symbolic structures.
What storytelling technique, associated with Ernest Hemingway, does Ellison employ in Invisible Man?
The iceberg theory, which emphasizes subtext and economy in storytelling.
