by Ralph Ellison

Reviewed by Phil Nicolosi

As history teachers, we encourage students to consult a wide variety of sources in order to discern fact from fiction and to examine differing historical perspectives. The astute history student might question whether literature is a valid historical source. One answer to such a question is that literature provides critical insight into history. A novel’s story line allows students to develop empathy for characters with different perspectives and material circumstances. Using fiction in history class can provide context and engage students on a personal level in a way that traditional textbooks cannot. Having students analyze a novel as they would a primary source document– Asking questions about the author, major events occurring around the time the novel was written, and the book’s intended audience will surely give students a new outlook on the natural relationship between history and literature and can be a useful classroom endeavor.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is an excellent example of a piece of literature that can enrich a history classroom discussion. Published in the early 1950s, Ellison sets his story in the 1930s and takes his character on a journey from the South to Harlem.

Combining biting social commentary with keen political insight, Invisible Man underscores the importance of literature in history. Students can use their understanding of historical events, such as the Great Migration and the Great Depression, and the role of individuals in history to better understand the motivations of Ellison’s nameless narrator and other characters. Conversely, a close reading of the story enables students to personalize the historical significance of African Americans’ status in 1930s America. In an introduction written thirty years after the novel’s original publication, Ellison reveals how Invisible Man came to be – a history lesson in itself. What makes Ellison’s introduction extraordinarily valuable to students is that it is a personally reflective piece. It is a subjective rather than an objective analysis, with Ellison, who was a college student in the 1930s in the south and later moved to Harlem, revealing the autobiographical origins of his novel.

Ellison praises literature’s function as a game of “as if,” which he claims can be a voice for effecting social change. We frequently caution our students to avoid that game when dealing with historical documents. However, using fiction can give students a clearer understanding of our societal ideals (liberty, democracy, and equality) highlighted in historical documents like the Gettysburg Address or the Declaration of Independence.

Invisible Man deals directly and powerfully with the issues of race relations and civil rights and the student is introduced to a variety of black experiences from the central character’s response to the music of Louis Armstrong to his negotiation of the Jim Crow laws of the Southern states. Ellison gives due diligence to inter- and intra-racial tensions in his comparison between educated and uneducated whites and blacks, and in his account of conflicts in both rural and urban life in the 1930s. While Ellison acknowledges that the characters are fictitious, many of the people and events represent an amalgam of real personalities and events.

Invisible Man offers a number of interesting classroom activities. Students could read the speech by the Reverend Barbee and compare it to a speech by Booker T. Washington. Or, students could be asked to analyze the speeches and actions of Ras the Exhorter and compare them to the writing and actions of Marcus Garvey. Students could also be asked to read essays or speeches by W.E.B. Du Bois in order to gain a richer understanding of the various race-based philosophies prevalent at the time the novel takes place.

A comparison of the race riot at the end of the book and the actual Harlem riot of 1943 demonstrates the way that literature can dramatize and amplify real life events. As an extension activity, students could be asked to research the Newark or Watts riots and identifying causal factors similar to the riot created by Ellison’s imagination and the historical riot of 1943. Because Ellison’s portrayal of the “Brotherhood” is based upon the American Communist Party, students could be asked to examine how the Party recruited and used black intellectuals as natural allies to further their cause. Relating their findings to the character’s experience in the story or comparing sources on racial attitudes in the north and south could provide students an opportunity to judge if Ellison’s portrayals are exaggerated drama or hidden social commentary.

While literature cannot replace traditional sources used in history classrooms, it certainly can provide a window into the author’s mind and historical era. Novels can be analyzed the same way we analyze our documents. Just as many history teachers use Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin to teach the Antebellum Period, good literature can be used to accentuate any topic in our curriculum. Simply put, history dictates literature, and literature dictates history. Ellison’s work certainly highlights this point.

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