Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison, both African American authors active in the mid-20th century, took on the challenge of exploring and exposing the adversities that African Americans faced address through their writing. They brought to light the problems of discrimination and the negative effects that racism was having not only on African Americans but on society as a whole. Wright and Ellison, in their respective novels Native Son and Invisible Man, describe African American protagonists who are limited by racism and struggle to develop their own identity in the early 20th century, resulting in unwanted identities and, occasionally, a lack of identity itself. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Both Wright and Ellison had similar encounters with racism that had a big impact on their writing. They were both natives of the Southern United States and moved north to urban areas. Wright moved first from Mississippi to Memphis, then to Chicago, and later to New York where he met Ellison, who had moved from Oklahoma ("Richard Wright"). When they met in New York, Wright served as a mentor to Ellison and helped him grow as a writer (“Ralph Ellison” 1516). Wright's influence on Ellison is evident through the similarities in their writing styles and content. They both reflect on their personal experiences with discrimination in their novels, and many details in their novels are woven together from their own encounters. For example, Ellison's unnamed narrator in Invisible Man even mirrors his migration from the South to New York City. By drawing on their own experiences, Wright and Ellison are able to make their writing come alive because such autobiographical techniques add depth, detail, and vibrancy. The novels' settings create a restrictive environment for black protagonists. Although Native Son is set in the relatively northern city of Chicago, Bigger Thomas still experiences repressive discrimination because he is black and perceived as inferior. Even though he lives in a place where race relations are better than those in the South, white supremacy and division are rampant. African Americans in the novel were forced to live in the Black Belt, a neighborhood reserved for African Americans: “The car sped through the Black Belt, passing tall buildings that housed black life” (Wright 70). African Americans could live in the same city as whites, but they were not equal and still had to live in separate areas and neighborhoods. Similarly, in Invisible Man, the unnamed narrator experiences racism even after moving up north to New York. He is initially surprised by all the freedoms of African Americans when he first arrives in Harlem; his treatment here is very different from how he was treated at his black university in the South. He is in awe: “Then at the intersection I had the shock of seeing a black policeman directing traffic – and there were white drivers in the traffic obeying his signals as if it were the most natural thing in the world” (Ellison 159). The simple scene shows such a contrast to what the South must be like as he is so shocked by what he sees, and gives the reader an idea of ​​the conditions of the South. This opening scene of the unnamed narrator describing Harlem makes it seem like a great place full of freedom and equality for African Americans; in reality, it ends up being just as oppressive, because white people continue to control his life through their power and influence. Although physical location influences the restrictions of black protagonists in both novels, the period oftime plays the biggest role because of how race relations were in the first half of the 20th century. No matter where the African American characters go, they would experience racism and discrimination because of how widespread it was at the time. As already mentioned, the setting traps the black protagonist in a limiting environment, which strongly contributes to the theme of the individual in a restricted society. This theme manifests itself in both novels as the racism that the protagonists are constantly subjected to traps them in an internal struggle for identity. The setting, especially the time period of the novels, lays the foundation for the restrictive society, but it is the vivid depictions of racism used by both authors that paint the picture of a restrictive society. The racism that the protagonists face isolates them from other people and essentially from society because they are divided from the white characters. As a result of division and discrimination, they are denied equal opportunities, further isolating them and furthering their individual identity struggles. Racism is a prominent feature in both novels that continually serves to raise internal conflicts for the black protagonists because it limits them. leaving them without identity. The restrictive society turns Bigger Thomas into a life of crime in search of an identity; reflects the racism and discrimination he feels against whites: “To Bigger and his Gentiles, whites weren't really people; they were some kind of great natural force, like a stormy sky looming above us, or like a deep, swirling river suddenly stretching out at our feet” (Wright 114). He expresses that white people aren't even human, just as white people thought he and other African Americans weren't even human. Wright reinforces this idea through a simile that compares white people to an ambiguous natural power. This "natural force" is what limits Bigger and makes him feel like he has no choice but to commit a crime as both a way to find an identity and to overcome white power by breaking the rules established in their restrictive society. Similarly, Ellison shows how the unnamed narrator was trapped by society because he was always told who he was, mostly by white people in power, and could never figure it out for himself: “All my life I've been looking for something, and Everywhere I turned someone was trying to tell me what it was about. I accepted their answers too…I searched for myself and asked everyone but myself questions that I, and only I, could answer” (Ellison 15). Reflecting on his life, the unnamed narrator discovers how he was so trapped by society and the only way he could free himself was to declare himself an invisible man. His only escape from the shackles of society was to retreat underground. Wright and Ellison show how white power oppresses its black protagonists, primarily through striking depictions of racism. Wright and Ellison both use color images wherever possible in their novels as a way to describe and identify people; consequently, white society attempts to impose identities on the protagonists chosen based on the color of their skin. Wright uses color to describe everyone in the novel, even the most insignificant and irrelevant characters that appear. Furthermore, apply the same tactic not only to people but also to objects. For example, a description of a young girl includes, “She looked like a doll in a shop window: black eyes, white face, red lips” (Wright 62). In fact, in a simple simile depicting a doll Wright used three different color words. In this way Wright emphasizes the meaning of color by repeating itin the descriptions of everything; indeed, he develops color as an important symbol throughout the novel. Through the manifestation of color he represents the division of America at the time and is able to emphasize the intolerance of whites. Wright's constant repetition and emphasis on color mirror the biased and intolerant view of white people. By weaving all the colors together, Wright develops color images; however, it is ironic how it places it with such an emphasis on color through repeated imagery, it fails to paint a colorful world. Establishes a two-tone black and white world; furthermore, he only rarely includes colors other than black or white in his descriptions (Faulkner 3592). The emphasis on color images helps the reader understand how Bigger felt trapped and lost his identity in the looming sea of ​​color that seemed to control his life. Ellison also develops a strong model of color imagery in Invisible Man, but in a different way. While Wright rubs it in the reader's face by making sure to use color diction in almost every sentence, Ellison uses it in a more subtle but equally effective way by employing color imagery but often more for symbolic purposes. For example, when the unnamed narrator mixes paints in the paint factory, he only works with white paint because it is the most important to the company, “'White! It is the purest white you can find. Nobody makes paint whiter. This lot here is heading towards a national monument!'” (Ellison 202). His boss shows such enthusiasm for the white paint by repeating the word "white" three times, which he follows by showing its prestige as it will be used for a national monument. This emphasis is intended to reflect and be symbolic of white prestige. Ellison is trying to convey that just as white paint is superior to all other paints, white people are superior to all other people. He furthers his point in this scene when the unnamed narrator mixes the paint badly: “The paint wasn't as white and shiny as before; it had a gray tinge” (Ellison 203). Even the slightest imperfection in the paint that makes it no more than the purest white causes this reaction from his boss: "'What the hell, are you trying to sabotage the company?'" (203-204). This is significant because it shows that anything other than the purest white is not good and is unworthy. The smallest deviation from the color white in a paint batch was capable of hyperbolically sabotaging the entire paint company. Ellison translates this idea into how white people felt about people of color at the time and how even the slightest trace of color in someone makes them inferior. Ellison carefully develops color imagery in Invisible Man through the repetition of color diction with underlying messages. Color images are an effective tool for emphasizing race relations as issues surrounding racism and discrimination revolved around something as seemingly trivial as the color of someone's skin. It's a blatant way of showing the power of race in changing the protagonists' identities. Wright and Ellison also use a light and dark motif to emphasize racial tensions in Native Son and Invisible Man. In Native Son, Wright uses snow as a recurring symbol throughout the novel. Snow begins to fall once Bigger kills Mary and burns her body, and it is often at night when falling snow is mentioned. Wright creates an image of light, white flakes mingling, and juxtaposes it against the dark, night sky: "Around him was silence, night, and snow falling, falling as if it had been falling since the beginning of time and should it always fall to the end." of the world” (Wright 184). This shows the interactionbetween light and dark, black and white. White overcomes all the darkness of the novel, covering the city and burying Bigger as he tries to evade the authorities. In the end, it's candor that wins when the snow finally stops falling once Bigger is arrested. Wright is trying to point out that light is an obstacle to darkness; just as white people in society are obstacles to black people. Ellison presents the motif of light and darkness in another interesting way through his unseen and unnamed narrator. Instead of losing himself in the darkness that white society has cast him into, the narrator embraces the light to confirm his invisibility, which is the identity he has sought for his entire life: “Now I can see the darkness of light. And I love the light. Perhaps it will seem strange to you that an invisible man needs light, desires light, loves light. But maybe that's because I'm invisible. The light confirms my reality, gives birth to my form” (Ellison 6). He learned to embrace the light, which represents white society, to create his own identity of invisibility. Instead of trying to overcome the light with his own darkness, he vanished into the light so that his new identity of invisibility could be confirmed: “Without light I am not only invisible, but also formless” (Ellison 7). Even though he managed to acquire an identity by his own means, he was still driven by the force of light. Ellison does this to show that the nameless narrator's struggle for identity was able to end by not only embracing his darkness but also the light to secure an identity. The light and dark motif used by Wright and Ellison accentuates the power struggle between African Americans and white society. Wright and Ellison also investigate the implications of racism in their novels by introducing characters in contrast to the black protagonists. These authors use white characters to create contrasts that are the exact opposites of Bigger and the unnamed narrator. They do this to create a clear juxtaposition between the characters to mirror the divide in society in the early 20th century. Wright develops, for example, a contrast between Bigger Thomas and Mary Dalton. There are obvious differences such as race, gender and wealth. Furthermore, Mary is oblivious and shows little knowledge of blacks. Although he tries to befriend Bigger, it is abusive because he does not take his feelings or desires into account; she is unable to relate to black people because of the way society has conditioned her to view them. She is a symbol and her ignorance represents the ignorance of white people in the early 20th century (Bradley 2018). Similarly, Mr. Norton in The Invisible Man tries to befriend the unnamed narrator and pretends to understand his situation. While it seems like a nice gesture, it actually offends the unnamed narrator because it comes across as condescending and insensitive to his situation. Mr. Norton doesn't realize that he doesn't want his pity; he just wants his own freedom and equality. Mary and Mr. Norton's unwitting ignorance that confronts Bigger and the unnamed narrator's uncomfortable and offended responses lead to a conflict that highlights society's underlying racism. In Native Son, Wright constantly uses animal similes to construct and show the racism of society. Wright often compares the novel's African-American characters to animals through the use of similes; furthermore, this works to dehumanize black people by portraying them as subhuman. The comparison is simple but effective because it is repeated so frequently throughout the novel; furthermore, it is powerful because it brings to readers' attention the main idea that white Americans think less of African Americans, which is the source and driver of racism, segregation, and discriminatory acts. Toexample, one viewer describes Bigger: "'He looks exactly like a monkey!' exclaimed a terrified young white girl watching the black huntress” (Wright 279). In this simile, comparing Bigger to an ape, he becomes less human because of the association with an animal. Specifically, he makes a comparison to a primitive ancestor of the human species, which makes him seem like an underdeveloped human being. This reinforces the idea of ​​white supremacy as this exact similarity and others like it are repeated several times in the novel. It burns in Bigger's mind the idea that he is indeed inferior to white people who they attack him verbally. Wright is able to highlight racism through his use of literary characteristics. While Wright focuses on animal similes to emphasize racism, Ellison develops the symbolism of the Sambo doll made of paper and appear in the novel when they are sold on the street. Clifton, the man who sells them, is making them dance like puppets, "A smiling doll of orange and black tissue paper... which some mysterious mechanism was making move on and down loosely, trembling with the shoulders, exasperatingly sensual." movement, a dance completely detached from the black face, like a mask" (Ellison 431). Ellison uses the Sambo dolls as a symbol for African Americans, and the strings that make the dolls dance and move are representative of white society, which has a hold and control over African Americans at the time (Jarenski). This showcases the situation of the individual limited by society because it takes it to such an extreme level as the puppeteer has sole control; all movements are controlled and limited by the person in charge. This adds to the idea that African Americans are oppressed by whites. The racist environments created by Wright and Ellison have a negative impact on their black protagonists. The segregation and persistent discrimination they are surrounded by oppresses them. They are kept at bay by racist society and do not have the same opportunities. For example, Bigger acknowledges his unequal opportunities because of his race: “'I could fly a plane if I had the chance,' Bigger said. 'If you weren't black and if you had a little money and if they let you go to that aviation school, you could fly a plane,' Gus said” (Wright 17). This shows how racist society oppresses not only Bigger, but all African Americans due to their lowered social position due to their race. The unnamed narrator of Invisible Man also finds himself in similar situations. For example, throughout the novel his various jobs include serving white men as their chauffeur and being restricted from higher-level office jobs and forced to take a job at a paint factory. His opportunities are limited. Due to the racism and discrimination that black protagonists are constantly affected by due to their environment, they become oppressed and have little to no freedom or equality. As a result of these feelings of oppression, a common theme of fear arises in both Native Son and the Invisible Man. Indeed, fear begins to consume the lives of oppressed black protagonists. Wright describes the fear and oppression of African Americans: “They hate because they are afraid, and they fear because they feel that the deepest feelings in their lives are being attacked and outraged. And they don't know why; they are helpless pawns in a blind game of social forces” (Wright 390). Here he shows how their fear is the result of their oppression as their lives are violated by white intervention. They have no say in their own lives and identities. In turn, it is the fear that Bigger felt that drove him to violence to gain an identity. In The Invisible Man, theThe nameless narrator's final realization of his fear is what sets him free to find his identity. He realized that everything he did was a reaction to the fear he felt; controlled his life, “I did not understand in those pre-invisible days that their hatred, and mine, were full of fear” (Ellison 47). However, it is the fear that he constantly felt, which came from his oppression and which has always had a hold on his life. Once he became aware of this, he became himself and freed himself from the identity he had been given. The culmination of the racist environment that oppresses and instills fear in black protagonists lies in the struggle for the development of an individual in a narrow society. an identity. Wright develops this through Bigger, who searches for an identity. He feels lost in a sea of ​​white as he cannot be recognized by any white person in society. In Native Son, Bigger wrestles with the fact that his only identity is black, "It brought him back to that hard, cutting awareness of his color." and feel the shame and fear that came with it, and at the same time he hate for feeling it” (Wright 347). The only recognition he ever received from anyone involved his race, and it's not until he accidentally finds himself involved in criminal activity that he gains notoriety and, along with it, an identity. In his journey as a criminal, he feels freed from the chains he has always been trapped in, “never has his will been so free as in this night and day of fear, murder, and escape” (Wright 239). Although it is not the identity Bigger wanted, he is happy and satisfied because he is finally being noticed by white people; indeed, he is proud that white people pay attention to him: “The newspapers should be full of him now. It didn't seem strange that they were, all his life he had felt like things were happening to him that should have gotten into him. But only after he acted on feelings he had had for years would the newspapers report the story, his story” (222). It is then that Bigger feels he has acquired an identity thanks to being recognized. This recognition from the white community who now fears and hates him gives Bigger the satisfaction of having his own identity. Ellison explores the same search for identity through the unnamed narrator. The protagonist is so devoid of identity that his name is never said. This dissociates him from the reader as well as from himself. The reader follows him on his journey through life where he is always defined by what people tell him and the identity others tell him to assume. When he joins the Brotherhood, he is told, "This is your new identity" (Ellison 309) as he is given a new name and a new person to become and act as. He never had the chance to be himself and claim his identity. His environment kept him down. It was only when he was able to embrace his invisibility and realize his power that he found an identity he felt comfortable with underground: “I will settle underground. The end was in the beginning” (Ellison 571). He was able to find peace and happiness away from all the people who tried to control his life; in fact, they could not reach him underground. Ellison shows the extreme efforts the unnamed narrator had to go through to escape. He highlights how letting go of what society told him and embracing invisibility allowed him to find an identity as an invisible man: “So, after years of trying to adopt the opinions of others, I finally rebelled. I am an invisible man” (573). It is important to recognize how the unnamed narrator has come to the point of finding an identity, and Ellison even goes to such an extreme point when he writes, “I myself, after.