Who Is The Invisible Man?

In the Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, Ellison purposely never gave the name of the name of the Narrator; although other characters in the book gave nicknames of the sort, his true identity was never revealed.

It was obvious that Ellison had model several situations after other important African Americans that had been involved in activism during that time period, but Ellison never gave the character a name. When the Narrator joined the Brotherhood he was given a name, but it was more like a how when a Masters renamed newly purchased slaves as a form of ownership.

Ellison never gave the narrator a name, possibly because he never had a true identity of his own, because he was always seen as he was. Whites only saw him as a "Nigger", blacks only saw him as "Opportunity": so he was only seen as his skin in both situations. Whites judged him before hand because of the color of his skin, and Blacks only seen him as an opportunity to assist in their plan of fighting back against the "White Man."

Ellison made sure that never stated the narrator's name because in every situation he entered he was never seen as who he was: black man. A black man that wanted to better himself by getting an education. A black man that wanted to step outside his comfort zone and view another life other than being known as a "Southern Nigger." 

The narrator name never mattered because he was never going to be called

by it; only by "brother" and "nigger".