Introduction With the publication of his novel Invisible Man in 1952 Ralph Ellison certainly had his masterpiece. ... According to Ellison the struggling initiation of the main character should be seen as parallelism for the development of the black race - or even further: for all individuals - within the American society (cf. ... The yet unsophisticated acceptation of these values by the young man can also be seen in the close relation of his speech at the smoker in chapter one to Washington's Atlanta Exposition Address, which Ellison in parts copied literally. ... That black identity is...

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