In the short story "I Never Learned Their Names" has many layers, and multiple meanings to people in different situations. This Ellison story relates to his "childhood, and his early examples of his lifelong fascination with American identity." As I read the story I was confused about the exact underlying meanings. This is because I hadn't looked into the story as it related to his early life. However when read again I began to see three main underlying meanings. The Underlying meanings are the personal issues that Ellison dealt with in his life, the journeys that Ellison took and cultures society in which he was living in.
The first underlying meaning that I came across in the story "I Never Learned Their Names" was the personal issues that Ellison dealt with in his life. The main two issues that I saw Ellison dealing with was that he was a black man when racism was a major part of the life style, and also his problem that he had with money. .
Ralph being a black person was the first personal issue that I noticed. In the second paragraph of this story he writes that his buddy "got quite a kick out of having a Negro for a buddy. Why should it matter if somebody has a black friend, white friend, or a cream colored friend? A friend is a friend and you shouldn't get a kick out of the color of there skin, but the personality in which they have. However, when Ellison was traveling it didn't matter and Morrie had a lot of courage to be friends with Ellison. .
The second personal issue that I felt that Ellison had to deal with was his lack of money, which also derives from his childhood. His mother passed away and he and his brother were left with little money. In the story he has been traveling around trying to find work, so that he could get money to get an education. He had been many places and was on his way to Alabama hoping to find work. He and his friend Morrie got food from people on the train rides, and got picked up hitchhiking by people driving by.