namesake) to utilize the concept of double consciousness as a tactic of the narrator in Invisible W.E.B Dubois has suggested that is a way of thinking about oneself Man. double consciousness that is specific to African-Americans. My argument is that humor is the main way that the narrator employs double consciousness in the novel. As he learns to see the cruelty of the people in control of his fate, he learns also to look at it from a and laugh at stranger’s perspective, himself. Thus the concept of humor is itself an act of double-consciousness. Also, important is that invisible man is . . . an as comedy is merely a Smith’s claim “Ellison’s artist” (Smith191), stylistic quality of the The response to violence in the novel, is as narrator’s tone. narrator’s much an artistic approach as it is comedic. Another important critic in this first chapter is Jean-Christophe Cloutier and his analysis of as a I agree that comic books probably influenced Invisible Man “Comic Book World.” While the form and identity-related questions in the novel, Cloutier misses the point of how the protagonist of rises above the violence and hostility that he sees in Harlem, which Invisible Man is through comedic art. Cloutier begins to approach this conclusion when he suggests that “the young Invisible Man overcomes his disillusionment when he understands that the answer to Negro leadership lies in individual but most important is the form power,” (Cloutier 301), what’s of which this power takes place—words on a page. This is significantly different from the kind of universe Cloutier seems to be invoking in his essay, which is one of violence and vigilantism. The second chapter will compare use of humor to what classical philosophy has Ellison’s to say on the subject. Typically, there are three motivational theories of humor which describe its use: the relief, superiority, and incongruity theory. Each will be mentioned in relation to the novel as it will be important to maintain that the three theories are often considered separately (Perks 121). I separate the comedic episodes of the novel into four categories: blatant or outright
namesake) to utilize the concept of double consciousness as a tactic of the narrator in Invisible Man. W.E.B Dubois has suggested that double consciousness is a way of thinking about oneself that is specific to African-Americans. My argument is that humor is the main way that the narrator employs double consciousness in the novel. As he learns to see the cruelty of the people in control of his fate, he learns also to look at it from a stranger’s perspective, and laugh at himself. Thus the concept of humor is itself an act of double-consciousness. Also, important is Smith’s claim that “Ellison’s invisible man is . . . an artist” (Smith191), as comedy is merely a stylistic quality of the narrator’s tone. The narrator’s response to violence in the novel, is as much an artistic approach as it is comedic. Another important critic in this first chapter is Jean-Christophe Cloutier and his analysis of Invisible Man as a “Comic Book World.” While I agree that comic books probably influenced the form and identity-related questions in the novel, Cloutier misses the point of how the protagonist of Invisible Man rises above the violence and hostility that he sees in Harlem, which is through comedic art. Cloutier begins to approach this conclusion when he suggests that “the young Invisible Man overcomes his disillusionment when he understands that the answer to Negro leadership lies in individual power,” (Cloutier 301), but what’s most important is the form of which this power takes place—words on a page. This is significantly different from the kind of universe Cloutier seems to be invoking in his essay, which is one of violence and vigilantism. The second chapter will compare Ellison’s use of humor to what classical philosophy has to say on the subject. Typically, there are three motivational theories of humor which describe its use: the relief, superiority, and incongruity theory. Each will be mentioned in relation to the novel as it will be important to maintain that the three theories are often considered separately (Perks 121). I separate the comedic episodes of the novel into four categories: blatant or outright
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