Ralph Ellison

Ralph Ellison was a writer from New York who was best known for his best selling story Invisible Man. He focused his emphasis on African American attitudes during the 1950's. Growing up, his father died and his mother was left to care for Ralph and his brother Herbert. Later in life Ralph picked up playing brass instruments at the Tuskegee institute of Alabama. Ralph moved to New York after school seeking to earn enough income to pay off his school debts. This is when he began to work for The Negro Quarterly and met other aspiring writers like Langston Hughes and Alan Locke who would influence his short stories. Ralph eventually married and enlisted as a cook during World War 2.

His works would address issues of racism and the typical African American Struggle in the United States during the 1950's. His most famous story Invisible Man was almost like a self portrait of a story about an African American civil rights worker who lived in New York and dealt with racism. The main character of the story is only invisible in the sense that nobody is able to see him for who he really is. The antagonist learns to become a writer and is eventually noticed for his incredible public speaking skills. He is approached by a group of prestigious white men who offer to pay him a large sum in the form of a scholarship if he agrees to fight in a boxing tournament. Striving to earn respect and to become visible, he accepts the challenge and discovers that his lack of respect from the world has grown and that he had humiliated himself by agreeing to the challenge in the first place. After risking his own wellbeing for the entertainment of rich men who do nothing but mock him, he scrambles to gather counterfeit coins that the men had thrown onto an electrified carpet as a trick. The character eventually becomes subject to much more manipulation, con artist ploys, and turmoil throughout the rest of the story. His work recognized by African Americans across the country as Ralph Ellison became a renowned writer. After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he died in New York city during 1994. His works have been compiled into collections and autobiographies have been written about him to solidify his legacy. To this day, He is recognized as one of the most influential writers in American literature.