American Studies - Migrations of identity in African American literature.

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English 278:

American Studies: Migrations of Identity in African American Literature

Carla Le Riche Malan

13763814

Professor Johnson

1 November 2002 

Sound, symbolism and connotations of names used for the titles of the novels, “Invisible Man” and “Song of Solomon”, characters and places, provides the reader with clues pertaining to the authors’ chosen themes. Names may be directly, symbolically related to function as in Ralph Ellison’s, “Invisible Man” by means of sound and connotation or deliberately misleading through inversion, as portrayed by Toni Morrison’s use of Biblical inversions in “Song of Solomon”. The incorporation of names that hold strong connotations in both the novels complicates the tapestry of explicit symbols and themes, as well as enriching mood and frame of reference. Both authors’ incorporation of naming as a stylistic device is done alongside recurring structures, contrasts and other literary devices that help develop theme and mood.

Ralph Ellison’s title, “Invisible Man” and nameless protagonist, to which it refers, are used as a foreshadowing device of what it means to be invisible. Meaning is ascertained through the protagonist’s character, experiences and emotions related to his “invisibility” and his perception of what it means to be invisible and without a fixed identity. The narrator points out that the fault lies in the beholder and is “A matter of the construction of the inner eyes, those eyes through which they look through their physical eyes upon reality.” (Ellison: 7). In the narrator’s description of what makes a man invisible, he indirectly refers to certain characters such as Reverend Barbee and Brother Jack, who are portrayed in the novel in connection with blindness, real or imagined, and how this will be a commentary on their inner eye more than a physical illustration. Personality and disposition related to naming of characters, plays an important role in both novels. The “invisible man” comes into contact with other characters and places, where naming is of significance, such as The Golden Day, Brockway, Rinehart and Jim Trueblood.

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Jim Trueblood’s name is of significance within the broader theme of the novel by means of which it implies that he is “true to his blood” and existence. In the scene in which the narrator meets Trueblood with Mr Norton, it becomes evident that Trueblood’s incest has become set up by the white community as a stereotype to represent a false reality of how blacks should be seen, the message portrayed that one disgrace to a community brings the entire race down. The naming of the Liberty Paints Plant where the narrator works for a while further extends the ...

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