“I am an invisible man. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, of fiber and liquid - and one might even say that I possess a spirit. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me… When they approach me, they only see my surroundings, themselves or the figment of their imagination – in fact, everything and anything what but me” (Ellison 7). Ralph Ellison in Invisible Man strives to show the reader the narrator's struggle in trying to find his identity. From his time at college in the South as a token black student to his time in Harlem as an activist, the narrator is in a constant struggle to discover who he is and differentiate it from the way others others choose to see it. The narrator's struggle in Invisible Man, however, is neither unique nor unusual. Although the novel is fiction, it highlights more broadly how difficult it is for black men to self-identify in America. This shows that in their quest to find their identity, they fall repeatedly, and if they get up again, they don't know what to do or where to go, which makes them want to live in a New York manhole . The unnamed narrator of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man struggles because, like many black men seeking success, he must confront the reinforced psychological and institutional stigmas of black inferiority in an effort to discover their true identity. Because without identity, they will become invisible. The identity crisis of black men has been activated and maintained by American society since the time of slavery. “The peculiar institution of slavery was intended to be a permanent condition for black men; a condition that would set the historical framework for the structural and institutional racism that results...... middle of article ......e cause of the black man's identity crisis. Works Cited Austin, Regina. “Back to Basics: Returning to the Question of Black Inferiority and White Supremacy in the Post-Brown Era.” Journal of Appellate Practice and Process 6.1 (2004): 79+. General OneFile. Internet. April 24, 2011. Ellison, Ralph. The invisible man. New York: Signet Classics, 1947. PrintingNedhari, Aza. 2009. “In Search of Manhood: The Black Man's Struggle for Identity and Power.” » Student Pulse Academic Journal 1.11. Retrieved from: http://www.studentpulse.com/a?id=32Smith, Vern E. "'My duty is to report evil and evil.'" Newsweek October 30, 1995: 36.General OneFile. Internet. April 23, 2011. Walker, Juliet EK “Racism, Slavery, and Free Enterprise: Black Entrepreneurship in the United States Before the Civil War.” Business History Review 60 (1986): 343+. General OneFile. Internet. April 23. 2011.