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Stereotypes In The Invisible Man Essay

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In Ralph Ellison’s novel, The Invisible Man, he exemplifies that by resisting stereotypes, he further confirms that in the process of rejecting stereotypes people ultimately conform to them when they use violent resistance. This furthers our understanding of the character development of Chief Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in which he conforms to to society’s expectations of Native Americans by claiming he is deaf and unable to speak as he later challenges their views with violence. Society labels people and if someone can not fit into their given category, they will live up to the stereotype by defending themselves, leaving society to acknowledge their existence. The world judges people based on class, race, and gender and this can be clearly shown in The Invisible …show more content…

The mirror is what society sees and it has the power to see whatever it wants. Society’s expectations for people stem from “a matter of the the construction of their inner eyes, those eyes with which they look through their physical eyes upon reality” (3 Ellsion). The “inner eyes” represent consciousness and what they really feel about class, race, and gender. These eyes categorize people into different groups, which cause them to have separate expectation for each group of people. If the person that they see lives up to their expectation in a passive manner, they will ignore them, but if a person stands up for himself in a independent manner then there’s a problem. To the inner eyes, if people do not fit into a certain category they are labeled as undesirable. Those judged must be passive in order to to avoid preconceived notions by the people judging them. In the story, the main character bumps into a man, who then calls him a insulting name, resulting in the main character physically attacking him. Due to racial stereotyping, the report in the newspaper claims the white man was mugged. Because the main character acts out of character to defend himself, he is labeled as

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