Tone and Language in “Invisible Man”

There are not many novels that can produce such a feeling of both sorrow and jubilation for a character as Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. There is such a wide range of emotions produced by the novel that it is impossible not to feel both ways. Invisible Man is a wonderfully well written novel about an African American living in pre-civil rights America. The novel is an excellent example of a buildings roman, a character finding himself, as the story progresses. The narrator (invisible man) starts off a naive college student and ends with the young man realizing that his world has become that of “infinite possibilities.” Ellison’s writing techniques include that of visual imagery, irony.
This is one of the instances that tone has a tendency to cause emotions for the reader, as the character finds out critical facts about his life. However, Ellison was careful in creating the tone for the book. He has adopted the sort of tone that will appeal to all readers, not just blacks. Without it, “he would have failed to establish a true middle-of-consciousness for everyone” (Bellow). Ellison wrote the book in a language that we can all speak and recognize.