Symbols
The most important discussion that Ellison hopes to hold is in the context of idenity. Something so fluid and intangible, it is easy to simply speak in abstracts. However, most likely an expression for his love of artisty, Ellison symbolizes the elements of human identity and makes them comprehendable by putting a context to his art. The analysis of how identity functions in society is best crystalized by the phenomenon of stereotypes. Ellison capitalizes on this by employing a variety of archetypes and social symbols to express the complexity of the interaction between social cohorts.
One of the methods of destructing pre-existing notions of what it means to have an identity to to alienate the human variable from the individiuals being described. The Narrator refers to people throughout the novel as being a variety of animals, from snakes, dogs, to horse and oxen. In doing so, Ellison for demonstates that the identity of the individual in the human world should not be removed for the value of an identity within the primitive world. In the primitive world, the most valuable use of the identity comes only from the interactions of the other animals, where structuralized stratification is formed by power structures. Similarly, Ellison points out to how the same thing functions in the society of the Narrator.
Also, the analysis of the animal as being human highlights the hypocricy of the Narrator, who here fails to see the complexity of the poeple who surround him. His reduction to them as being animals and his god complex that results from his seperation forces the reader to come to the conclusion that no one, not even a simple observer as the Narrator, has composure or true self awareness.
Also, the analysis of the animal as being human highlights the hypocricy of the Narrator, who here fails to see the complexity of the poeple who surround him. His reduction to them as being animals and his god complex that results from his seperation forces the reader to come to the conclusion that no one, not even a simple observer as the Narrator, has composure or true self awareness.