While reading Invisible Man I was full of questions... why did this happen? Does that have significance? Are things going to get better?
Unfortunately, with the turning of the last page, most of my questions weren't answered. And now I have one more question to add to that pile: what does Invisible Man have to do with heroes?
It's odd, for a while I searched for an answer. I believed there had to be some sort of hero in the book, that heroes are always present, but I find that I was very wrong. The saddest thing about Invisible Man is that there are no heroes. Not one. Everyone's, well, ordinary. And the more I think about it the more I realize that there aren't many heroic acts in the novel either. Almost all the characters are in it for themselves or at the mercy of the other characters.
Which begs the question: are there really no heroes?
Maybe it's just my stubbornness, but I refuse to believe that. I don't care that Invisible Man is hailed as one of the best works of fiction this world has ever seen and that Ellison wrote one of the greatest novels in history: he was wrong. It doesn't matter if you're flawed or a minority or even selfish, anyone, everyone, has the potential to be a hero. Even the invisible man with his skills, his powerful speeches, and his heart, doesn't loses his potential to be a hero because of his narrow-minded view of the world. He fails to see the big picture and doesn't care if he can or not.
As I type this I realize that I have poorly said everything I want to say, but I don't know how to say it. The frustration, the irritation, the disappointment... I had hoped for more from Invisible Man; some great truth, some divine enlightenment, a moral for goodness sake, but I just came away with questions. So many questions.
