1940s adaptation adultery african-american african-american-culture african-american-experience african-american-identity african-american-literature african-american-protagonist alienation ambiguity american-dream american-history american-identity american-literature american-society army army-barracks army-life art assimilation autobiographical bestseller betrayal bildungsroman black-culture black-experience black-identity black-literature blindness blues brotherhood character-driven civil-rights civil-rights-movement classic coming-of-age complexity conflict conformity corruption courage cultural-alienation cultural-assimilation cultural-criticism cultural-heritage cultural-identity death deception dehumanization destiny discipline discrimination disillusionment double-consciousness drama dreams duty dystopia ellison empowerment equality exile existentialism fate forbidden-love forbidden-romance freedom friendship gritty gritty-realism hardship harlem harlem-renaissance hawaii hawaiian-culture hawaiian-islands historical-fiction honolulu honor hope iconic identity identity-crisis individualism individuality inequality infantry infidelity injustice invisibility invisibility-metaphor invisible invisible-identity invisible-man isolation japan japanese-attack jazz jazz-music journey leadership life literary-fiction literature loss loss-of-identity love love-affair love-affairs love-story loyalty marginalization masculinity military military-life modernism morality narrator national-book-award navy novel oppression pacific pacific-theater passion passionate pearl-harbor personal-freedom personal-narrative philosophy political politics post-war-era postmodernism power power-dynamics power-struggle prejudice protagonist protest pulitzer-prize quest race race-relations racial-discrimination racial-identity racial-inequality racial-oppression racial-prejudice racial-stereotypes racism ralph-ellison rebellion redemption relationships resilience resistance romance sacrifice search-for-meaning segregation self-discovery self-empowerment social-class social-commentary social-criticism social-equality social-hierarchy social-inequality social-injustice social-invisibility social-isolation social-justice social-norms societal-expectations society soldier soldiers soldiers-life southern-gothic southern-united-states stereotype stereotypes struggle subversion surrealism survival symbolism the-american-dream tragedy underground united-states-army urban-life violence war war-novel white-supremacy world-war-ii wwii