20th-century 20thcentury african-american african-american-author african-american-culture african-american-experience african-american-history african-american-identity african-american-literature african-american-protagonist africanamericanauthors africanamericanmeninliterature africanamericans africanamericansinliterature albert alienation ambiguity ambition america american-dream american-fiction american-history american-identity american-literature american-society americanfiction americanliterature art assimilation authenticity autobiographical betrayal bigotry bildungsroman biography black-culture black-experience black-identity black-literature black-lives-matter black-power blindness blues brotherhood civil-rights civil-rights-movement class-struggle coming-of-age complexity conformity corruption cultural-alienation cultural-assimilation cultural-criticism cultural-heritage cultural-identity cultural-significance culture deception dehumanization discrimination disillusionment double-consciousness dreams dystopia empowerment enlightenment equality exile existentialism exploitation freedom harlem harlem-renaissance historical historical-fiction history historyandcriticism identity identity-crisis individual-vs-society individualism individuality inequality injustice institutionalized-racism intellectualism intellectuallife invisibility invisibility-metaphor invisible invisible-identity invisible-man invisible-man-(novel) isolation jazz jazz-age jazz-music leadership literary-fiction literature loss loss-of-identity manipulation marginalization marginalized marxism minoritiesinliterature modern-classic modernism murray narration narrator national-book-award novel opportunity oppression perception personal-freedom personal-narrative philosophy political political-satire politics postmodernism power power-dynamics power-struggle prejudice protagonist protest protest-literature psychological-insight psychological-journey quest race race-relations racerelations racerelationsinliterature racial-discrimination racial-identity racial-inequality racial-oppression racial-prejudice racial-segregation racial-stereotypes racial-stereotyping racism ralph ralph-ellison rebellion resistance salman search-for-meaning searching-for-identity searching-for-meaning segregation self-discovery self-empowerment social-alienation social-class social-commentary social-conformity social-criticism social-equality social-hierarchy social-inequality social-injustice social-invisibility social-isolation social-justice social-mobility social-norms societal-expectations society sociopolitical southern-gothic southern-literature southern-united-states stereotype stereotypes struggle studyandteachingellison subjugation subversion surrealism survival symbolism symbols the-american-dream the-black-experience themes twentieth-century-literature underground unitedstates unseen urban-life w.e.b.-du-bois white-supremacy william