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