Onofre Karla

A.P English Literature

Mrs. Willard
2/18/16
Exile is strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience It is the
unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true
home: its essential sadness can never be surmounted. as said by Edward Said. As in Invisible
Man by Ralph Nader the narrator is someone who experiences with exile, which is both
alienating and enriching, and this experience illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. We
see this when he is cut off from home, which in this case is his Dream school. This novel
shows how the skin color of the African American makes him invisible and alienates him from
the American society. He was alienating from society throughout his whole life. By the
beginning of the story we start seeing his experience with exile.
When he is cut off from home, in this case his dream school we start seeing how he
starts feeling isolated from Dr. Bledsoe, who he believes is a great man. Once he goes through
the scandal that occur with Mr. Norton that made him get expelled from the college, Dr. Bledsoe
give him letters that by then the Invisible man believes they are recommendation letters. When
this experiences occurs it illuminates the work as a whole because it's the beginning of him being
completely cut off from his dream school that he had to move to Harlem, New York. In his
journey he had always felt isolated because everyone that he took the recommendation letters
would never call him back. Once he knew the truth about why he wouldn't receive calls back he
learn not to trust what other people tell you.
His experience illuminates the meaning of the work in whole by the main fact of feeling
invisible no matter how visible he actually was. As when he got in the riot defending the old
couple that was getting kicked out of their house. Everyone saw him as a leader but in his

perspective he was still invisible because of his skin color. He try to convince himself that he was
invisible by the same reason that African American weren't treated right. His experience with
exile is both Alienating and enriching because while he was isolated by being invisible he
accomplish that people would see him by the actions he would do.
Invisible man is a great example of what Edward Said, said because his experience of being exile
is both alienating and enriching. In the enrichment part he enriches his occupancy in the middle
of the story. While at the same time he was being isolated with the people around him. This
Novel is a Great example of the narrator being exile and cut off from his home because he was
being isolated by both himself and by others all because of his skin color. But adding all this
together it gives the meaning of the work in whole.