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Chapter Three The Protagonist’s Transcendence of Gaze: Identity Construction .......................... 33

3.1 Resisting Gaze ........................... 33

3.1.1 Awakening of Rebellious Consciousness ............. 33

3.1.2 Practice of Oppositional Gaze .............................. 36

Conclusion ............................ 42

Chapter Three The Protagonist’s Transcendence of Gaze: Identity Construction

3.1 Resisting Gaze

The protagonist undergoes a process of guidance by wise gazes which provide inspiration and strength, and it is the urging and reminding of these gazes from his black kith and kin that the protagonist’s inner sense of rebellion can gradually awaken. After the protagonist’s consciousness slowly awakened, he felt the presence of the racial gaze and fought against it.

3.1.1 Awakening of Rebellious Consciousness

Many characters in Invisible Man play an important role in the protagonist’s seeking of his own identity, and act as catalysts for the protagonist’s oppositional gaze. Perhaps these guides are also the objects of the power gaze and this is what touches the protagonist’s heart more. They have rich social experience after various trials and tribulations which build fortitude into their character. Grandfather’s last words, Mary’s rescue, etc. make the protagonist start to reflect after experiencing difficulties. He found out that the gaze did not belong exclusively to the white people, but the gaze of the black people was different from that of the white. The white gaze is a condescending gesture of ridicule and irony, while the black gaze is a brave pursuit of power after experiencing ridicule and irony. Their eyes sprouted his awakened consciousness. 

Conclusion

Ellison tells a story of self-transcendence. It narrates not a specific character, but countless ordinary people hiding in dark corners suffering from gaze and neglect. A theme that runs throughout Invisible Man is that humans seek their identity on many levels, from individual to community to national identity. But every time identity is within reach, it is seen as false. Ultimately, the protagonist in Invisible Man embraces the idea that man must find his identity in the self rather than in others, which means that he must learn to become “visible” again through an act of self-consciousness and can only overcome the crisis of race and existence by embracing invisibility itself, which is integral to this dilemma. 

All through the book, the gaze of power plays an important role in the construction of the self’s identity. When the invisible man describes himself as “invisible”, he does not mean that he is actually invisible. Rather, he means that the physical eyes of those around him can see him in the flesh, but their “inner eyes” can never see the real him. The eye of power simply gazes at the skin color, while ignoring and denying the true existence. His invisibility at the same time stems from his own uncertainty about his own identity. He is always unsu本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。