The importance of misunderstanding in the invisible man by Ralph Ellison In the novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, the main character faces challenges that he must overcome to survive. Most of the challenges he faces are simple; however, he ends up missing his surroundings. When he makes a speech to calm a disorderly group, he ends up unintentionally naming himself their leader, thus transforming a somewhat rowdy group into a mob ready for race riots. How can you manipulate someone's speech to have a meaning completely opposite to the original intent? The Invisible Man's audience decides that they are only willing to listen to a speaker who presents what they want to hear. Due to a handicap of inexperience in public speaking, his effort to calm the crowd is exploited by the crowd, to forcefully name him the leader of an unreasonable crowd. While walking down a street in New York, the protagonist witnesses the eviction of an elderly black couple from their home. As a sheriff goes about his work ordering trustees to pile the couple's belongings on the sidewalk, a crowd gathers and watches in sympathy and disbelief. The Invisible Man blends into the crowd and feels that the elderly couple are very similar to his mother and father because they are also honest and hard-working people. Soon after its realization, the evicted woman becomes angry that she cannot pray on the floor of her house. When she and her husband try to outrun a defending trustee, the woman ends up falling backwards down her steps, which infuriates onlookers. At this point, the Invisible Man becomes the center of attention when he rushes up the steps and makes a speech. His intentions... middle of paper... due to judgment and inexperience, he is unable to carry out his original intentions and give rational judgment to the crowd. The misunderstandings that occur during the eviction shape the future of the Invisible Man, causing a milestone in his life to be completed without even making the slightest effort. Irving Howe was right about the stumbling block of individuality; the Invisible Man's future is shaped by the desires of other people. The results would have been very different if the goals had been simple, the actions real, and the emotions clear; however, had conditions been better, the Invisible Man might simply have provided serenity, or been the victim of a mob turning against its leader. Works Cited: Ellison, Ralph W. Invisible Man. New York: Vintage International, 1952. Howe, Irving. “A nigger in America.” The Nation 10 May 1952:454.