Use of the Bird Motif in the Invisible ManAbstract: According to A Handbook to Literature, motif refers to a "recurring repetition of some word, phrase, situation or idea, as since it tends to unify a work through its power to recall previous events" (264). One of these types of motifs that seems to receive less critical attention is Ellison's treatment of birds. Therefore, my aim in this essay is to examine the references to birds in The Invisible Man, attempting to show how Ellison uses the image of the bird to symbolize various forms of entrapment. In a 1965 interview, when asked his views on the role of the bird the novelist Ralph Ellison stated the following: I think the good novelist tries to give his reader vivid representations of some crucial and enduring patterns of human existence. He attempts to do this by reducing the chaos of human experience to artistic form. And when it is successful it provides the reader with a new vision of reality. In fact, through the symbolic action of its characters and plot, it allows the reader to share forms of experience that are not immediately his own. And so the reader is able to recognize the meaning and value of the experience presented as a whole. (Kostelanetz 10)Given Ellison's comment, one can easily see the importance he placed on the use of images that symbolize significant life experiences. The fact that Ellison speaks here of "meaning" and "value" as a desired effect seems central to his overall purpose as a writer. Ellison's novel Invisible Man focuses on the black individual's search for racial and social identity, and symbolism is often used to highlight his character's sense of entrapment. Most readers of Invisible Man read... half the paper... if they skimmed as if from the extreme treetops of the harmonious landscape, and there was, without a doubt, an irrepressible derision in his personal conduct as in his music . (Ellison, On Bird 223)If one considers the musical parallels, what Ellison says about Charlie Parker could well be applied to the structure of Invisible Man. Through his ornithological leitmotif, Ellison successfully composes what could be considered a variation on his essential theme of racial entrapment. Works Cited Byam, MS "Ellison, Ralph" in Book Review Digest 1952, 284. Ellison, Ralph. The invisible man. 1952. New York: Vintage, 1990.----. “On birds, birding and jazz.” Shadow and act. Ralph Ellison. New York: Vintage Books, 1972, 221-232. Kostelanetz, Richard. "An Interview with Ralph Ellison." Iowa Review 9 (1989): 1-10.