The Invisible Man: Summary In the novel, The Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, written in 1952, a young black man's struggle to find an identity in a harsh and very manipulative society is exemplified. The narrator's experience and struggles are often expressed through the memory of his grandfather's words, the people he has come in contact with, and the places ha has been. During the course of his life, he has learned many valuable lessons, both about society and himself. This is demonstrated by elements of the plot, characters, setting, and the underlying theme, and the application of foreshadowing. The moral message of the novel is as follows: You can never judge a