Character List

 

  1. Invisible Man - The unnamed narrator of the novel, who tells us of many of his experiences, and throughout the book tries to discover his true identity. While trying to find his true self, he learns many things about society, himself, and the importance of invisibility.

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  2. Mr. Norton - A white man who supports the ideas of equality, self-reliance, and individuality, who barely has an understanding of the things he says, and can’t apply those ideas to his own life.

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  3. Dr. Bledsoe - The president of the college who believes that there can be no honest relationship between a white man and a Negro. He is willing to betray anyone to retain his power, and therefore becomes of symbol of evil and distrust to the Invisible Man.

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  4. Mary Rambo - A Negro woman who nurses the Invisible Man back to health after he is injured in the Liberty Paint factory. She becomes a symbol of security to the Invisible Man.

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  5. Brother Jack - The leader of the brotherhood, who at first seems to be a calm helpful, and non racist white man. In the end he turns out to be the worst kind of man, a man who says the right things, and then twists them to suit the needs of his fanatical ideology.

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  6. Brother Tarp - He was a prisoner in a chain gang for nineteen years, who finally broke his chain and escaped. He later gives the Invisible Man his chain so that the Invisible Man will use his knowledge and suffering to find new answers and solutions to the 400 year-old problem of the black man

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  7. Tod - A popular leader of the brotherhood who was a noble man in physique as well as mentality. He disappears, and turns up illegally selling Sambo dolls in Manhattan, and dies after trying to run from a police officer.

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  8. Ras the Exhorter - A black militant who resents any black man who associates with white people. The Invisible Man realizes that without cause, Ras has no identity.

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  9. Rinehart - A Character that we never meet in the book, but yet he causes a crisis in the Invisible Man’s life because he is often mistaken for Rinehart.

 

Invisible Man Chronology

 

  1. Invisible man makes a speech at a local hotel after his being heard making a speech at his high school graduation.
  2. Invisible man makes his speech and is given a briefcase containing a scholarship to a local college.
  3. Invisible man is assigned by Dr. Bledsoe to drive Mr. Norton around the campus and town.
  4. Invisible man and Mr. Norton drive all over the campus and Mr. N. gets sick. When Invisible man takes Mr. N back to the campus Dr. Bledsoe is furious with Invisible man.
  5. Mr. Norton is one of the trustees of the school and he tells Invisible man he will explain to Dr. Bledsoe and things will be okay. Dr. Bledsoe decides to expel Invisible man and tells him to go to New York and find work and he may come back next year to finish college.
  6. Invisible man takes a bus to New York and is shocked when he gets to Harlem and sees all the blacks even serving as police officers. He gets directions to a local apartment area called "Men’s House", and goes to get a room.
  7. Invisible man goes to see all the people from the letters Dr. Bledsoe gave him, but he has no luck.
  8. He still had one letter left which was to Mr. Emerson. Invisible man goes to see him and after reading the letter Mr. Emerson allows Invisible man to read the letter even thought it had asked for him not to.
  9. Invisible man finds out that he would not be allowed to return to school even after he earned enough money, and Dr. Bledsoe had made it all up. Mr. Emerson helps get Invisible man a job at a paint factory.
  10. Invisible man gets hit from falling debris after there is an explosion at the paint factory. He is taken to the hospital and treated
  11. When Invisible man is released from the hospital he is on his way to the subway when he passes out on the sidewalk. A lady named Mary Rambo helps him up and takes him home with her
  12. Invisible man and Mary become good friends and he moves in with her. Invisible man goes to Men’s House to get his things when he sees a man there who looks like Dr. Bledsoe. He picks up a community tobacco spit can and dumps it on the mans head. It turns out not to be Dr. Bledsoe, and Invisible man is banned from the apartment complex.
  13. One day when Invisible man was out walking back to Mary’s home he see and old couple being evicted from there apartment. He gets up in front of the crowd that had gathered and makes a speech which causes some commotion and slows the eviction for a while.
  14. A man named Jack hears Invisible man’s speech and ask him to come join the Brotherhood, which was a group of men who organized various things to help the black community.
  15. Invisible man accepts the offer and joins the Brotherhood. He realizes he must leave Mary and move into the Brotherhood apartments so he can be closer to his work. So he leaves Mary without telling her, and moves in downtown.
  16. Invisible man begins making speeches for the brotherhood and after four months of study becomes the leader of the Harlem district.
  17. Invisible man makes speeches in the brotherhood and organizes many rallies to help the blacks in Harlem. He starts to realize that his views don’t agree with the brotherhood’s, and after meeting some of the anti-white members he starts to reject the brotherhood.
  18. After one of his friends in the brotherhood named Tod Clifton is shot by the police when running away. Invisible man organizes a funeral march in Harlem after his death.
  19. A lot of tension was beginning to build up in Harlem and especially in the Brotherhood after many of the people were beginning to turn against Invisible man, especially after the police killed Tod Clifton.
  20. Ras, Invisible man’s worst enemy wants to kill him, and Ras starts a riot in Harlem with a bunch of people from the brotherhood. During the riot Invisible man is stabbed by Jack, the man who got him into the brotherhood to begin with.
  21. Invisible man escapes into the basement of a building and remains living there.