The Presence of Black Consciousness in Afro-America Laughter: Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

The Presence of Black Consciousness in Afro-America Laughter: Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

This paper is developed on the presumption that American democracy composed of a social structure which is reflective of the hierarchical social system of ancient Roman society. It is further presumed that American cultural establishments are greatly influenced by the following philosophical theoreticians: Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Hobbes and Marcus T. Cicero. In analyzing Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, Cicero's concept of humor is applied in developing the analysis: it is identified as a serviceable channel for the oppressed to express passion and anger. In Invisible Man, Ellison intentionally accommodates the device of ethnic humor to expose the social chaos existing in American society. Ethnic humor is an oral device used to release suppressed feelings and enable Afro-Americans to minimize their anger and bitterness. It is further used as an expressive oral mechanism to satirize the existing social hierarchical system of white American society. Throughout his work, Ellison intentionally utilizes the means of humor to depict the true nature of American realism. Through the use of Afro-American humor, he further emphasizes the unjustifiable characteristics of the American hierarchial social system as seen by the narrator to satirize the prevailing power structure of white America. Ellison explicitly makes use of ethnic humor, not only to give the narrator the psychological power to overcome obstacles in life, but to create a new sense of time and direction in his search for the ultimate individualism. Although Afro-American humor is a rich and diverse product of their culture, Ellison rarely includes eccentric or delightful articulations in his work. In Invisible Man, the hideous, bitter, and resentful articulations are often expressed in order to endure the social chaos existing in modem American society.