Throughout the novel, the invisible man went through numerous events that changed his ideology from being a good citizen going with the flow to being more open and analytic. This progression is visible through analyzing the “stuff” he owned and encountered. An example of this is Clifford’s dancing paper sambo doll. “He’s Sambo, the dancing doll, ladies and gentlemen. Shake him, stretch him by the neck, and set him down- he’ll do the rest…and all for twenty-five cents.” The doll itself symbolized how African Americans are viewed by society, mainly by the white community. It is a flashback to slavery in which they were seen as objects rather than individuals. After all, African Americans were purchased similar to how Clifford’s dolls are obtainable “all for twenty-five cents.” As the Sambo dolls shake and dance for its viewers’ entertainment, African Americans were bought in the past as entertainment to white men. It is a perspective of masters and slaves, superior to inferior.

Seeing the Sambo doll, the narrator was taken aback, offended by the sight. “I felt betrayed. I looked at the doll and felt my throat constrict. The rage welled behind the phlegm as I rocked back on my heels and crouched forward.” Clifford, who was a former member of the Brotherhood wielding the doll shows how he is accepting of his fate in this racist society. The mentality of going with the flow ad being a good citizen, as the narrator was in the beginning. Seeing this and being hurt by it shows his growth, how he fully accept his grandfather’s warning to “live your head in the lion’s mouth.”

Another important aspect of the Sambo doll is the near-invisible strings that controlled its movements. ” I saw a fine black thread and pulled it from the frilled paper. There was a loop tied in the end. I slipped it over my finger and stood stretching it taut. And this time it danced. Clifford has been making it dance all the time and the black thread has been invisible.” The realization of how Clifford mad the samba doll dance is also a realization of how society and things are moved and influence. As he later realized during a meeting in the Brotherhood that he wanted to attend, he was left out. As he failed to see especially in the earlier chapters, there are more to things that are visible. This realization has opened his eyes and mind, allowed him to be more analytic.

Conclusively, the narrator showed tremendous growth throughout the novel. One way to view this is by analyzing the objects in the novel that he encountered and possessed. An example of this object is the samba dancing doll that Clifford sold for twenty-five cents. The samba doll being controlled is parallel to slavery and being controlled by the likes of Clifford shows the acceptance of the black stereotypes. The narrator being offended and feeling betrayed by this is a show of his growth. Additionally, his ability to see how the doll is controlled by invisible strings displays how he has become more open-minded and analytic.

In chapter 13 of the book the invisible man stumbles upon some things just thrown into the sidewalk. At first glance he thinks it’s just junk. Then he sees and old woman crying and pointing at the items. He realizes that they are her possessions and are being thrown out by two white men. 

After sticking around for a while he learns that the old couple is being evicted and sees there’s something wrong about that. He starts to look at the items on the ground and memories are coming back to him. When he looks at the possessions closely he now realizes how this couple feels. He says “And it was as though I was being dispossessed of some painful yet precious thing which I could not bear to lose; something confounding like a rotted tooth that one would rather suffer indefinitely than endure the short, violent eruption of pain that would mark its removal” (Pg. 273). What he is saying here is that he feels like he is being deprived himself. He feels like he can relate because he treats the situation as if this was his own grandmother. He assumes that she was somebody’s mom because he sees the breast pump. 

Things start to get more chaotic when one of the white men strikes the old woman because she wanted to go back into the building and pray. The invisible man is angry at this and so is the crowd of people around. The crowd of people want to go and attack this man and The invisible man wants to do this at first too. But he stops himself and the crowd and says “We’re a law-abiding people” (Pg. 275). He doesn’t want the crowd to fight fire with fire because he knows that they will be the ones to get arrested despite the fact that the white man struck first. He knows that you can’t solve this situation with violence because who does that help. He wants to help this old couple in a nice and friendly manner. The longer he’s there he realizes how important these items are and that they’re not just junk but something that defines a person. Something that shows who they are and he wants to make sure this couple keeps their items. 

The invisible man feels connected to these possessions because not only do they have pieces of African American culture but they say something about society. The way these possessions are just thrown out without a care sort of shows the way black people were being treated. Towards the end of this situation its not just about the couple anymore but about racial discrimination. The invisible man says “So who’s being dispossessed? Can it be us?” (Pg 279). He is saying that all of us are going through this, it’s not just involving this old couple, it’s involving all black people. Black people have been oppressed for so long and this issue of oppression is still going on today. In this scene the more the invisible man explorers the more he learns what’s happening and the real actions that are taking place. 

The invisible man begins with his head in the clouds, wrapped up in his own world. He “imagines he is lost for a moment” (pg. 262) while walking down the streets of Harlem that were covered in snow. He describes the snowflakes as “simultaneously forming a curtain, a veil and stripping is aside” (pg. 262). They seemed to cover Harlem; a neighborhood filled with African Americans in a sheet of “beautiful” white. This reminds the invisible man of who he was in the south, surrounded by white men who were trying to overpower him. This whiff of nostalgia comes along as he smells the scent of the home – “hot, baked Car’lina yams” (pg. 263). The invisible man is then overcome with pride and strength while eating the yam telling himself in a “wild and childish” (pg. 265) manner about how “Bledsoe would disintegrate, disinflate! “(pg. 265) if anyone caught him eating a chitterling. Overcome with joy over his progression from his old self he runs back to the cart and buys two more yams. Just as the invisible man feels as if he’s overcome his past, he is met with a reality check as he hears a woman cry “leave us alone” (pg. 267) as white men carry her things out of her home. While reminiscing the invisible man is confronted by stuff that takes him out of the world of make-believe. He is shocked to find the old couple being evicted exclaiming “they can do that here?” (pg. 269) With that realization, he is transported from his daydream of the south to the realities of the north. The old couple’s stuff, their pots, pans of plants, curling iron, a lucky stone, and much more compelled the invisible man to act. He begins making a spontaneous speech in an attempt in an attempt to become a leader for the crowd. His speech begins tied to the south and Booker T Washington’s ideas of black people just fitting into white society without trying to excel but, as he continues speaking, he grows tired of preaching being a law-abiding citizen. He becomes angry and sets forth a new narrative of how blacks are supposed to act in a white-dominated society and encourage them to uplift themselves. By actually speaking up he takes a mundane event and transforms it into the news. An eviction of an old black couple is exactly the event that remains outside the “groove of history” however the invisible man’s speech made it front-page news. He writes himself back into history with his words then psychically by moving the old couple’s stuff back into their home. The invisible man took their stuff, their home, essentially their life and gave it back to them. By turning the dispossessed stuff back into possessions, he was able to find a place for the black man within the grooves of history. This proves that to be a part of history one must find a way to write themselves in. History is not what happened rather it is what it told by the people in power. By empowering himself the invisible man became part of historiography and was able to incorporate his narrative into history.  Ellison understood the power of the written word therefore wrote the Invisible Man to incorporate the black narrative into history and give a voice to those who would have been forgotten.