What does it mean to feel alone? Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
In America today, we talk a lot about the importance of visibility, of awareness, of recognition. But what does it really mean to be seen by one’s society? What kinds of acknowledgment and recognition really matter? How do we, can we, and should we see ourselves and one another?
In this class, we will read and discuss Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, exploring the questions it asks about what being seen means to the Black man who narrates the novel.
Long recognized as a classic text of twentieth-century American literature, the story of the Invisible Man shows how race, region, gender, class, and political institutions can shape a person’s sense of themselves and their ability to act in the world and participate in American society.
“I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.”- Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man
First published in 1952 and immediately hailed as a masterpiece, Invisible Man is one of those rare novels that have changed the shape of American literature. For not only does Ralph Ellison's nightmare journey across the racial divide tell unparalleled truths about the nature of bigotry and its effects on the minds of both victims and perpetrators, it gives us an entirely new model of what a novel can be.
As he journeys from the Deep South to the streets and basements of Harlem, from a horrifying "battle royal" where Black men are reduced to fighting animals, to a Communist rally where they are elevated to the status of trophies, Ralph Ellison's nameless protagonist ushers readers into a parallel universe that throws our own into harsh and even hilarious relief. Suspenseful and sardonic, narrated in a voice that takes in the symphonic range of the American language, black and white, Invisible Man is one of the most audacious and dazzling novels of our century. - Goodreads
As the narrator discusses his invisibility and goes on to describe his “warm hole,” he posits himself as existing independently from regular human interaction. He claims his lack of interaction with others as essential to his existence. The narrator assures the reader that being invisible has advantages. By describing himself as invisible, emphasizing his solitary life in what he calls a “hole,” and neglecting to describe his relationships to other characters in the opening of the novel, the narrator highlights his isolation as an important aspect of his character. -University of Chicago
About this six-session class series
This course is part of a six-session class series. Participants are welcome to enroll in the full class series or session-by-session. All Premise courses are conversation-style and facilitated.
The ideal: Participate in the full class series.
Students are invited to participate in each session in the class series. The enduring questions of the class will become deeper and more complex by participating in each session. Students come to know one another and connect more deeply through participation in the full series.
The cost of the full six-session series is $125 and includes the bonus session. Register here for the full series.
Can’t make the full series? Participate as you are able.
If you can’t participate in all sessions, we encourage you to attend any session they are able. We believe in low-barrier, flexible, and adaptive learning and community-making. Therefore, you are welcome whenever you can make it at Premise!
The pay-as-you-go session cost is $35/per session.
Class date and time
Sunday, October 23, 2022, 4:00-5:30PM PST
All Premise courses take place on Zoom.
Why take this course?
Loneliness is central to the human experience. Yet, it can be hard to talk about loneliness and isolation because of social stigma. We may feel that loneliness is a personal failure. In her poem The Loneliness One dare not sound, Emily Dickinson writes loneliness is the “Horror not to be surveyed.”
Loneliness is baked into what it means to be human, and most of us will experience periods of loneliness in our lives. But, what does it mean to be lonely?
Even before the forced isolation of Covid-19, rates of loneliness were skyrocketing in the U.S. and around the world. More than 20%, in fact, of the adult population in America admits to struggling with loneliness regularly. That's more people than have diabetes in our country and more adults than smoke in the United States. Public health officials medicalize loneliness and refer to it as an epidemic.
Yet, philosophers and psychologists have long argued that loneliness is an essential part of the human condition.
Philosopher Hannah Arendt wrote, “Solitude is the human condition in which I keep myself company. Loneliness comes about when I am alone without being able to split up into the two-in-one, without being able to keep myself company.”
The existentialist feminist writer Simone de Beauvoir embraced loneliness and thought of it as her creative force.
Each course in this series will examine what it means when we feel alone and how to make sense of the human experience of loneliness.
Together, we’ll explore the questions:
What does it mean to feel alone?
Are being alone and being lonely the same?
Can we be coupled, have a family or a strong community of friends, and still be lonely?
Is there a purpose for loneliness?
Can we live with the pain of loneliness without succumbing to it?