Ellison's book, Invisible Man, was written in the 1930s. It's about the identity of a black man in white America. The narrator writes in the first person, emphasizing his individual experience and the events depicted; although the narrator and main character remain anonymous throughout the book, they are called Invisible Man. The character decides that the world is full of blind people and sleepwalkers who can't see him for who he truly is, so he calls himself the Invisible Man, although he isn't truly invisible, it's just a refusal for others to see him. Through a long and frustrating quest, the Invisible Man hopes to answer questions that may be unanswerable. The search begins with his desire to attend college. Education represented an opportunity to escape ignorance and poverty. His ability to attend Negro college comes through hard work. As first place in his high school class he receives a scholarship. Invisibility, in history, is considered a bad thing. While the Invisible Man thinks optimistically and uses his invisibility as a way to undermine people or society. While invisibility cannot allow you to be powerful or have a power of your own, it can bring you freedom, allowing you to go and do whatever you choose. A person becomes invisible because someone is blind. He should have thought of this at the beginning of his quest to know that no one is ever truly visible to everyone. Ellison uses every aspect of his novel to emphasize his intentions. The novel is set in the early 20th century in the racially charged eastern United States. Racism is evident throughout the novel, in the South where the narrator enrolls in college. White men and women influence the central part of the card with a document inside it. The document was a scholarship to the State College for Negroes. The narrator was ecstatic. Then that night he had a dream. He dreamed of what his grandfather had told him before. He woke up with laughter in his ears. He had no idea what it meant at the time. This beating incident made him realize that he can defend himself and other people, in turn making him a better person for society. He felt better because he had proven them wrong. Black men in that time period can make a difference and the narrator wanted to show that. In his society blacks are shackled in a reality where the white dominant society imposes certain moral principles or principles by which the black community must act. However, unlike the people around him, he is able to break the chains that imprison his mind and see how things really work..