Comparing Invisible Man and Brave New World Essay -- comparison compar

Comparing Invisible Man and Brave New World      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Both Ellison’s The Invisible Man and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World are political in nature, and at this level, seem completely dissimilar. The Invisible Man attempts to illuminate the social entrapment of Black Americans, while Brave New World cautions against an over-reliance on technology and the amorality it can potentially inspire. At a deeper level, however, both books are also about the status of the individual in society, and it is here that there is a remarkable similarity between the two novels.    In both The Invisible Man and Brave New World, we see men fighting against societies that devalue their individuality and thereby lessen their sense of identity and self worth. "I've always tried to create characters who were pretty forthright in stating what they felt society should be" said Ellison in a 1963 interview (Graham and Singh, 85). This statement captures the underlying theme of both novels : that an ideal society is one that is founded upon the ability of individuals to assert themselves freely and without prejudice. Close examination of both works show that while they are wildly different in many ways, at this one level, they are very much the same.    In order to see this similarity in theme more clearly, we must first peel back the layer of political meaning, which isn't easy. As previously stated, these are both political novels on the surface, and sixty years of critical commentary that has focused specifically on this level has done little to make an alternative reading any easier: conventional wisdom tells us that Invisible Man is a treatise on the state of Black America, and Brave New World is a cautionary tale of the misuse of techn... ...aid Ellison in an interview shortly before his death, "is that they are individuals with individual vision" (Graham and Singh, 391). It is upon the strengths of these individuals that our entire society is built. And unlike John, the embattled savage of Brave New World, whose desperation I recognized even as a child peering into a coloring book, the individuals in Invisible Man still have the power to make themselves heard and continue the grand cycle of applying their "individual vision" to the tapestry of society.    Sources Cited Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. New York, New York: Vintage Books, 1995. Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited. New York, New York: Harper Collins Publishers. Amritjit Singh and Maryemma Graham. Conversations with Ralph Ellison. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi.