Invisible Man And Nella Larsens Passing - 922 Words

2. W.EB. Du Bois introduces the expression â€Å"double consciousness,† which is the idea that Black Americans are aware that they are perceived as two different identities. In Society white oppressors don’t view black people as individuals but as stereotypes of what they think of black people. This leads two conflicting identities because black people are torn between joining their black identity and their American identify. Two pieces of work that illustrate characters that are conscious of experiencing both identities are Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man and Nella Larsen’s Passing. In Invisible Man the narrator remembers his grandfathers words that leads him to act differently in front of white people compared to acting like his true self. It†¦show more content†¦Race can change and be recreated since it is an ideology and not a definite structure. In Charles Chesnutt’s â€Å"The Wife of His Youth† and in â€Å"Black Boy† by Richard Wright, it can be seen that race is not a natural concept. In â€Å"The Wife of His Youth,† Mr. Ryder is apart of the Blue Vein Society where most of the members are black, but act in a way that can be associated with the way white people act. Mr. Ryder is of mixed race so he feels compelled to act White, but will always face criticism from both his black and white identity. His current identity shows how he is trying associate himself with his white identity but when Liza Jane appears she is a reminder of his black identity. These conflicting identities exemplify how Mr. Ryder invents his own characterization of his identity. Mr. Ryder illustrates the fluidity of his identity proving that race is not a stable concept. In â€Å"Black Boy† Richard is aware of how people expect him to act so he knows how to behave to manipulate the intolerant people in society. Richard does not have access to a library card so he borrows his white coworkers library card to check out books for himself. Because Richard is aware of the discriminator y system he decides to forge a note from his coworker to show the librarian. When the librarian is suspicious that Richard might read the book he acts like he is illiterate. If race is a biological factor into how