Undetected

Invisibility is the condition this sullen narrator has suffered throughout his life. He's not literary invisible, of course, but rather ignored or neglected by an excluding society. This metaphor of being invisible describes the way he feels ignored, unimportant, and basically unseen by it. This is the way Ellison decided to begin his novel. The narrator, who is living rent free with free services, confesses that he only managed this when he was able to accept that he was invisible. Before, he used to live under the illusion that he was actually noticed by the rest of society, and he would live in accordance to this delusion. But now, he is proud to say that he has "illuminated the blackness of [his] invisibility-and vice versa" (13). He accepted his condition and even took advantage of it, using thousands of dollars worth of electricity for free with no risk of being detected, and has attempted to shine light over his own existence.

This novel proceeds with a flashback into the narrator's past, back when he was so immersed in the mirage he was blinded from his true reality. This is how he begins to reveal his story, and will likely lead us through the paths of his discovery, and the way he was able to open his eyes to the reality of his invisibility.