Ralph Ellison’s writing style

K S Sivakumaran

As far as I know there are two novels in English Literature with the title of Invisible Man. One is by H G Wells and the other by Ralph Ellison. I like the latter’s style of writing more than any other aspects of the novel. Therefore I wish to focus only on that aspect in this week’s column.

Ralph Ellison was perhaps the greatest stylist of all Black American writers (last week we noted the style of writing by another Black American writer-Richard Wright). I think he was influenced by the style of James Joyce and also the kind of Existentialism of the Black people in the early 20th century.

Critic Arnold Goldman described his style as “He uses language with the skill of a polished craftsman inventing each word with James Joyce an multi-novel richness of connotation by such reliable devices as puns, allusions which range from folklore to the classics… He writes an eloquently rhythmic prose”

For the benefit of young students who might choose to read the novel, let me given bullet forms some of the aspects of his writing. But the students should read the book first and try to enjoy the novel.

His style is characterized by symbolism, allegory, myth and modernist devices.

The Mythic element- Ellison has specifically employed the pattern of human’s mythic descent into the pit or womb and the emergence into the power and prosperity. The narrator begins his story in an underground hole.

Allegory- This is used structurally to move the story from one phase of the protagonist’s adventures to another and thematically to embody his individual and cultural history as well as that of humankind itself.

James Joyce	H G Wells	Ralph Ellison

Symbolism - This is a major technique to vivify his experiences

To illustrate all these, we need to quote from the book. Unfortunately copyright restricts us from doing this. Readers may buy this book for not only the style of writing but also to understand the contemporary novels of the last century when people like James Joyce, D H Lawrence, Franz Kafka, T S Eliot, Jean Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Thomas Mann gave us a variety of fiction to understand the human condition.

The Internet will provide a lot of information on Ralph Ellison for you to supplement your reading the original by yourself.

Now that we are on the subject of writing clearly as illustrated from the styles of one or two writers, let us note that there is a book by Eric Partridge titled Usage and Abusage - A guide to Good English published by Penguin Books. Then there is the age old H W Fowler’s Modern English Usage. Some antique words have now become obsolete. Some examples:

Albeit - Although, Amidst- Among, Perchance- Perhaps

Cliché’s like I this day and age - nowadays or now

Talking of Vogue Words, the writer says this:

“Several words that are mere, and shere, political jargon have become fashionable among intellectuals. These, strictly, belong to the obscurantism and ‘double talk’ of international politics- and are best left here.”

Students can also study The Complete Pain Words by Sir Ernest Gowers and Keywords by Raymond Williams for better understanding of using the right word at the right place.

ks.sivakumaran@yahoo.