Invisible Man and the Numbers Game

Abstract

The literary criticism on Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is voluminous; yet, only two critics have made the slightest comment on Ellison's use of numbers in the book. However, I believe that Ellison's use of numbers is symbolic of the illegal institution called the numbers game. My intention in this study is to show that the numerous incidents in Invisible Man directly parallel the structure and workings ofthe numbers game and, in doing this, prove that Ellison's use of numbers demands special attention.