Every day, racism is seen as a negative aspect of society. When people think of racism, they obviously think of hatred, ignorance and bigotry. Racism has been part of global culture since time immemorial and, undoubtedly, before then. When we think about racism in the United States, invariably, but not only, the struggle of African-Americans is singled out. In Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man, Ellison exposes the theme that American society deliberately ignores and oppresses African Americans. But among the endemic evils of racism, can we find a positive aspect to this evil? The answer lies beyond the text and delves into the thoughts behind the words to find the author's intended message, which is this: it is impossible to maintain one's personal identity and one's racial identity simultaneously; This is the only courtesy racism extends to those it affects. People see what they want to see. Most of the time they look, make assumptions and don't see things as they really are. It is a ritual, often unconsciously, practiced by everyone; profiling and stereotyping. When a person's entire existence has been constantly underestimated and categorized solely on the basis of their outward appearance, and once they become aware of their position and take advantage of it, it becomes quite simple to work in behind the scenes and take what she wants out of life without any advice. In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, the vision of invisibility is reversed so that a man is in plain sight of everyone but, due to lack of observation, no one recognizes what he accomplishes. Once the narrator's eyes are opened to the real world and he realizes that being right does not mean you have power and that without power you are nobody and remain... in the middle of paper...... entering into the common man and embodying the sufferings of his race (Voices of Civil Rights). Even if the main character remains confused, certain instances based on racial incidents allow him, if not to have found himself, to question his identity more and more deeply. Even if he didn't find explicit answers, isn't the quest for knowledge and self-realization positive? It is implicitly within these questions which torment our Invisible Man that we find the subtle traces of the positive aspects of racism. Ellison gives us no final resolution of the novel; The Invisible Man is still confused about his identity, but he is by no means the same man he was in the beginning. It has changed and will continue to change. Through struggles we all learn; it is up to us to find the positive in the negative. Works Cited http://www.voicesofcivilrights.org/