Eloquence and Invisible Man Summary

Christopher Hanlon, an assistant professor of English at Eastern Illinois University, begins his essay with a quote by Emerson himself. Emerson says, “It is the doctrine of the popular music-masters that whoever can speak can sing.” Simply it means that those who can orate; a powerful public speaker, can have “musical talents” as oration comes from a musical expression with metre, pitch, and rhythm. He mentions that an artist is not only a man who can play the keys of a piano, but also someone who can bring in an audience with their words. In other words the orator is “composing” the people as “social organisms.” Emerson believes that everyone in the audience is a potential speaker. From Christopher Hanlon’s point of view the Invisible Man written by Ralph Ellison shows the independence of the protagonist and narrator as he grows in intelligence as a public speaker. This character represents an Emersonian speaker, and halfway through the story he stands before a large crowd known as the Brotherhood, where through his words the audience becomes one and connects to him. To make a memorable performance he draws in the power from the audience’s excited participation.