RALPH ELLISON: Invisible Man
Comment on the character and role of Mary in the novel
Explanation
The theme of self-identity is a major one in the novel. The society treats the narrator as a non-being and this makes him intent on seeking his identity. Mary is a 'big dark woman'. She is a landlady in Harlem, it is Mary who rescues the narrator from a faint on his discharge from hospital after the factory accident. Mary is kindhearted and humane, she is compassionate and assists the narrator who is almost fainting: Why don't yoΕ³ all stand back and let the man breathe?, she is helpful and motherly to the narrator: She is insightful and knows, when they meet, without being told that the narrator has just left the hospital. Mary watches over the narrator until he wakes from his sleep and insists that he take the soup.
But for her presence and instruction to the crowd, 5 the narrator could have died of suffocation. Her presence is a saving factor. The narrator leaves hospital very weak and without much money. Without Mary, the narrator may not have survived as he leaves the hospital and would have been without accommodation Mary's accommodation affords the narrator security.
By her presence and nature, Mary nurtures the narrator wholly-physically, psychologically and spiritually. There is humanity in her faith in reciprocity: 'and let me do something for you, like Ihope you'd do something for ole Mary in case she needed it. However, these do not affect the stark effect of the narrator's invisibility- nowhere else is worth living at, not even Mary's - he is invisible, even to Mary.