Why I Find Native Son Compelling, and not Invisible Man

Native Son is such a unique novel to me because of Bigger (I've already written a blog post on this, so I won't get into it that much).  Wright focuses far more on Bigger's thought processes and sometimes unpredictable psychological developments rather than irony and "environment development".

Invisible Man on the other hand focuses massively on irony and environment/setting details.  However in my opinion it falls short instead on the protagonist.  While I don't think the narrator is undeveloped, find him a bit boring.  In the beginning of the novel, he's clearly not meant to be very relatable.  He's submissive, naive, and almost without any self-respect.  He doesn't really have any striking ideals or personality aspects that I find interesting.  Later he breaks out of this character somewhat, becoming a great deal more skeptical and aggressive.  However these personality aspects are really only noticeable because of the contrast to his old character.  As far as I'm concerned he's become an average, educated young man, still without any particular ideals or goals other than to be vaguely successful.

Now one could make the argument that Ellison's huge environmental and ironic depth makes up for the lacking protagonist, and it does to some extent, and while the constant ironies give a lot of potential for analysis, for me it gets a little old.  The plot is a bit too predictable, and you can hardly read a page without being thrown with some irony (or what might be irony).  If you combine that with the often predictable narrator, the novel often seems fairly unimaginative.  While the prologue gets us wondering how the narrator develops, I wish it didn't exist at times, because the reader not only knows where the narrator will end up (irrelevant and "invisible"), but we also know his final psychological result, which I don't enjoy knowing.

Please keep in mind that I'm not done with the novel yet, and I am quite biased towards Native Son.  I just think Invisible Man is an acquired taste that I don't quite have.

The Narrator's Evolving Interactions with Figures of Authority

One way we can observe the narrator of Invisible Man evolve as a person is to look at how his interactions with figures of authority or experience (particularly black figures) change over the course of the novel.  The narrator arrives at the college still full of naivety and submission.  However he does believe that he has some understanding for how to behave in the world to succeed.  He initially respects Bledsoe because he believes that Bledsoe has honorably and patiently made his way up the social ladder.  However after simply doing what he is told, what he always thought was the key to success, he ends up on the bad side of Bledsoe, and Bledsoe reveals that he is constantly putting on a mask and attempting to play the system.  Eventually the narrator becomes angry for the first time in the novel, and I believe that this stems from his core philosophy slowly being picked apart.

When he meets Emerson, the narrator is already uncomfortable and angry before Bledsoe's letter is revealed to him.  Instead of taking Emerson as a helpful, well-meaning man, the narrator feels insulted, targeted, and like he's being played.  The reveal of the letter only increases these emotions.  This interaction was almost Bigger-esque when he was talking with Jan.  Both characters just wanted to do their job, and these men were stepping out of their roles in a way that made the protagonists feel like they were the butt of a joke or trap.

By the time the narrator encounters Brockway, he's almost on his way to becoming the narrator of the prologue.  This impressive old black man who has made his way in the world, and clearly at least to some extent is in a position of power in the factory, who has learned everything he knows through only experience, is immediately looked down upon by the narrator.  Brockway also seems to have the same ideology as the narrator did previously where working for a respectable white man is an honor (he deeply hates the "ungrateful" union workers) and takes pride in the fact that the white factory owner needs him.  Brockway seems to be a very upfront, if paranoid character, but the narrator has already been set off into a state of perpetual anger which only accelerates his development.  This is his last interaction with a figure of knowledge and/or authority that results in his "rebirth" from the factory hospital.