86 pages 2 hours read

Ralph Ellison

Invisible Man

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1952

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Chapters 2-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 2 Summary

The protagonist recalls the campus of the college he attended, mentally traversing both the university and the surrounding areas. The manicured, idyllic campus is presented alongside a psychiatric hospital and rendezvous places for veterans to visit prostitutes.

During his junior year, the protagonist serves as a driver for one of the college’s White founders, Mr. Norton, while he visits the campus. He takes Mr. Norton on a tour of the countryside, and along the way the two men converse about Mr. Norton’s contributions to the college. Although he has a distinguished career as a researcher and philanthropist, the founder regards his efforts to the college as his main legacy and contribution to the good of humanity. He tells the protagonist about his daughter, who has passed away and in whose memory he works.

The protagonist drives through the impoverished countryside and tells Mr. Norton about the scenery and people they see. They pass by the house of a man named Mr. Trueblood who committed incest with his daughter, resulting in both her and her mother, the man’s wife, becoming pregnant at the same time. Mr. Norton demands to be let out of the car so he can talk to Mr.