Introduction Summary

Ralph Ellison attempts to explain the origins of this novel in the introduction. Ellison states that although the story takes place in a peacetime setting, it actually came out of another narrative that had been a war novel. In the summer of 1945, Ellison was on sick leave in Vermont when the story began revealing itself to him. Ellison describes working in a nice office in New York, and how no one really questioned his presence there. However, at home in his small apartment neighbors questioned his character for keeping strange hours. Ellison goes on to explain that his wife supported them with dependable income while he wrote.

The novel was written in Harlem, and Ellison used the voices, idioms and political concerns of those people with whom he shares a racial and cultural background – meaning African Americans. The original story Ellison was working...