invisible man

The group portrayed in Ellison's Invisible Man, The Brotherhood, is a perfect model of Emerson's ideas on the conspiracy of any society against the individuality of its members. The Brotherhood restrains the personal growth of the protagonist, and in so doing impedes the development of his own identity. To that respect the protagonist is unable to truly discover who he is until he breaks away from society at large and formulate his own ideas and …

…a dictator......He's what brother Jack calls a petty-petty individualist (400-401)." It is at this moment in time where the protagonist finally realizes what the brotherhood is about. They do not want personal success and adoration by members of the group. The Brotherhood as a functioning unit should be placed above the deeds and actions of individuals. Still Henry is unable to break away from this domineering society and remained as the Brotherhood's guinea pig.