Jiujitsu of the Spirit: Trueblood, His Audience, and Lyrical Subversion in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man

Abstract

abstract:The Trueblood passage in Invisible Man is one of Ellison’s most controversial pieces of writing. Who is Jim Trueblood—an incestuous rapist or a savvy trickster playing on white prejudice for his own advantage? Contextualizing Trueblood in the tradition of African American storytelling and Ellison’s essays on race in America, this article explores the relationship between Trueblood and his audience (both Black and white) to understand the power dynamics at play and how Ellison manipulates them.