He continued work on his unfinished second novel until the time of his death in 1994. Afterward, Ellison lectured both in Europe and at several major American universities. The novel became an instant classic, catapulting Ellison to national and international fame. After the war, Ellison began work on Invisible Man, ultimately finishing the novel in 1952. During World War II, Ellison served in the Merchant Marine. In New York, Ellison began to write and publish articles and reviews, becoming involved with both the Federal Writer’s Project during the Great Depression as well as the Communist Party. Seeking money to pay his tuition, Ellison traveled to New York, where he met and befriended other artists and writers. Invisible Man, one of the canonical postwar American novels, is a rhapsodic investigation of. Ellison attended the Tuskegee Institute for college, originally intending to become a composer. It seems the best explanation for Ellisons 40-year inability to publish a complete second novel.

As a young man, Ellison was fascinated by jazz, and soon learned to play the trumpet. Ellison was raised by his mother in Oklahoma City. Ralph Ellison’s father was a small business owner who died when Ellison was three.

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