A critic described this novel as “a man from down south sitting in a manhole up north… & signifying about how he got here”

Thursday’s Final Jeopardy clue brought viewers deep into the heart of American literature. In the category American Novels, the clue read: A critic described this novel as “a man from down south sitting in a manhole up north… & signifying about how he got here.”

What is Invisible Man?

The correct response was Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. The phrasing of the clue was taken from writer and critic Albert Murray, who once likened the structure and mood of Ellison’s novel to a fully orchestrated blues composition, grounded in African American storytelling traditions and resilience.

Ellison’s Invisible Man, published in 1952, is a sweeping meditation on race, identity, and social invisibility in the United States. The novel follows an unnamed Black narrator from his upbringing in the segregated South to the streets of Harlem, where he becomes disillusioned by politics, ideology, and the expectations others place on him. Ultimately, after being chased during a riot, he finds himself living underground—literally—in a manhole, reflecting on his life. This setting becomes a central metaphor, capturing both his physical disappearance from the world and his mental reemergence through memory and introspection.

Why Invisible Man Fit the Clue So Precisely

The phrase “signifying about how he got here” is a nod to a cultural tradition in African American rhetoric. Signifying, in this context, is a mode of storytelling rich with nuance, irony, and coded meaning. The manhole—his underground retreat—is not merely a plot point but the narrative framework from which the entire novel unfolds. It’s the space where the narrator asserts his own reality, turning his isolation into a powerful declaration of selfhood. The light bulbs he rigs in the basement become symbols of awareness, creativity, and defiant presence.

Ellison’s protagonist is not invisible because of some supernatural force, but because society refuses to see him. Throughout the novel, characters—from employers and teachers to political operatives—attempt to define him, use him, or ignore him entirely. His invisibility stems from others’ blindness to his individuality. By situating himself underground and telling his story from that vantage point, the narrator reframes his experience on his own terms. It’s this layering of literal and symbolic elements that made the novel such a rich choice for Final Jeopardy.

The Oklahoma Roots Behind a National Voice

Although Invisible Man is set in Harlem and other Northern locales, Ellison’s roots were firmly planted in Oklahoma. Born in Oklahoma City in 1914, he carried with him a frontier sensibility—a belief in possibility even in the face of constraint. In interviews and essays, he often spoke of the influence of his early environment, a mix of Southwestern openness and African American cultural depth. As Jervis Anderson chronicled in his New Yorker profile, Ellison never abandoned his identity as an Oklahoman, even as he became a prominent New Yorker and an influential figure in literary circles.

The New Yorker piece also sheds light on Ellison’s formative years—his love of jazz, the guidance he received from mentors, and the hardships of being raised by a widowed mother in a segregated city. This blend of hardship and aspiration would later fuel the novel’s central voice: a man shaped by his past, confronting a world that neither recognizes nor accommodates him. As Ellison once put it, “The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past.” That plunge informed every sentence of Invisible Man.

A Novel That Transcends Categories

Invisible Man was not simply a story of racial identity, but a broader statement on the human search for meaning. Ellison resisted labels, often pushing back against attempts to categorize him solely as a Black writer. He insisted that literature should aim for universality, even as it emerged from specific cultural experiences. His protagonist’s journey—through Southern schools, exploitative labor, and revolutionary politics—ends not in resolution but in insight: the realization that identity must be self-defined.

The novel’s recognition was swift and lasting. It won the National Book Award in 1953 and was later voted by critics as the most important American novel of the previous two decades. Despite publishing only one completed novel during his lifetime, Ellison became a defining voice in 20th-century American letters. His legacy extended far beyond the page, influencing generations of writers, artists, and thinkers.

Why This Clue Resonated on Jeopardy

The choice of Invisible Man for Final Jeopardy wasn’t just about recognizing a classic. It invited contestants—and viewers—to engage with a novel that continues to speak to the American experience. The imagery of a man underground, reflecting on how he got there, resonates across contexts: social, political, psychological. Ellison’s vision wasn’t about despair; it was about turning adversity into expression. As he once said, “There is almost no predicament that cannot be converted into benefits and victories.” Jeopardy honored that spirit with this deeply layered clue.