In Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, the narrator was not given a name. Although he called others by their name in the last five pages, the narrator was only known to the readers as a mysterious black man. What stood out was the significance of the seemingly useless briefcase. When the men asked the narrator what was in the suitcase, he simply answered them with “You.” I found it peculiar when the narrator had to burn the contents of his briefcase for light. Of the various ways to produce light while trapped, the author decided to make the narrator burn the items inside the briefcase. The briefcase contained his high school diploma, an anonymous letter, and other items. I believe the author had the narrator burn the contents of the briefcase in order to reveal some of the narrator’s life to the readers. Small details about the narrator’s life were shown such as him being part of the Brotherhood and being named by Jack. Prior to this, the readers knew nothing about the narrator, not even his name. Not only did burning the items in the briefcase expose some of the narrator’s life to us, but it also showed him moving towards a new life. The briefcase contained objects and papers that described his past. By burning them, the author showed us the narrator putting aside his past and moving forward to a new life while still trapped inside. This goes back to when he answered the men about what was in the briefcase. By figuratively putting the men in his briefcase and burning it, it showed how he was burning up his past. While stuck there with no way of escape, he began to see reality clearly.