Abstract: This thesis is written with the purpose of exploring the Invisible Man’s search for his ethnic identity in the framework of existentialism. It starts with a brief introduction of the author and relevant researches concerning this particular novel. Then some existential terms will be explained, namely “existence precedes essence”, “alienation”, “facticity”, “absurdity”, “free choice”, which will make the theoretical foundation for the following discussion. The body of this paper will focus on the invisible man’s quest for his ethnic identity, which consists of three mains parts. The first part analyzes the protagonist’s loss of ethnic identity, both passively and positively. The second part interprets the protagonist’s reconstruction of his ethnic identity, and in the last part he finally regains his ethnic identity. The conclusion will give a brief summary of this thesis. Though a number of scholars have already conducted researches on this book from various perspectives, such as the initiation theme, analysis of writing techniques, racialism and so on, this thesis will analyze with existentialism the protagonist’s ethnic identity quest, as people are more likely to lose themselves in the fast-changing modern society.
Key words: Invisible Man; Ralph Ellison; ethnic identity; existentialism

摘要：本论文旨在从存在主义的视角研究看不见的人的种族身份探寻之旅。论文以作者简介以及与该小说相关的研究开篇。紧接着将解释奠定论文理论基础的存在主义术语，即“存在先于本质”，“异化”，“真实性”，“荒谬”，“自由选择”。论文的正文部分将从三个方面着重分析主人公的的种族身份探寻之路。正文第一部分从内在外在两方面的影响分析隐身人的种族身份丢失的原因。第二部分阐述主人公种族身份的重塑。第三部分主人公重新获得其种族身份。结论部分将对整篇论文做出总结。尽管许多学者已经从各个方面对本书作了研究，例如成长主题、写作技巧分析、种族主义等。由于在当今快速变幻的现代社会中人更容易迷失自我，本论文将从存在主义的角度分析隐身人的种族身份探寻之路。
关键词：看不见的人；拉尔夫•埃里森；种族身份；存在主义