Anagnorisis

 In Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, the narrator is sent North by Dr. Bledsoe under the guise of finding a job in New York City. After being rejected by all except one of the jobs Bledsoe supposedly lined him up for, the narrator goes to the last job opportunity. There a man who is the son of Mr. Emerson, a trustee, reveals to the narrator that the letter of recommendation that Bledsoe gave him actually portray the narrator in a negative light. 

This realization leads to a feeling of anagnorisis, where the narrator realizes that just because someone is black doesn't mean that they have other black people's best interest in mind. He understands that Bledsoe doesn't care about him and the other black students, but rather Bledsoe just cares about his position in the white man's society. This means doing anything that allows him to hold his power, which predominately includes doing things that please white men. 

After realizing that people's motives may not be what they seem, the narrator notices a lot of other black people only trying to advance themselves without caring about other black people. For example, Lucius Brockway, a black an who makes paint, accuses the narrator of trying to join a union and take his job. Rather than try to help the narrator succeed in life, Brockway hopes to hold him down so he can maintain his position. Brockway's situation is symbolic because he is a black man who makes the best white paint. This shows that to succeed in a white man's world, black people must do things that support the white people.