Towards the end of the book "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison, the narrator who remains anonymous throughout the book, risks his life to save a filled briefcase of seemingly random assorted objects. But later in the book, the narrator is forced to burn the items in his briefcase in order to get out of a sewer in which he is stuck. Further reading reveals that the objects in his briefcase are more than randomly assorted objects, but are instead symbols. Each of these symbols represents a moment in the narrator's life where he is either betrayed or made "invisible" by those around him. Throughout the book, the two main recurring themes are betrayal and invisibility and the narrator keeps these symbols with him because they represent who he is. The first symbol is the briefcase itself, as it represents the "Battle Royale" that he and other blacks were. The narrator is forced to participate in a sickening ritual where he and others are forced to fight in a boxing ring and then fight for money on an electric mat. The narrator shows up to this hoping to give a speech about Booker in Washington. After being beaten and shocked in front of a crowd of mocking and drunken white people, the narrator is expected to give the speech, after which he will receive a college scholarship and a briefcase. This is a part of the book that represents both betrayal and invisibility. The betrayal that takes place in this part of the book is quite obvious. The narrator is asked to go and give a speech, but when he arrives, he finds that he is about to be subjected to battle royal from the group of white people who organized the social gathering. But after the fight, when the narrator makes his speech, drunk white people came out from the middle of a sheet of paper. This represents how a black man cannot be as “perfect” as Clifton was. Clifton went from a seat of power to a street peddler after being pounded by the system, and the sambo doll is a constant reminder to the narrator that if he reaches the top, the system will bring him back down. his briefcase which expresses almost exactly the same theme is Jack's letter. The narrator receives an anonymous letter telling him that he is progressing too quickly in the fraternity and needs to slow down. Shortly after, he was accused of using the brotherhood for his own gain and was relegated to a lower position. He later discovers that the letter is from Jack. It's another example of the narrator being betrayed by those he trusts, and it's also an example of how he can't reach the top without being crushed by the system..