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The narrator experiences segregation and Jim Crow laws where he lives as he "went on to the corner and got on a bus and went automatically to the rear" (Ellison 193).

The narrator has already conditioned himself to follow the Jim Crow Laws active at the time. This quote shows how he and other blacks at the time had to conform to these laws. In addition we gain a view into the life of a black man at the time; a life that included the constant obedience of these oppressive laws.

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What role does the motif play in the meaning of the work as a whole?

The motif of race affected not only his perception of the world and his life in the moment, but also the events that occurred. Being African-American in the society during the time, the narrator saw the world in terms of black and white which not only depicted the racial conflicts, but also his naivety to the ulterior motives to those around him. Since he was so conditioned to be subservient to the racial hierarchy, he instinctively looked only at the surface of color and race. Through the narrator and the racial conflicts he has to face, Ellison implies how race and how you fall under the hierarchy affects the amount of power you have over society.

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Working in the Liberty Paints factory,  the narrator recalls a childhood jingle " 'If you're white, you're right' "(Ellison 218).

The Liberty Paints factory serves as a metaphor for racial inequality in America, not just in the south, but in the north as well. The factory’s authorities, with their slogans imply the superiority of their whiteness.

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As Dr. Bledsoe was expelling the narrator, he put him in his place by claiming he would "have every Negro in the country hanging on tree limbs by morning if it means staying where [he is]" (Ellison 143).

Dr. Bledsoe exerts his power on the narrator by threatening to have black people in America hung like many were in that period of time. The amount of power he has signifies that race is not a two dimensional concept, as even though he is black himself, he gains his power through his subservience to the white donors of the college. Through Dr. Bledsoe, the author displays the hierarchy of race and that although race denotes power, Dr. Bledsoe still must go through the hierarchy to gain his power.

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After the fight in the Battle Royale was over, the narrator was asked to read his speech, but realized " [he] made a mistake and yelled a phrase [he] had often seen denounced in newspaper editorials, heard debated in private. 'Social...equality--'" (Ellison 31).

In this era, the idea of social equality was very progressive and radical for the white men who laughed at the narrator for even suggesting such a thing. The author treats the motif of race very bluntly, exposing the reader to graphic and gruesome scenes that make the reader uncomfortable. The scene of the Battle Royale and his speech sets the tone of the whole novel on how segregated and systematically racist the society is.