on the significance of Mark Twain's writings, Ralph Ellison acknowledged that "a novel could be fashioned as a raft of hope, perception and entertainment that might help keep us afloat as we tried to negotiate the snags and whirlpools that mark our nation's vacillating course toward and away from the democratic ideal." Ellison believed it was the contradiction between America's "noble ideals and the actualities of our conduct" that inspired the most profound…
Author: Lucas E. Morel (ed.) · Original publisher: University Press of Kentucky (Lexington, 2004)
Tier 3 — Partial text + link. No text is hosted on Gary NOI. Read free: https://archive.org/details/ralphellisonraft0000unse (Internet Archive lending copy — borrowable; IA item ID as recorded in Tranche B1: ralphellisonraft0000unse; no hosting rights).
