A Senior Capstone Experience by Andraya Sudler ’26

Submitted to the Department of English

Advised by Dr. Elizabeth Foley O’Connor

Contributor Biography: Andraya Sudler graduated magna cum laude from Washington College in May 2026. During her time at the college, Sudler spent most of her days capturing student life on campus as a Marketing & Communications Department Student Assistant. She is currently taking a gap year and working as a kindergarten teacher as she prepares to apply to grad school.

Short Description: This thesis argues that Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man offers a sustained critique of white supremacy and systemic racism while situating its themes in interdisciplinary contexts, including literary, political, psychological, and philosophical theories. Central to this analysis is the claim that non-Black Americans remain either hyper-conscious of or willfully unconscious of racial hierarchies, a dynamic that sustains ambiguity in public discourse. Within this gray space, non-Black Americans often operate under the guise of being progressive and inclusive. In turn, at the expense of the Black American community, claims of progress and inclusivity frequently mask ongoing inequality, allowing democratic ideals to persist rhetorically while failing in practice. Ultimately, this thesis returns to the broader purpose of literature itself: its ability to confront systems of erasure while insisting on the full humanity of those rendered invisible.

Read Andraya’s SCE below: