Yet again I am lost among another novel with seemingly no connection to love, trying to piece together what little scraps I can to form into a well written post. In the Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, there is little to no love that occurs within the pages (the absence is what shines). The book is about a black man, The Invisible Man, and his travels throughout the east coast and how his experiences shape and change his opinions and views of the world. He never falls in love (yet he kind of explains why), and there are never any loving ties between any of the characters. That being said, some conclusions must be drawn.
The narrator grows progressively stronger in thoughts and actions throughout the novel and love is never involved. In chapter two the narrator explains why he doesn't "love" (he never actually uses that word) saying, "First, it was dangerous if you felt like that about anything, because then you'd never get it or something or someone would take it away from you." Though this is in reference to an object it can be discerned that Ellison is highlighting the dangers of love in this comment. Loving someone or something is a dangerous task because there is always the inevitable risk that the person or thing you love could leave and or be taken away. That is a classic risk, and it appears that Ellison is saying this is a risk not worth taking, saying it's dangerous.
Another fascinating example occurs in chapter 9, in which the narrator thinks, "Perhaps everyone loved someone; I didn't know, I couldn't give much thought to love; in order to travel far you had to be detached." This highlights how the narrator doesn't have any need for love. Again love is mentioned but his opinions of love are too transparent. Maybe when Ellison says "to travel far you had to be detached," he means that to get far in life you love is not a necessity it is in fact a drawback, but this idea seams a bit outlandish to me, as I don't have much proof to go along with that interpretation. The narrator never loved, but it never seemed like love would have made him weaker or stronger.
So based on this evidence, it can be concluded that love is a weakness, that it is an unneeded part of our "travels" and that the risk involved with loving something or someone is not worth taking, it is in fact dangerous. But, the evidence was thin and vague, so I'll keep on reading hoping some more opaque answers will present themselves.
