I'm going to examine a kind of small detail in the first chapter of Invisible Man- the symbolism of the American Flag on the stripper.
          I think the tattoo, and by extension, the stripper represents America and its ideals of liberty and freedom, and how they are being abused by the men in the room. We see her being manhandled by the white men in the room, much like they abuse the rights of the narrator and other black boys. When she finally makes it out of the room so do the ideals of equality and liberty, and the fighting and abuse of the boys begins.

I think Ellison is trying to use the imagery of the American flag; a symbol which to us means freedom, liberty, and justice; to just punctuate just how messed up the events of the first chapter are. It also seems like her exit from the room is also a metaphor for the narrator's eventual evolution into the 'Invisible Man'- the events immediately following her departure up to the most current chapter we've read so far show the hints of his eventual transformation from an idealistic valedictorian wishing to present his speech, to the invisible man we see in the prologue.