Invisible Man: Dialect 1 key example

In a scene that satirizes labor unions, Ellison employs dialect and slang associated with working-class, unionized laborers in the mid-20th century. When the narrator accidentally interrupts a clandestine union meeting while trying to eat lunch at the Liberty Paints factory, he is immediately condemned as a traitor by one of the union members, who argues against including the narrator in the union: 

“I’m against it! Brothers, this fellow could be a fink, even if he was hired right this minute! Not that I aim to be unfair to anybody, either. Maybe he ain’t a fink,” he cried passionately, “but brothers, I want to remind you that nobody knows it [...] Please, brothers!” he cried, waving his arms for quiet. “As some of you brothers have learned, to the sorrow of your wives and babies, a fink don’t have to know about trade unionism to be a fink! Finkism? Hell, I’ve made a study of finkism! Finkism is born into some guys.” 

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