Basic Paragraph Structure : Comparison's Speech In America, By Ralph Ellison

   The narrator in "Battle Royal," by Ralph Ellison, is confused and disillusioned. He is black man trapped in a world of cruelty and social inequality with nobody to guide him. He is being ripped apart in two directions by the advice of his grandfather and by the wishes of the white society which he longs to please. While attempting to satisfy their wishes, he forgets what is most important- his own dignity.

Through this we can see that the theme is the portrayal of a black man that has fallen victim to the witch’s power, and is now warning his brothers and friends. White women that had power over black men, and even black women, abused their privileges and the people in the lower class were the ones affected.

When all the men went into town, she started to spending time with characters whom she believes that are “weak”: “They left all the weak ones here”; They are Lennie, Candy and Crooks. by hanging out with them , she feels that she has power over them. When Crooks ordered her to get out of his room, she had threatened him and reminded him that he’s a negro and she is the wife of the boss’s son. The author wants us to know the position of white women in the society in that time generally.

The story “Battle Royal”, by Ralph Ellison is about a young black man who has to overcome racial inequalities. The story opens with his grandfather dying words and leaving the family with words that stick with the main character for life. The main character, whose name in not mentioned, is very intelligent and because of this the prominent white businessmen ask him to give a speech at a hotel. Upon his arrival, the white men put him through many humiliating acts for their enjoyment. There is a boxing match and also an electric carpet, but the boy preservers through them all. At the end he is finally given a chance to deliver his speech. Although the men are being inattentive, the superintendent rewards the boy

In Ralph Ellison’s “Battle Royal,” the narrator begins with an old memory that haunts him; his grandfather’s last words to his family. Though the old man lived a quiet life in the shadows of the white man, he tells them to do the same, but also to not get undermined by them and be a “spy in the enemy’s country.” The speaker transitions to a specific night that he lived through the day after his graduation. Due to his brilliance and accelerated knowledge he is invited to a “smoker” event where all the topnotch white men go to smoke, drink, and for their peculiar entertainment. The event begins with young black men being rounded up as cattle and forced to witness a naked woman sensually dance for the men. As all men are aroused the white men

Battle Royal is a short story that metaphorically address many such issues such as racial discrimination. The Author, Ralph Ellison, uses symbolism such as blindness and the concept of initiation to compare the world to a real life battlefield. Ellison intended to emphasize, both passive and aggressive elements of battle is necessary to achieve the American Dream.

The route the children are designated to take, in addition, is specified in the writing to inspire in the audience fear. The segregated school for Black students is located within a mass of railroad tracks, warehouses, and red-light districts, all notably dangerous locations for children to be in. By specifically mentioning that Ellison had “forbidden words” added to his vocabulary, he implies that he had interacted with the many unsavory individuals in the area to the extent of learning immoral materials or skills (Ellison 4433). This emotional appeal enforces the idea that impressionable children are innocent and that their actions were forced upon them by the adults in control. It also appeals to the parental instinct to protect children and preserve their future. By being forced to maintain continuous exposure to dangerous environments and professions of ambiguous morality, the Black children are victims of tarnishing and possible injury by the White authority purposefully segregating the children to hazardous areas. The strategy in specifying the unfortunate circumstances the African American children are facing is for causing the White adults to appear as villains who impose professionals of socially denigrated on innocent children. In contrast, Ellison, despite not doing anything particularly virtuous, is designated the ‘hero’ to be cheered for along with all his associates and peers, who are also victims.

It's about conformity and uprising. "Battle Royal" is about wanting to please the very people who look at you as an inferior race. In this story, the narrator is moved from idealism to realism. He is awakened to a new world in which he finally sees the prejudice that exists and that is directed toward him.

A short analysis of the major theme found in Ellison’s Battle Royal, supported by a literary criticism dealing with the tone and style of the story.

Battle Royal was about how the narrator remembers the advice that his grandfather gave to his father, on his deathbed. The advice that the grandfather gave the father was to “keep up the good fight”, the true words were “Learn it to the younguns”. The family was really alarmed by his last words; it was

The theme of “Battle Royal” by Ralph Ellison is “I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.” (Ralph Ellison) and through plot and setting we can see how it connects to the story. The grandfather's words to the narrator telling him to play it safe and follow all of the blacks rules to survive and during his speech where none of them were paying attention to him until he stepped out of line in their eyes, and told him to know his place. The setting shows this because the events in the story take place in a building a where a smoker is being held, an event for mainly whites who want to watch blacks fight. Even though the narrator is superior to the other blacks attending he is still not given any special treatment,

Ellison once said, “Our social mobility was strictly, and violently, limited” (German 2). The black society is portrayed in a special way in “Battle Royal.” The boxing ring of the Battle symbolizes the confinement of blacks in their society (German 2). The whites are always superior, and the blacks are constantly held back and left fighting. “The story’s title, ‘Battle Royal,’ suggests that the incidents described in the narrative are just one battle in the ongoing racial war” (Brent 2). There is constant controversy between whites and blacks, so far as it is described as a war. In the grandfather’s speech, he describes it as a war, and he states that he wants the narrator to “keep up the good fight.” He then explains how the narrator should do so; he orders him “Live with your head in the lion’s

Implying that the battle, resonates to that of the racial conflict and issues of social standing; which help to solidify the meaning of Ellison’s Marxist composition. To complicate the point, the title of the book is “Battle Royal”, alluding to the great conflict that the narrator was lured into; while juxtaposing the aliments of the Black community endless struggle towards finding recognition and equity in society. Therefore; asserting the claim that the battle, in the passage contextualize to the most core message of the novel proving the conflicting aspect shown by the story and how these sentiments were just specific, to the narrator but, to millions of African-Americans around the country; more in depth, this epic battle aligns with his (the narrator) grandfather’s message foreshadowed earlier in the passage; proclaiming the need for such hostilities, to foster the fight for social recognition of equality to that of the “fairer race” (Ellison pg. 294). The conflict also provokes the pursuit for freedom of future black generation towards recognition and other factors of social equity, which adds to the entity of the story. this addition exhibited when the narrator overcomes his battles later in the book when he’s in his dark apartment and he realizes he’s been blind in the entirety of his life, he

“Battle Royal” begins with a young man trying to do everything he can to make sure he receives his scholarship. He endures so many obstacles during that short period of time. He had to fight during the battle royal, then he had to get electrocuted all because he wanted to perform the speech that he was hoping to get him the scholarship that will allow him to go to college. Although he should not have been a part of the fight, the

"Battle Royal" is the story I chose to write about and it is written by Ralph Ellison. The reason that I chose this story is because the way the author uses symbolism. The author tries to show through symbolism that there is a different meaning than what the story says. In the beginning, the story seems to be about one black boy's struggle to get ahead in a white society. He tries' to accomplish this goal by living to his grandfathers dying words. His grand father told him to "live with your head in the lion's mouth, I want you to overcome ‘em with yes, undermine ‘em with grins, agree ‘em to death and destruction, let ‘em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open." What he meant was his grandfather was telling him