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Compare And Contrast Battle Royal And A Rose For Emily

Decent Essays

Views of the South In “Battle Royal” by Ralph Ellison and “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner each author gives their own views and opinions of the south, but each story has different perspective of the southern conduct shown by literary elements. The point of view of each story is the same and they have similar attributes which aides in the main character’s development, but each story has a deeper connection to it. The setting of both stories is set in the deep southern region in between the 1930’s and 1940’s while slavery was still very popular, but it aides in the development of each character’s background and trials. Symbolism is used in each story to demonstrate how each protagonist is deeply connected to the south. Ellison and Faulkner both used each of these literary elements to tie the south to the protagonists. The point of view of “Battle Royal” and “A …show more content…

In “Battle Royal”, the protagonist symbolizes the struggle that the African-American people went through to achieve equality, especially in the south. The character went through horrible treatment including boxing in a match called “battle royal” (Ellison 278), an inappropriate nude dance from a blonde woman, and an electric rug coin pickup contest. On the other hand, in “A Rose for Emily”, Miss Emily symbolizes the south, because she does not change with time. She sticks to her upbringing and does not accept changes like death and the change with the taxes. The towns people consider her a monument because she never had a relationship with anyone other than her father and her lover, so everyone could only see her from the outside and never know her true thoughts and emotions. The symbolism in both stories are set in the roots of the south so the audiences can see the good and the bad from a white woman and a black man’s

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