Ralph Ellison Battle Royal Analysis

Battle Royal was published in 1952 and was about the “invisible man” to carry out his grandfather’s dying wishes about the progressing fight African Americans face. During this time period racism was a heavy symbol of this nation’s creed and impacted African Americans every day. Ralph Ellison used reader’s animals to depict characters in situations to give readers more understanding to the story.

As the story begins Ellison?s main character, the man who remains nameless is described as

The young man does not know what is in store for him. He goes to the hotel ready to show his dexterity, but is humiliated by having to participate in a battle royal, which is a boxing match between multiple participants. Young men in the fight are blindfolded, “I had no dignity. I stumbled about like a baby or a drunken man” (244). The boy shows great inner strength when he chooses to stay in the fight for amusement of the white businessmen, which demonstrates his fulfillment to his grandfathers words. If in fact he does get thrown out he many not have a chance to give his speech.

In one way it is symbolic of the African Americans’ struggle for equality throughout our nation’s history. The various hardships that the narrator must endure, in his quest to deliver his speech, are representative of the many hardships that the blacks went through in their fight for equality.

     If I had to pick one out of the many stories that we have read and say

In the 1940‘s racial segregation gripped southern American life. The notion of separating blacks from whites created immense tension. Separate water fountains, bathrooms, restaurants, etc. were variables that helped keep races apart. “Jim Crow” laws in the south were intended to prevent blacks from voting. These laws, combined with the segregated educational system, instilled the sense that blacks were “separate” but not equal (174). Many people of color weren‘t able to survive through this time period because of the actions of whites. One individual who overcame the relentless struggles was Ralph Ellison. Ellison, a famous author, depicted racial segregation in the 1940’s through a fictional short story entitled “Battle Royal.” Battle

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

Authors use different genres of writing to portray their literary messages amongst these genres there are poems and short stories. Battle Royal written by Ralph Ellison is a short story about an African American boy who receives some cryptic advice from his grandfather that ultimately causes him to discover that he must stand up for African Americans and not be a coward like his grandfather was. The poem “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Dunbar is about dishonesty and deception, lying about ones feelings and in a sense hiding ones true emotions with a “mask.” Both of these forms of writing convey an overall message that people do not always speak the truth because they are afraid to do so. They hide behind a façade pretending to be something they are not, thinking they are doing what is best but in reality are only hurting themselves. The poem, “We Wear the Mask” does an overall better job at conveying this message than the short story, Battle Royal. “We Wear the Mask” communicates this message in a much clearer and concise manner. While in Battle Royal, the reader would have to do some research on the time period in order to fully understand the grandfather’s true meaning behind his words. Poetry uses symbolism, tone, and punctuation to provide deeper knowledge behind the author’s words and can give the reader a better understanding of the authors message in a few short stanza’s than a story could in a few pages.

The native Africans' heritage and way of life were forever altered by the white slave drivers who took them into captivity in the 18th century. Along with their freedom, slaves were also robbed of their culture and consequently their identities. They became property instead of people, leaving them at the hands of merciless slave owners. Their quest to reclaim their stolen identities was a long and difficult struggle, especially in the years following the Civil War and the subsequent release of their people from bondage. In Ralph Ellison's 1948 short story "Battle Royal," he uses the point of view of a young black man living in the south to convey the theme of racial identity crisis that faced African Americans in the United States

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

Ralph Ellison’s excerpt “Battle Royal” from his novel “Invisible Man” reveals the African American’s struggle for social equality. It was written during the Cold War and Civil Rights movement and made an impact in the literature world and won an award. Ellison never provides a name for the narrator who refers to himself as the invisible man. The story begins with the narrator’s grandfather on his death bed instructing on how to deal with white people. The narrator felt this advice was more of a curse than helpful. The determination exhibited by the narrator during his encounter at Battle Royal is impressive. The level of abuse endured in his pursuit to deliver his graduation speech is both baffling and admiring.

“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

Ralph Ellison was born on march 1,1914 in Oklahoma , Before New York City and working as a writer. He published his bestselling, acclaimed first novel Invisible Man in 1952 from an African-American protagonist's to new York. One interesting fact Ralph Ellison was named after a famous journalist. Ralph Ellison devoted farther loved children and read books to them and he worked at a ice and coal delivery job which lead to him dyeing in a accident there. From reading all of this stuff about ralph Ellison I find out that he traveled a lot from the past he went to different places but come to find out that he has been diagnosed with cancer which did not stop him from doing what he do.Ralph wasn’t very close to his family as much because he would

In this fight, the black boys are blindfolded with white blindfolds for a fight. This violent scene shows the cruelty of the white man as well as the use of other people for sport. Mostly, the symbolic interpretation can be assumed that the white blindfolds were those of white racist shielding their eyes from a good future. The battle royal itself is the power struggle for social and political power within the system that they were in before the civil rights movement. This is the way that a lot of the African Americans felt during the times of Jim Crow laws. Being put into specific areas of life and not treated well or equal; in fact, people were being abused and tortured just for the basis of having a different skin color. The result of the scene finally ends with the narrator getting to present his speech that he gave at graduation, and even though he had a split in his speech referring to equality, they gave him a scholarship to a black university to become someone. Blindly, people have taken paths of those before them not knowing where it would take them, but in the blind pursuit for truth, they will take any opportunity and it becomes a developmental point in their life. The civil rights movement speaks to this pursuit to finding hope within a brutal system. Hope, is the opportunity to share the same resources and be able to choose one’s unique individual path without restrictions on whatever that goal is. The dream has been to live peacefully and equally with one another, and not be afraid of the unnecessary evils that discrimination

Ralph Ellison was a 20th century African-American writer and scholar, who also studied music before moving to New York City, where he worked as a writer. Ralph Ellison was born on March 1st, 1914 in Oklahoma City. In 1936, Ellison went to New York City for an internship and while he was there he earned money for his college expenses. He was a researcher and writer in New York for The Federal Writers Program.