Essay about Symbolism in Battle Royal, by Ralph Ellison

"Battle Royal" gives the reader a frightening look at just how society looks at blacks. In the

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

Like the characters in “Battle Royal”, African Americans have to fight each other in real life because whites leave them so little (Brent 2). The white society sees itself as superior; therefore, it does not provide for African Americans. Blacks are then forced to compete within themselves in life. To

The black people are told that they are worthless and savages, yet everytime they try to do something about it, they are kept afraid and treated horribly because they are apparently stupid and aren’t able to amount up to the same standard as white people. The main character is told by his grandfather on his deathbed that, “After I’m gone I want you to keep up the good fight. I never told you, but our life is a war and I have been a traitor all my born days, a spy in the enemy’s country ever since I give up my gun back in the Reconstruction. Live with your head in the lion’s mouth,” and that stuck with the main character throughout his life (CX). The rest of his family immediately tells everyone to ignore it and make sure to never bring up what their grandfather had told them, and to simply follow the rules that they had always been living, and then life will be “perfect” (CX). Most of the black people truly believed that they were going to have to live that way forever and never had a choice, but some people knew that they had to stand up and fight for what they know was right. All of the black people had been told their whole lives that nothing will ever change and to never hope for it. They were mostly all “blindfolded” except for the few that were able to “take off their blindfolds” and see what was really going

How would you feel if you were trying to succeed in life but there was a greater force holding you back? Ralph Ellison uses setting, irony, and symbolism in “Battle Royal” to further explain how African Americans were treated in regards to social equality. In the Deep South racism was very common and unfortunately it lead to many cruel things. Many people were mistreated and disrespected for no reason other than their skin color. The white man wanted to keep the African Americans separated from them despite the laws passed. Many African Americans were treated like slaves even though they clearly were not slaves anymore. Symbols used in the story give us clues to things like the American dream. The American dream is what every American is trying to achieve whether it is becoming rich or just being truly free from racism. The irony portrayed shows just how African Americans were treated and how it must have felt to just live everyday life. The setting is

The short story “Battle Royal” by Ralph Ellison characterizes about a well-educated young black male who strives to find his own identity. The protagonist refers to himself as an … “Invisible Man” (Ellison 1). He lives in the deep South where race and gender defined an individual’s equality and right’s. He is invited to read his graduation speech at a private gathering in front of his towns elite white members. The young black man felt honored until, he was informed that he should participate in a battle with other colored males. He quickly recognizes that he is serving as a pawn to enliven their entertainment. He gives insight to the reader about the black man’s experience in a white man’s world. The young black narrator is always compliant to the rules of his race, but he remains positive that he can break through the black and white barrier of oppression. The author exhibits various aspects throughout this story to define how the settings of this piece were utilized to enhance the readers understanding of the theme. The distinct examples of settings include but are not restricted to are: the deep south, the main ballroom, the nude blonde female, and the boxing ring. These instances reflect the theme of racism and the struggle for equality, for these conditions could not be attained by minorities especially in the South.

The narrator did not grasp the true meaning of his grandfather’s speech, which caused him to get hurt more while in the ring with the other nine boys. The narrator’s belief clouded his judgment. In the ring, the narrator was just another nigga, a ginger head coon to be exact, to the white men, but because he thought he was brought to the arena to deliver his graduation speech to the white men he could not compare himself to the other boys. The narrator had yet to understand that he was of no importance to the white

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

As the narrator is walking up to the stage he starts to hear, “No more dispossessing of the dispossessed,” the meaning of this chant is, why do we waste our time on the already dispossessed and this sets the tone of his speech. The narrator gives his speech about the blindness to each other’s realities that pulls societies apart. He believes that blacks should help blacks, in the book he makes a comparison about blacks helping each other and having two one-eyed blind men walking on opposite sides of the street, and a middle man throwing rocks at them, and he believes if the two one-eyed men would help each other they would miss the

Battle Royal is an intense story about racial discrimination. This short story had me confused as to how this was allowed to happened, and had me on the edge of my seat. There are several things that make this story a truly effective one. The first thing being Ralph Ellison’s incredible use of description that places in the reader in the experience. He describes the boys in the ring as “cautious crabs”, the women as a “circus kewpie doll”, and describes the entire scene in the ring with great detail.

“Battle Royale,” by Ralph Ellison, is the first chapter of his critically acclaimed book, Invisible Man. It describes the harrowing and hurtful treatment an unnamed African American male experiences in the south. Ellison tackles the hatred and racism experienced by blacks in the United States. Racism and hatred haunted the narrator, resulting in the violence he witnesses that surrounds him. Ellison does a great job of implementing the hatred and cruelty of American racism into his story. This results in a more feeling to the story.

The white men are representative of white men in society by the mentioning of the expanses of their occupations. “They were all there -- bankers, lawyers, judges, doctors, fire chiefs, teachers, merchants. Even one of the more fashionable pastors” (Ellison). He is alluding to the fact that groups who were not white men were being patronized by the ruling class, consisting of only white men. They were entertaining themselves by watching the struggle of the black men and the dancing of the naked white women. This seems to insinuate that the upper class is fueled by power and sex. The black men fighting, blindly, seems to represent the struggle within the black community. It is representative of how African-Americans of this period were at odds with one another, in a pursuit of something they were unsure of. They did not understand why the circumstances were the way they were, they just followed orders, even when it was at their own expense. This depiction seems to mirror societies expectation of African-Americans during the time in which the story took place. The naked dancing women is symbolic of the fact that women, white or not, were nothing but objects of entertainment to women during this period. The ironic tattoo the naked, dancing, blonde had was of an American flag. The flag can be interpreted as the perverse set of values that belie the idealistic view of the “American

On his grandfather’s deathbed the narrator listened to him reveal that he felt like a traitor to his people because he had been what the white citizens wanted him to be. Ever since then the narrator has always been haunted by that, because he himself was a model student and African American citizen. He was a gifted speaker and gave the graduation speech at his class’s graduation ceremony. The superintendent of the schools invited him to recite that same speech at the Battle Royale, when he got there he felt somewhat more important than the other contestants and felt he had more of a purpose in life than them. The crowd they were fighting in front of were all white men who were prominent figures from the city they lived in. The boys who fought were all black, they were blindfolded and forced to get out of their clothing to fight. After they were to beat each other until only two remained. The narrator and the

In the 1940’s setting, “Battle Royal”, our narrator seeks to gain an identity amongst the bigotry of old southern white society, in which to compare to the first story for common ground. For example, like the ghost in “Hamlet” the narrator’s dying grandfather offers a realization, which alludes to the purpose for protest. Although, a peaceful method of demonstration, this act still retains a measure of honor by self-respect and obvious justifications.

The story addresses itself with "the dilemma of African and Americans who, in striving to escape prejudice and poverty, risk a terrible deracination, a