The Fight Royal By Ralph Ellison

Race relations in America is a very sensitive subject, and Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison captures several of the societal conflicts it presents. The central idea of focus is about the generational conflict about race relations between blacks and blacks, as well as blacks and whites. The main character provides reasoning for the internal struggle in his life, as he reflects on how the final words of his dyeing grandfather and the Battle Royal affected him`.

   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.

In this story he was a young black man who recently graduated from high school and was given an opportunity to giving a speech to the towns established white leaders. To him, this was a great opportunity for him to become visible in the eyes of whites. He had high hopes of gaining acceptance that in turn would lead to a brighter future. He had no idea that the humiliation that he would have to go through in order to fulfill this opportunity. When he arrived, he was told that in order for him to give his speech, he would have to take part in the entertainment known as the battle royal, by being blindfolded and put into a boxing ring with nine other black men that he had went to school with and beat each other to a pulp. During the battle, not only did he have to deal with being beat up, he also had to endure the racial slurs such as, "Let me at those black sonsabitches; I want to get at that ginger-colored nigger. Tear him limb from limb” (Ellison, 4), that came from the drunken white men that he was trying to gain acceptance from. Although they allowed him to give his speech, they continued to humiliate him throughout his speech. It is amazing the lengths that one would go through to obtain

“Battle Royal” provides a realistic portrait of the difficulty of being a black person in a

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

At the beginning of “Battle Royal,” the author, Ralph Ellison writes “…first I had to discover that I am an invisible man!” (1149). The narrator of the story has come to feel this way as a result of the actions of the white men in the story. The men seem to see the narrator’s physical being, however they lack to gain a sense of what he is able to accomplish. They refuse to acknowledge the greatness in which he is capable of due to the color of his skin. Because the story takes place during the early 1900’s, racism plays a prominent role within everyday lives. The main event which may elaborate on this statement is when the protagonist is granted the opportunity to deliver a speech, which is very important to him. The racism occurs during this event when his audience flat out ignores him and continues to talk over him until he says something that they don’t necessarily agree with. The white men seem to instantly take charge of his fate and tear the protagonist down in order to show that they are the ones who hold all of the power. This keeps the main character feeling helpless and a sense of invisibility.

In Ralph Ellison’s short story “Battle Royal,” the experiences of a Black narrator, specifically those molded by the brutal hands of anti-black violence, paint a pessimistic outlook on race relations and the ability for marginalized individuals to overcome the oppressive structures embedded in civil society. To construct this commentary, the text employs symbolism to communicate the ways in which systemic and structural anti-blackness suppresses and oppresses Black communities.

(An emotional appeal to the audience) We are all a prostitute to something in this world doing things we don't want to do just to continue in life dealing with the forces that are constantly in our way. This is a relentless reality to the African-American people throughout the history of the United States. How much is one willing to let white men abuse and torment themselves as they dangle the keys to success right in front of oneself, all the while laughing at this “animal” that they see as nothing more than an inferior human to that of themselves as they believe that their skin color makes them superior to all of those unlike them. Ralph Ellison's Battle Royal is a story of just that, as a young, black man yearns to learn who, and what, he is in this world. He takes his grandfather's dying words to his soul of “I want you to overcome ‘em with yeses, un-determine ‘em with grins, agree ‘em to death and destruction” (Ellison 278) even then feeling uncomfortable and guilty. Through this young man's journey to find himself in this world that still laughs at the notion of racial equality, Ellison uses a viscous cast of society's highest “class”, along with men, who are both like and unlike him, who scrap at the scraps of leftovers from these white men to show this young, black man how worthless he is to white men and teach him an important lesson in his first step forward in his dive to the heart to find himself as person and the start of his journey in life as he faces racism

In the short stories “The Lesson,” by Bambara and “Battle Royal,” by Ralph Ellison, the authors use the idea of race determining the social structure in America where blacks are the socially inferior. In the short story “The Lesson,” by Bambara through fictional characters makes a serious social commentary. In the short story “Battle Royal,” by Ralph Ellison shows weakness and disorder of black identity in the early 1900s through the subjection of his young black narrator to a series of monstrous treatments by white man.

Ellison’s use of language helps imply the animalistic treatment of the young fighters (German). A writer for the Chicago Sun-Times, Michael Eric Dyson, is thoroughly amazed by Ellison’s wordplay by saying, “He spoke elegantly of the beautiful absurdity of the American identity (Dyson).” The choice of words Ellison navigate through America’s history of ideas (Dyson). The portrayal of fighters emphasize the fact that “blacks” were socially inferior. White’s would of never thought to view blacks in the same “league” with them. At this time, no one could imagine the battle royal happening with white’s fighting with an animalistic intentions, while rich, black men sat smoking cigars, cheering for brutality. By using nouns and adjectives, the description of the young fighting has a deeper, harsher connotation.

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

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

The story I have chosen to write my literary analysis on is Battle Royale", a short story by Ralph Ellison, written in 1952. This short story is the opening of a larger novel written by Ellison it is a story about a young black man, who has recently graduated high school. During the course of this story the boy’s grandfather dies and leaves the young man with some last words that he did not initially understand but close to the end of the story the words meaning become clearer to him. He lives in the south and is invited to give a speech at a gathering of the towns leading white citizens. Then the young man is made to take place in a battle royale with nine other young black men. Where they are treated very poorly and forced to endure terrible hardships. After taking part in the battle the young man gives a speech in front of a predominantly white crowd where he slips and says something that disturbs the crowd, the young man quickly corrects himself and then is praised by the people as a good black young man. The argument that I will be trying to address here is did the young man make the correct decision by accepting the white peoples praise and not speaking out against the injustice he had just been forced to endure. The reaction of the main character in this story depicts how not speaking up against injustice or racism is sometimes the best course of action.

John Keegan describes his book, The Face of Battle, as "a personal attempt to catch a glimpse of the face of battle." This personal aspect that Keegan mentions is essential to his book and is excellently articulated, driving home his point. Keegan, who taught at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for over 25 years, begins by acknowledging his uneasiness with the fact that even though he taught British cadets military history, "I have not been in a battle; not near one, nor heard one from afar, nor seen the aftermath . . . And I grow increasingly convinced that I have very little idea of what a battle can be like." Keegan is clear to state his proposition that almost all military history has functioned simply as a “battle piece” description in which one can see all the larger moving aspects followed by the outcome. However, this sort of recounting fails to acknowledge the personal side of war, the experience of battle. What really ensues when a cavalry unit meets an infantry unit? What are the vital features in determining whether soldiers stand and fight or turn and run?

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