What Is The Theme Of Battle Royal By Ralph Ellison

African Americans are fighting for their lives in a war that they do not even know exist. In Ralph Ellison’s short story, “Battle Royal,” this idea is made clear by the narrators struggle to be seen as an equal among the white men in the story. Ellison uses a white woman, a blindfold, and an electric rug as symbols to illustrate the struggles African Americans face.

   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

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 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

The short story, Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison, a blindfold is used as one of the major symbols of the story. The blindfold symbolizes the narrator’s inability to see the battle he is truly up against. The African American narrator of the short story is invited to give a speech at a gathering of some of the towns white citizens after successfully delivering the same speech at his graduation. When the narrator arrives he is subjected to doing horrifying things. One of which is having to blindly and brutally fight some of his black schoolmates all of whom are also blindfolded. While the narrator is in the ring taking hard hits, his thoughts return speech. He is so focused on delivering a speech of quality that will win over the white audience. The narrator states, “The harder we fought the more threatening the men became. And yet, I had begun to worry about my speech again. How would it go? Would they recognize my ability? What would they give me” (Ellison 6)? The narrator is so blindly focused on receiving admiration from the

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

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.

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.