Symbolism in "Battle Royal"
In Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal," the narrator is forced to endure humiliating racial and cruel actions in order to move up in his world. The symbolism in "Battle Royal" significantly portrays African American life in the early to mid-1900s. The narrator in this story is subjected to various instances of racism and cruelty for the amusement of the white higher-ups. Ellison's uses of the naked white woman, the electrified rug, and the battle royal itself all help to testify to the struggles which African Americans' have had to endure. In "Battle Royal," the narrator and the other black boys are forced to watch a naked white woman dance seductively. Jeers from the crowd of white men threaten the boys if they look and also if they don't,
African Americans, then being generally uneducated, had very little to fight with but much to fight against. With little opportunity for work, blacks were forced to compete with each other for the low paying jobs they could find. The type of blind fighting is symbolic of African Americans' blind fight for freedom and equality. After the naked white woman danced, the boys were put into the ring and blindfolded and told to fight each other. The white woman is used to represent all the benefits of being white, and shows the black boys that they could never have something so forbidden. The symbols in "Battle Royal" are abundant and easily symbolize African American struggles in the early 19th century. Eagerly, the boys start collecting money only to be shocked by the rug which, as they learn, is electrified. Although "blind" by lack of knowledge, they fought no less than a more enlightened person, desiring their equality with a fervor little seen in history. The white men use her to embarrass the boys and also to show their dominance over the boys. After fighting, the boys are taken to a rug which has bills and coins on it and told to grab as much as they can. The largest symbol in "Battle Royal" was the battle royal itself. This symbolizes the employment situation that African Americans' had been placed in after they were allowed their freedom. Blacks were allowed their freedom to work after being enslaved for so long that they, like the boys in "Battle Royal," eagerly leaped upon the chance to earn a living. This unfair treatment is well symbolized by Ellison with his use of the electrified rug.
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Acceptance Essays
