The Grandfathers Dream in Battle Royal
The Grandfather's Dream in Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal" Symbolism is used throughout Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal". Symbols have more than one meaning than what appears to be the central idea. Symbols in this story are very contradictory. The main character is also the narrator who tells the story after he has become an educated adult. In Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal" symbolism is used in the narrator's dream of his Grandfather to make him realize what he would have to achieve and strive for to have a successful life. The Grandfather had been a meek person all his life. On his deathbed he said some words that startled his family. He said, "our life is a war and I have been a traitor all my born days, a spy in the enemy'' country..."(223). Instead of the Grandfather being direct with his family his last words were full of symbolism. This puzzled the family. It would be up to them to interpret what the Grandfather meant. The Grandfathers last words caused anxiety among the family. The narrator let the words disturb him when he did something good. The narrator said, "The old man's words were like a curse" (244). He felt this way because he did not understand his Grandfathers cautious way of telling him h
The Grandfather knew that the only way his family would understand how he felt about holding his tongue and not being able to gain respect of others was for his family to get the message and use it to their advantage. The dream happened after he went through a traumatic situation with some of the most respected people in town. The Grandfather told him to open an envelope. When the narrator got the message the Grandfather told him to read it out loud. The message read, "Keep This Nigger Boy Running" (233)". He wanted his family to realize no matter how good you treat people they still may not have respect for you. Clowns will do basically anything to get you to smile, but the Grandfather did not laugh no matter what the clown did. He did not want his family to live as a peasant like he did. The envelope looked official and had the state seal. After opening that envelope there were several others inside. He knew that he will never be able to finish his education. This let the narrator know that it was an important document inside. The narrator knew how the Grandfather felt but failed to realize his message. It did not matter to the town that he was graduating at the top of his class, all they saw was the color of his skin. This represented how everyone can look at him and tell that he is a black person and that is all they will see.
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