Commentary on Battle Royal
Ralph Ellison's short story, Battle Royal, takes place in any small town in the south. The main focus of this story is the reoccurring incidences of racial inequality. This is a story of several generations of an Afro-American family that dream about improving their lives in a racially segregated America. In the beginning of the story, a dying old man tells his son that he should "keep up the fight". This was in reference to the fight for social equality. The grandfather also said to his son "Live with your head in the lion's mouth. I want you to overcome'em with yeses, undermine'em with grins, agree'em to death and destruction, let'em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open." This meant that the dying grandfather wanted his offspring to be strong and stand up for minority rights. He thought that his son should be polite and use non-violent means to achieve social equality. The main character in the story was the old man's grandson. He was a great public speaker who won a competition to speak at a large, private party made up of some of the top social figures in the local community. When the boy got there he saw the school superintendent, policemen, lawyers, bankers and even
) An obviously demeaning and insulting deed, the attendees at the party thought that the boys were less intelligent since they were black This was the time in the program where he got to make his speech. The idea that brutality was acceptable for a lesser race was shown in this story. The school superintendent yells at the boys in the ring saying "Let me at that big nigger!" Racial slurs were constantly being hurled at the contestants. He seems to be saying that perhaps he not only needed more education, but also more experience in life. " It took a little while for the crowd to stop talking, but he eventually got to speak. These boys were treated as just another piece of entertainment for the whites. (Later these are found out to be just coins advertising a certain make of car, and not actually real currency. " This symbolizes how the whites were keeping him running along the path of life and he didn't realize how they were making him conform to their wants. In a way,the white men who mocked him and his black friends in the battle royal, had also givenhim a terrific opportunity to fulfill his grandfather's request. "The crowd was silent, then sounds of displeasure filled the room.
Common topics in this essay:
Battle Royal,
Nigger-Boy Running,
Tuskegee University,
social equality,
Ralph Ellison's,
battle royal,
Ben Riley,
stop talking,
black boy,
school superintendent,
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