Battle Royal
"Battle Royal" by Ralph Ellison is a chapter out of his reputable book The Invisible Man. Ellison was born in Oklahoma City in the year 1914 and in the course of his life he witnessed the civil rights movement. Ellison was influenced by these events and chooses to speak out through his writings. In this short story the narrator goes through a difficult circumstance; he is striving for his educational goal and terrorized on his way. To go through these horrid events the narrator had to have been strong and brave, but on the other hand foolish. The protagonist shows strong qualities throughout the story. In the beginning of the story the narrator show the typical view upon his people,
Only a strong person would be able to go through such a task; to be made fun of, beaten, laughed upon some more, and finally to make a speech. This panel is assumed to be made up of rich Caucasian who will decide to grant him a scholarship to a university. In my eyes the narrator is a little foolish to go through such an event. In all respect, the narrator knowing he wouldn't receive what is intended wouldn't of even committed to participating. The response he got was an answer that other people decided upon. The narrator basically gives in to what the audience wanted and performs a show for a prize of something he didn't want. "I want to get at that ginger-colored nigger. The man continues on after being humiliated and beaten. "all my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was" (Ellison 1). Again the narrator is a brave man to know what he wants to be (different than common) and to fight for it. The narrator wants something for his life, and was determined to find it. On top of the narrators strength he is also brave. He knew this had to change; and decided to fight for what he wanted. The narrator has a lot of courage to continue on with his speech after being humiliated and beaten. He is forced to fight among other African-American people for a chance to recite a speech in front of a panel.
Common topics in this essay:
Oklahoma City,
Battle Royal,
Ralph Ellison,
battle royal,
Invisible Ellison,
humiliated beaten,
strong brave,
story narrator,
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