Analysis Of The Poem ' Battle Royal '

In all aspects of life, Humans spend an incredible amount of time wondering if their class is high enough and acceptable. We tend to care so much about what others think of us, that we expect so much more from ourselves than what is possible. Which, in short represents that we are not living for ourselves. The lives we were given to enjoy as a whole and embrace. Rather we are living someone else’s life, which locks us in a dark prison of expectations and the key to freedom gets thrown away. Living a life where you care so much about what others think of you is as if we are nothing but sheep being herded to the final slaughterhouse! In “Rocking Horse Winner”, the author D.H. Lawrence paints a portrait of how the mother Hester can never truly be satisfied with what she poseses since she is always worried about the status and ranking of her class. The most important concern to her is looking respectable, presentable, and nice. In addition, in the story “A Goodman Is Hard To Find”, the author Flannery O’Connor paints the same portrait representing how the Grandmother always has to look presentable, and how she always has to look like a lady. Both of these characters in both stories have the same problem in common. They both are haunted by the fact that they

James Baldwin “Sonny’s Blues” and “Battle Royal” Ralph Ellison are two stories by young african american men in the 50’s. Racial abuse was in abundance during this era. In both stories race has an important role however, in “Battle Royal” Ellison used race as the driving force of the story. In “Sonny’s Blues” Baldwin uses race as an important theme but is subtle as opposed to Ellison who directly addresses race as the issue. “Sonny’s Blues” and “Battle Royal” depicted the suffering of young black men in harlem, and illustrated the struggle of generation past and present; and the vicious cycle of the stereotype of african americans. African americans during this time endured in environment of hatred, but not only by whites but also by themselves, they hated who they were because they weren't white, in order for a person to be accepted in society or seen as valuable african americans believed they had to be white.

The point of view in Ralph Ellison’s “Battle Royal” comes strictly from his trials and tribulations that he has overcome as a young black writer that began before the nineteen Fifties. Ralph Ellison was a black writer who was born on March 1, 1914 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma only seven years after it had actually became a state. After completing the lengthy research of this man and his works I found that Ellison once had considered becoming a classical music composer after getting the idea from a nineteenth century opera composer named Richard Wagner. The reading of “Battle Royal" from “Literature An Introduction to reading and writing” by Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig Tenth Edition was actually the first chapter of Ellison’s novel

In Ralph Ellison’s short story “Battle Royal,” the experiences of a Black narrator, specifically those molded by the brutal hands of anti-black violence, paint a pessimistic outlook on race relations and the ability for marginalized individuals to overcome the oppressive structures embedded in civil society. To construct this commentary, the text employs symbolism to communicate the ways in which systemic and structural anti-blackness suppresses and oppresses Black communities.

Ralph Ellison’s short story “Battle Royal,” is set in the deep south during the late 1940’s era. Racial tension in the south has always been exorbitantly high. In the 1940’s keeping segregation is still a priority for half the population in the southern states, slavery may be abolished but the physical act of welcoming African-Americans as “Americans” is far from the minds of many Americans. Ellison’s short story accentuates this idea of racial tension and social standards, between the elites of the town and the very intelligent former high school graduate. The story touches on a sensitive topic that America has yet to realize, and it is that people that are considered to be minorities can be subjected to be oppressed, based on their

Black men in America are in a constant state of one-sided battling. It has become a never ending struggle where they must continuously fight the odds set against them. Ralph Ellison conveys this message in his short story “Battle Royal” using two main literary devices. Learned diction is Ellison’s main tool for demonstrating this fight, using it as both a method of describing the intensity of the character’s conflicts and as a weapon to defend himself in his own fight. The other device is the author’s extremely frequent use of overwrought similes. For how else is Ellison to compare the fight he and every other black man has faced than by comparing it to what anyone else would know?

Ralph Ellison’s short story, Battle Royal, is mainly an account of the African American struggle for equality and identity. The narrator of the story is an above average youth of the African American community [Goldstein-Shirlet, 1999]. He is given an opportunity to give a speech to some of the more prestigious white individuals. His expectations of being received in a positive and normal environment are drastically dashed when he is faced with the severity of the process he must deal with in order to accomplish his task.

The struggles of many black is should never be described lightly. Many african americans were treated like animals and never was given the respected deserved. In the story, Battle Royal, by Ralph Ellison, a young African American man is trying to fit into white society that holds majority of blacks back. During the beginning, the narrator is bewildered by his grandfather 's last words. His grandfather spoke out about being a traitor in front of his family. The family was confused and concerned about the remarks that the grandfather 's had made. His words have been kept behind his mind. Soon after the grandfather death, the narrator is anticipated to give a speech at his high school graduation party located in the nearest local hotel. Little does he know, he is forced to participates in a duel between other young American men in his class in front of local white leaders. Throughout the fight the young African man becomes very concerned about giving his speech. Through the story of battle royal, the author sends the message of the struggle of poor treatment to color people and shows being meekly will help your situation.

We were all humans until race disconnected us, religion separated us, politics divided us, and wealth classified us.” – Anonymous. In “Battle Royal” Ralph Ellison, displays that African-Americans being freed from slavery did not bring them equality to the white-superiors using allegory and symbolism. The grandfathers last words, the desperation of the narrator wanting to read his speech, the battle and the nightmare all represent what Ellison is displaying. The narrator opens to the audience explaining his grandfather’s last word to his father. Some of what the grandfather says is, " 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.” (2) The grandfathers last words show symbolism and appear to the narrator’s life throughout the story. What the grandfather is telling his son is to step on rocks and pebbles while he is with the white people. He is telling him to live with the fact that the whites can end him at any moment and to always say yes and nod at them. To always smile and never show anger for your life could get worse.

Institutionalized racism remains as one of the dominate ways in which one race stays in control over other races, in “Battle Royal” by Ralph Ellison its illustrated socially, also economically in African Americans but it’s displayed through the men. In other words, the history of battling to survive and overcome institutionalized racism is the same as the battle of slavery the protagonist and is family are giving the tools to survive before the patriarch of the family dies. These two issues of social and economic are just two ways in which the elite whites kept African Americans in servitude and bondage of the mind, having them to think they couldn’t achieve greatness in life except for what was allowed by the dominate race. The narration within “Battle Royal” depicts a struggle that is passed down from one generation to the next until an elder in the family leaves a plan of survival.

The narrator delivers a well-received discourse at his graduation, which he describes by saying, "On my graduation day I delivered an oration in which I showed that humility was the secret, indeed, the very essence of progress. (Not that I believed this -- how could I, remembering my grandfather? -- I only believed that it worked)" (Ellison 938). The acceptance of the narrator's speech affords him the opportunity to address an assembly of prominent members of the white community, but first he must survive the Battle Royal, a boxing war in the ring against fellow African Americans. The Battle Royal is symbolic of the fight that many blacks wage against themselves to gain money, position, and prominence. The narrator is forced to participate in a battle against blacks before he speaks. This conflict illustrates a powerful tool used by the southern white man, by encouraging infighting, the African American community is kept from uniting, in unity, freedom could be gained.

Whether we live in the past or the future, we will always see people making the same mistake repeatedly. In stories The Lottery and Battle Royal, Shirley Jackson and Ralph Ellison purposely write about subjects that the public continuously harass without definite solutions over the past sixty years. While Jackson discusses the superfluous traditions using her unique style, Ellison focuses on segregation of the black communities through a view of a young black man. Such are the issues the two author brought up that are still in discussion and yet have been resolved. In fact, we can still observe the events the authors created exists today as a modified twenty-first-century version of the situations.

The short story “Battle Royal” is written by Ralph Ellison and takes place in an era that had a great amount of racial prejudice. The story starts off with the main character, the boy, who tells readers he was struggling with finding a purpose for himself. Later, he mentions his grandpa; his grandpa was someone he looked up to greatly. His grandpa was unique because he got along well with the whites, in a peaceful matter. He encouraged the boy to fight for freedom, and to fight for what others were afraid to, without harsh words and violence. Because the boy was following along with what the whites expected of him, humility, he was asked to give a speech. This later turns into a fighting match and

The book’s character’s main problem is finding individuality in racism. For the duration of the book, the narrator is constantly fighting racism and stereotypes. Ellison put many examples in the book to help show the character’s fight to be seen equal. Ellison shows that, through the character himself, that you can not tell people who to be. However, Ellison throws curves at the narrator that challenges

Following his early-morning duties, on his way to see Fleur, Percival mused about all how Fleur made his life easier and better. She was the one to deal with obtaining new clothes for Rion, she prepared all of their meals when they did not eat in the Dining Hall; she even mended Percival’s socks. Fleur kept everything in Percival’s life organized and running smoothly. And she had taken care of all the details for their upcoming wedding, from securing Geoffrey of Monmouth to act as officiant that day to handling the menu for the wedding feast. Percival tried to think of how he had made her life easier, but he could not come up with anything. All he could offer was his love and promise to care for her always. He hoped that was enough.