Essay on Battle Royale by Ralph Ellison

Ralph Ellisons Battle Royal is a story about the struggle of the blacks in America for identity and equality. It showed how racial discrimination affected the growth of African-America community soon after slavery. Furthermore, he pointed out the atrociousness of the problems the African-American community faced to assert themselves. That was evident by the extreme nature of the events, which took place in the book. The book focuses on a young boy who was invited to give a public speech to a congregation full of educated white people. The Situations turned worse when he was made to participate in humiliating events, which were horrific only to entertain the white men. The greatest achievement of the story is how the writer renders his dreamlike and emotional recollections successfully. However, they often lack full details. The author used the setting of the story, point of view, characterization, the structure of the plot, symbolism, and style to highlight racism as the central theme.

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The setting of the story is at the end of 1920s or the beginning of 1930 in the American south. The setting is imperative because it showed the widespread racism that affected the lives of the people living in that areas at the time. Likewise, racism is the main point of discussion in the book. The first victim of racism was the protagonist himself who was as invisible to the whites because of his black skin color. The first chapter of the book is explicitly positioned in the main ballroom of a hotel. In the hall, the boys are brought into a boxing ring when they are blindfolded and wearing boxing gloves. Furthermore, they are forced to fight against each other in a Battle Royal. All those takes place just for the amusement of the audience who are predominantly white people. The protagonist believed that being obedient is the only way to achieve success as a young man who is black. He, therefore, acquiesces to the demands of the white people to take part in the fight instead of delivering his speech. He sacrificed his dignity in the process.The white men stop the boys even though they tried to leave and ordered to get into the ring. That shows the level of racial discrimination that they experience as the white did not respect their opinions instead forced them to fight.

The point of view and narration of the story is in the first person.The reader is addressed directly with a tone, which implies a certain naivete. The book conveys the confusion of the writer in the most appealing way. That is seen by the incapability of the protagonist to undergoes the humiliations he sustains in the presence of his so-called benefactors, renders his sense of accomplishment to be pathetic. The inhumane treatment was seen through representations of the scenes, which were violent both regarding physical and psychological to the readers.From that experience, one is expected to hear the declaration of resentment and resistance. However, the reader understands at the end the disparaging repercussions of the competition as the protagonist advances and becomes the winner of scholarship accolade. Despite all the challenges he faced, his views remained confident in life.

The writer Ralph Ellison managed to develop a good plot through characterization in the book. He portrayed the protagonist as a lonely man who struggles to search for his identity and tries to understand everything that was happening in his environment. The well-developed character helps bring out the central theme, which is racism in the post-slavery era. Through the realization of the innocence of the protagonist, the theme is apparently set off by the white men in the ballroom force him to participate in the fight against his will. Furthermore, they are compelled to watch a stripper dancing naked at the front of the hall. After the battle of royal and fighting each other because of the influence of the wealthy white folks, the protagonist gives his speech of appreciation to his benefactor who is also white. The constant interruption and mockery during his speech until he became confused as he talks about social responsibility and equality is also another form of racial discrimination. "You sure that about 'equality' was a mistake?. Eventually, he gets a scholarship to a Negros College. That was a breakthrough in his quest to find himself. No sooner had he joined the college than he was sent away by Dr.Bledsoe, the college principle. After that event, the protagonist loses motivation and feels that he is losing his identity. That instigate an atmosphere of confusion as he is now brought in a quarrel against himself.

Battle Royal structure, which underlies the narrative, attracts racism. The protagonist and his fellow black boys are given false promises, only to lure them into the site of the Battle. For instance, the main character was told that he was present to read his speech, which was one of the best as they viewed it. He is enthusiastic to impress the Whiteman with his intellectual and writing ability instead he ends up fighting his fellow boys in the presence of a half-naked stripper for only a few coins. They, therefore, feel humiliated and pain as they are the primary source of entertainment for the whites against their wish. Moreover, the white men in the room laugh loudly at their sight, particularly when they are shocked as they pick the coins, which were electrified. The inhumane treatment of the black boys by the white men demonstrated further the theme of racism.

Ellison utilized the use of symbolic imagery to illustrate the central focus of the story. The battle of royal symbolizes the constant struggle between the African-American and the whites. It shows all the humiliation the black have to sustain in real life just the way the protagonist faced humiliation in the ring together with his fellow blacks. Black are automatically in a constant struggle with the white whether they are bright or weak. The protagonist was a part of the black collective, and he did not want to be there as seen in his statement that he felt superior to them in his way and didnt like the manner in which they were all crowded together into the servants elevator. Likewise, the writer portrayed the black community as people who were willing to hurt each other for them to succeed or get a favor in life. Similarly, the book uses animal imagery, which dehumanized further the characters in the story. For instance, they were compared to intoxicated pandas eyes the color of a baboons butt. The nature of both white and blacks are brought out clearly from the imagery used. The whites are portrayed as racist while black as vulnerable and will even harm themselves to please the whites.

Different styles are used in the narrative to demonstrate the theme further and to make the story interesting. The descriptions in Battle Royal are very accurate to help the reader have a clear picture of the scene. The writer gives a clear description of the ballroom as a large room with a high ceiling. Chairs are arranged in neat rows on three sides of a portable boxing ring. The fourth side was clear, revealing a gleaming space of polished floor. Similarly, the use of irony in the story is from his grandfather who was a kind of man who did not create much trouble, but at the end, he told his grandson to keep up the fight. The description of the people who attended the smoker as well-dressed, distinguished males in an expensive hotel and they operated like animals is also an irony. Furthermore, the exaggeratedly rhetorical style of his speech on graduation slyly makes fun of the overwrought prose of that genre: that they of the younger generation exalt the knowledge of a great leader and educator who first spoke those flaming words of wisdom. The styles employed in the story made it more interesting by apparently bringing out the real characteristics of the white on the blacks.

In conclusion, the story Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison showed the struggle of the blacks after the post slavery. The central theme, which is racial discrimination, is brought out through the setting of the story, point of view, characterization, the structure of the plot, symbolism, and style as evident above. Even though the settings of the story is a long ago, it depicts what is happen in the contemporary world.