Free Essays on Battle Royal

In Ralph Ellison’s short story, â€Å"Battle Royal†, a young man is coming to the realization of what his ailing grandfather was asking of him on his deathbed. The main character or narrator of the story goes through a dramatic ordeal that will hopefully open his eyes to ways of the world. The story has many symbols throughout that relate to the moral in many different ways. In one way it is symbolic of the African Americans’ struggle for equality throughout our nation’s history. The author uses the blonde white woman, a rug, constant lies by the white man, and other symbols to show the various hardships that the narrator must endure, in his quest to deliver his speech, and all are representative of the many hardships that blacks went through and go through now in a fight for equality. The narrator in Ellison’s short story suffers much even though he is considered to be one of the brighter young men in the black community. The young man is given the opportunity to give a speech to some of the more prestigious white individuals. The harsh treatment that he is dealt in order to perform his task is very symbolic. The young man expects to deliver his speech to a warm crowd. But what faces him is something that he never could have imagined. He is informed that he has to participate in a â€Å"Battle Royal† with his peers for the amusement of the onlookers which can be related to the â€Å"lions mouth† (Ellison 270) that his grandfather spoke of before he died. This also denotes the thinking of some white individuals to let blacks kill themselves while they [whites] sit back and watch with amusement. The â€Å"Battle Royal† itself represents the many hardships that black people endure while they fight to be treated equally in this nation. The harsh conditions that the boys’ face in the battle royal is horrendous. At first the boys are ushered into a room where a nude woman is dancing. The white men yell at the boys for looking and ... Free Essays on Battle Royal Free Essays on Battle Royal The African Americans’ struggle for equality throughout history can be viewed through Ralph Ellison’s short story Battle Royal. The numerous hardships that the narrator must withstand, in his pursuit to read a speech, can be considered to represent the many hardships the African American people went through to gain equality. The narrator of the story is considered to be one of the brighter youths in his black community. He was given the simple, but yet honorable opportunity, to deliver a speech in front of the more prestigious white community members, which he accepted graciously. However, the suffering and punishment that lied ahead, in order for him to deliver his speech, was unimaginable. The harsh treatment that he is put through is quite symbolic. It represents the many hardships that the African American people had to bear in their battle to be treated equally. Entering the hotel anxious to deliver his speech the narrator discovers that he was going to be part of a battle royal which, consisted of nine of his schoolmates and a boxing ring. If he had only knew this was only the beginning of the numerous harsh conditions that he was going to face that evening. The boys are first ushered into a room where a nude white woman is dancing for the amusement of white drunken men. As the boys continue walking, white spectators begin yelling at the boys for looking and others yelling for not looking at the nude woman. It seems as if the spectators are showing them all the good things that being white can bring, and then telling them that were not good enough to view her since they were black. Next, the boys were forced to compete in the battle royal. After being blindfolded the boys begin to beat one another furiously. The narrator then began taking a severe beating from each of the other nine fighters. â€Å"Then it seemed as though all nine of the boys had turned upon me at once. A glove connected with my head, fillin... Free Essays on Battle Royal If a person were to ponder the many choices they have made throughout their lives, one question would be repetitive in their thought: was it free will, or fate? In many instances, people conclude that it was their free will that determined their fate. Others conclude that fate is predetermined no matter what you do. In Ralph Ellison’s Battle Royal, it seems that, no matter how hard the young African American boy, Ralph, tries or attempts, it appears that the status of his life has already been determined. Throughout the story, there are three significant symbols that show us his life is predetermined. The first symbol appears in the form of a blindfold. Ralph is asked to go to a grand hotel to give a speech to all of the town’s big shot white men. However, something else is in store for him. Upon his arrival, he is soon taken out of his clothes and put into a fighting tog. He is then put into a ring with many other boys for a free for all fight. However, the boys are blindfolded, taking away their sight, the most essential sense in a fight. This blindfold is a symbol of their free will being taken away and ultimately determining their fate. Before Ralph even has a choice, the choice is essentially made for him. Finally, after Ralph has completed all the theatrics that were in store for him, he was going to deliver his speech. All torn up and bloodied from the battle royal, Ralph looked utterly ridiculous in delivering his speech. Upon completion of the speech, Ralph was presented with a briefcase. In the briefcase was a college scholarship. One would think that after all the boy has been through in his life, not to mention the last couple of hours, it would appear that his hard work had paid off. However this is not the case. Even though these objects may be a symbol of status, in reality they in no way help Ralph move up in the world. This scholarship was to a college that was an all African American school, wh... Free Essays on Battle Royal In Ralph Ellison’s short story, â€Å"Battle Royal†, a young man is coming to the realization of what his ailing grandfather was asking of him on his deathbed. The main character or narrator of the story goes through a dramatic ordeal that will hopefully open his eyes to ways of the world. The story has many symbols throughout that relate to the moral in many different ways. In one way it is symbolic of the African Americans’ struggle for equality throughout our nation’s history. The author uses the blonde white woman, a rug, constant lies by the white man, and other symbols to show the various hardships that the narrator must endure, in his quest to deliver his speech, and all are representative of the many hardships that blacks went through and go through now in a fight for equality. The narrator in Ellison’s short story suffers much even though he is considered to be one of the brighter young men in the black community. The young man is given the opportunity to give a speech to some of the more prestigious white individuals. The harsh treatment that he is dealt in order to perform his task is very symbolic. The young man expects to deliver his speech to a warm crowd. But what faces him is something that he never could have imagined. He is informed that he has to participate in a â€Å"Battle Royal† with his peers for the amusement of the onlookers which can be related to the â€Å"lions mouth† (Ellison 270) that his grandfather spoke of before he died. This also denotes the thinking of some white individuals to let blacks kill themselves while they [whites] sit back and watch with amusement. The â€Å"Battle Royal† itself represents the many hardships that black people endure while they fight to be treated equally in this nation. The harsh conditions that the boys’ face in the battle royal is horrendous. At first the boys are ushered into a room where a nude woman is dancing. The white men yell at the boys for looking and ...