"Battle Royal" by Ralph Ellison

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, when this story was written in 1947, black society in the U.S. was struggling to find an identity for itself separate from the oppressive stereotypes forced upon it by a white culture, which was blind to its own intolerance. The author points out that Ellison uses the theme of blindness throughout the story as he describes the interactions between the narrator and the characters in the story. The paper describes the story, beginning with a strange description of the death of the narrator's grandfather.

From the Paper:

"The boxing match begins when the boys are blindfolded and pushed into the ring. The narrator, afraid of the blindfold, says, "Now I felt a sudden fit of blind terror" (Ellison, 265). Just moments before the blindfold in put into place, the narrator is lost within his own thoughts of his speech, saying, "In my mind each word was as bright as a flame" (Ellison, 265). By covering his eyes, the window to his inner thoughts, the blindfold serves to remove from the narrator the flame of knowledge that had burned within. When all his thoughts are on the staged battle against people of his own race, the narrator is no longer able to retreat into the world of his own knowledge. As the fighting begins, the boys swing blindly around them, trying only to stay standing."

More papers on "Battle Royal" by Ralph Ellison:

• Analytical Essay # 88501 : "Ralph Ellison and "Battle Royal"
• Analytical Essay # 140690 : "Symbolism in "Battle Royal"
• Analytical Essay # 29624 : "Battle Royal" and Struggle for Identity"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: