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Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal"

Introduction

Ralph Ellison's Battle Royal is a short story from his book the invisible man written in 1952. The books revolves around the narrator who hears his grandfathers absurd words during his death, he spoke about being a traitor and urges every person around him to kill the white community with kindness. The boy keeps his grandfathers words with him and is known for his humility and humble nature. However he is forcefully asked to participate in the Battle Royal which depicts the biggest struggle of the black people to achieve social equality and justice. The theme of the story is on the quest of obtaining social (Ralph, 2011, pp. 258-269).

Discussion

Analysis of the main character from the book

The main character in the battle Royal is the narrator who depicts the psychological turmoil of the black society back in the days when they were humiliated, discriminated and had no resources available. Since the narrator is kept anonymous the conclusion can be drawn that he is used as a depiction of the whole African American community. The character of the narrator is shown as someone going on in life with humility as he was instructed by his grandfather. The child appears to be confused and assumes that submitting to the white community will make life easier for him. The narrator is someone who is intelligent in comparison to the other black kids who were to take part in the battle royal.

The first obvious trait of the narrator's character is his naivety which is apparent from his belief that he is cursed by his grandfather's deathbed words. Since he craves to fit into the community he takes on his grandfathers words even though at times he considers those words as a curse and strives to ...