- Answer 3 questions of your choice:
- What is the significance of the first person narration in Ralph Ellison’s “Battle Royal”?
- Why does the narrator need to first discover that he is an invisible man in order to understand who he is?
- What is the significance of the grandfather’s dying speech? Why does he call himself a traitor and a spy in the enemy’s country?
- Comment on the significance of the circus imagery as used in the story. Give examples.
- In “Battle Royal”, animal imagery is used very often. Identify the references to animals in the story (for example, “lion”, “baboon”, “bird”, “panda”, “cottonmouth”, “wolf”, “crab”, “rat”…) and discuss how they contribute to the story.
- Examine the references to the “magnificent blonde” in the story. What animal imagery is used in her portrayal? What does she mean to the white audience? What does she mean to the black boys taking part in the battle royal? How do the black boys react to her and why?
- Examine the narrator’s reactions towards the “magnificent blonde”. Give examples.
- What is the resemblance between the white female body and the black male bodies as depicted in the story?
- Why do you think there is always an emphasis on “blindness” in the story? Provide examples.
- What is the significance of Booker T. Washington in the story?
- What is the symbolic value of the battle royal?
- What could be the significance of the smoky atmosphere in the hall where the battle royal takes place?
- What is the significance of the fight on an electrified rug?
- How does Ellison’s story challenge the respectability of the white Southern male?
- At the end of the story, the narrator dreams that he is at a circus with his grandfather: why does the grandfather refuse to laugh at the clowns?
- Comment on the following quote from the story: “To Whom It May Concern… Keep This Nigger-Boy Running”.
- What do you think about the ending of the story? To what extent do you think the narrator has gained maturity?
- Examine the theme of “American Dream” in the story.
- How does the story define the concept of “success”?
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Battle Royal Questions
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The grandfather’s speech is significant because he offers advice for success that his grandson carries with him, initially as a burden, and later as a lesson. He refers to himself as a spy in the enemy’s country as a reminder that he should never become too comfortable because he is not free in America. He expresses that America is the white man’s not the black man’s. He refers to himself as a traitor because the act of not resisting, as his grandson feels he must also take part in, is a form of resistance, which is not immediately apparent to the white man, who does not realize this lack of resistance betrays an institution which feeds on the system of racist oppression and begs the black man to fight back.
ReplyDeleteEllison’s story challenges the respectability of the white, southern male because it portrays the image as animal-like, surrounded by chaos, and incapable of self control. The way the men react to the presence of the woman is similar to the way in which a caveman may respond, falling over themselves with lust, overcome by their own erections, and tossing her around like a football, illustrates them as unruly, brutish, and hungry.
The end of the story is somewhat disappointing, as it is only natural to sort of want the narrator to stoop to the level of the white men and pull them onto the electric rug, and hurt them as they have done him, but it is also satisfying that he does not. The narrator swallows his blood, gives his speech, and acquires the scholarship and the briefcase. By allowing the white man to believe he has won in this instance, he becomes capable of moving beyond the experience and on to better things. This shows the narrator that his grandfather was correct in telling him that he should pretend to be meek and submissive in the white man’s eye in order to get ahead.
The narrator needs to first discover that he is an invisible man in order to understand who he is because his background puts him at a social disadvantage where he is pushed to the side because of his race and inferior in the eyes of white supremacists. This sense of invisibility in the eyes of social giants is important for the narrator to analyze when he builds an image of himself. Social context and one’s opportunities are highly influential in terms of personal identity and the narrator, throughout the story, seems to accept this invisibility of himself and others like him because he believes that is the only way to survive. Regardless of whether the narrator chose to fight against this oppression or not, an understanding of how society has been constructed was necessary for him to make that choice and create an own understanding of his being.
ReplyDeleteBooker T. Washington is significant in this story because his philosophy for the advancement of black people was to work within the system and strive for economic success rather than fighting for social change. He believed that if black people displayed their success and worked hard that white people would have no choice but to respect them. Obviously, there are major flaws in this process. The grandfather in the beginning of the story has lived by Washington’s words by being the kind of person white people want him to be, but explains that he feels that he has been betraying his own kind because of that. The narrator, throughout the story, also follows this philosophy and plays by the rules, his speech containing quotes from Washington and being praised by the white audience, only reprimanded when speaking the words “social equality”. Washington’s beliefs are a driving force in the narrator’s upbringing and present a major theme of the story, pointing out the pitfalls of conforming to superior beliefs instead of fighting back to gain the rights that black people deserve.
The American Dream is prevalent in the story because the narrator wants, more than anything, to be successful and be deemed successful by his superiors. When he, as a black man, is praised for a speech he gives at his graduation and is invited to give the speech once again in front of the most powerful white men of society. He takes this as an opportunity to reach his goal, but once he gets there and is forced to fight in the Battle Royal, he does not fight back. Since he acts in such a passive manner, he is awarded with a scholarship to a college, a part of his journey to the American Dream. The social commentary of the story also proposes that the American Dream is controlled by white men. The woman in the story, although she is white, is still degraded and treated like an object and the black men treated like animals. The only way for them to achieve is to play by another’s rules. The American Dream is a strong theme in the story in terms of the narrator’s goals but the connotations are not always all that positive.
-Comment on the following quote from the story: “To Whom It May Concern… Keep This Nigger-Boy Running”.
ReplyDeleteThough it is short and to the point, the it encompasses a strong idea—the idea that an individual, in this case a black individual, can work and work to get respect, but never really get it or go anywhere. The narrator dreams that the scholarship to the black college is one way for white people to keep him running in place and that a college education won’t actually change his life. This is an interesting mindset as it encompasses much of the African American community. Many black people have dreams of college, not specifically tailored to white people, but don’t follow through because they believe it’ll just be a waste of their time and they won’t be able to get a job. Though this is a genuine concern for all races, it becomes especially challenging due to the fact that African Americans are paid less at every education level, from a high school degree to a PhD—it’s always a game of “catch up,” as the quote encompasses.
-Examine the narrator’s reactions towards the “magnificent blonde”.
When he first sees the “magnificent blonde,” the narrator and the other spectators all lower their heads, trying to look away. While this initially seems like they’re trying to be respectful, they lower their heads because they feel guilty. Even with this guilt, the narrator still feels compelled to stare. He says that even if looking caused him to go blind, he’d still take the risk. From there, the narrator examines every action the blonde makes, comparing them to circus animals.
-What is the resemblance between the white female body and the black male bodies as depicted in the story?
The white female body and the black male body are both compared to animals. However, the woman is used to make the black males feel ashamed and emasculated. The woman is used to make the black man feel guilty and almost ashamed of his desires.
This animal imagery contributes to the story by developing the dynamic that exists between the white men and the narrator, and black people in general. It emphasizes the superior position of white people over black people in society at this time, which still persists in modern times. It also conveys an animalistic nature that exists in the violence and aggression of the white men in the story. They are constantly threatening and abusing the narrator, much like a predator to prey. The imagery works to clearly signify this dynamic and convey it to the audience in an effective way.
ReplyDeleteBooker T. Washington is significant in this story because of his social philosophy that black people should strive for economic success rather than social equality. He believed that if black people were able to attain with success with hard work, white people would have no choice but to respect them as equal beings. He claims that it is better and more effective to take a passive approach, which many viewed as appeasement of white people and weakness amongst black people. Washington’s speech was also present as the narrator quoted it heavily in his graduation speech, prompting anger in the white men. Washington was directly referenced in order to allude to his teachings, though they were mostly met with criticism in the story.
Ellison’s story challenges the respectability of the white Southern male because they are depicted as sadistic racists who force black men into a boxing ring to brutally fight each other. Later, they also electrocute the men, tricking them into fighting over fake money. They are purely evil in this story, though it only accentuated the racist qualities that the vast majority of white Southern men already possessed.
-In “Battle Royal”, animal imagery is used very often. Identify the references to animals in the story (for example, “lion”, “baboon”, “bird”, “panda”, “cottonmouth”, “wolf”, “crab”, “rat”…) and discuss how they contribute to the story.
ReplyDeleteAnimal imagery is used throughout “Battle Royal” as a means to reflect the relationship between white Southern Americans and black Southern Americans. In this way that Ellison uses animals with certain characteristics of the “big shots” like how the main character sees them “wolfing down the buffet foods, drinking beer and whiskey and smoking black cigars” (Ellison 2). It is in this way that Ellison subtly establishes the racial divide between races, and establishes a white person’s racial superiority in society over anyone else. Through these metaphors Ellison is able to portray the black man’s struggle against the white man in terms of how much the main character goes through these conflicts, and how one sided they are, as seen from how the white man constantly abuses the main character and how he doesn’t necessarily fight back with the same ferocity.
-How does Ellison’s story challenge the respectability of the white Southern male?
Ralph Ellison’s “Battle Royal” changes the supposed respectability of the white Southern man through how he unapologetically describes the way in which they act towards the black man, how they treat them as if they were animals, and that their suffering is a form of entertainment for the white man as seen from the boxing ring. The white man is undeniably the antagonist of this story, watching these poor men fighting over each other for a sense of hope only to deny this hope to them from their high horse.
-At the end of the story, the narrator dreams that he is at a circus with his grandfather: why does the grandfather refuse to laugh at the clowns?
The grandfather refuses to laugh at the clowns because these clowns are like the fighters in the boxing ring: they are wasting their lives away under the white man only to get nothing in return. These clowns who bend over for the white man, to be accepted by them, are simply fools in the grandfather’s eyes. The grandfather is a man who believes that continuously chasing after one’s ambitions through a proper means (such as through the system of education), and that through actions, not just talking, would get you to the right place. Though there are some flaws with this mentality, it is the reason why the grandfather is not moved by the clown performance.
Ellison's story challenges the respectability of southern white males by describing them. He describes them as animal like. The men have no self control and surround themselves in chaos, they have a similar response around women. Ellison shows the lack of respect the southern white man has for anyone but himself.
ReplyDeleteIn the story there is a resemblance between how the while female body and how the black male body is depicted. Each are compared to animals but the black male is meant to feel guilt and ashamed of who they are. Both are set to similar standards but the man is ashamed of his desires.
At the end of the story the grandfather does hot laugh at the clowns or even feel amused because they are just like the boxers in the ring. Both the clowns and fighters are wasting their lives in jobs that are controlled and under the white man. They are making themselves the butt of the joke or putting themselves in harms way for nothing in return. The grandfather sees these clowns as true fools.