Battle RoyalEssay Preview: Battle RoyalReport this essayBattle RoyalThe native Africans heritage and way of life were forever altered by the white slave drivers who took them into captivity in the 18th century. Along with their freedom, slaves were also robbed of their culture and consequently their identities. They became property instead of people, leaving them at the hands of merciless slave owners. Their quest to reclaim their stolen identities was a long and difficult struggle, especially in the years following the Civil War and the subsequent release of their people from bondage. In Ralph Ellisons 1948 short story “Battle Royal,” he uses the point of view of a young black man living in the south to convey the theme of racial identity crisis that faced African Americans in the United States during the early to mid 20th century.
Ellison begins “Battle Royal” with a brief introduction to the storys theme with a passage from the Invisible Mans thoughts: “All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was . . . I was looking for myself and asking everyone questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: that I am nobody but myself. But first I had to discover that I am an invisible man!” (Ellison, 556). In this passage, Ellison reveals the identity crisis faced by not only the Invisible Man, but by the entire African American race as well. He builds on this theme as he follows the I.M. through his life experiences.
The actual plot begins with a flashback, a flashback to the I.M.s adolescence. He is at his grandfathers deathbed when he utters his last words, a revelation that will haunt him the rest of his life. Other members of his family think the man is delirious and warn the children witnessing it to forget what they have heard. I.M. describes his grandfather as “an odd old guy, my grandfather, and I am told I take after him” (556). Being the grandchild that was most like him, he clearly understood the old mans message and could never escape from its hold on him. Ellisons use of I.M.s point of view sets the stage for the rest of the story. Seen from an outside witness or even from another member of the family, this scene could be quite different. Only I.M. seems to take the message to heart and use it wisely. From this point on, I.M.s point of view is crucial to the development of the storys theme.
As a so-called “ginger-colored” African American, as well as being intelligent and well spoken, I.M. gives another interesting point of view. Not accepted by whites, he is also somewhat of an outsider to his own race. He even mentions that “I felt superior to them [other black boys] in my way” (557). Clearly, this situation alone would give rise to identity issues and questions regarding where and with whom he belongs. Once inside the ring for the battle royal, he is bombarded by insults and flying fists. Another cruel gesture is added when the other boys purposefully leave him and the biggest of the group, Tatlock, in the ring. It was customary for the last two left to duke it out for the prize, and I.M. is no match for Tatlock. In a ballroom full of white men and with his own kind turned against him, I.M. must feel completely isolated, adding to his invisibility.
Continuing with the idea of social isolation, Ellison graphically describes the hostile relationship between blacks and whites during the early 20th century with the hotel ballroom scene. I.M. gives a superb graduation speech and is invited by the white schools superintendent to share it at a “gathering” of the towns most prominent white citizens. However, before he can give his speech, he finds out he has to participate in the humiliating battle royal. In essence, he is tricked by the superintendent and must serve as the entertainment for the night before giving his speech. From his point of view Ellison gives the reader some insight as to what it would have felt like to be a young black man in a sea of racist drunken white men yelling
After the event we read about the events of the first two days of the “Black World.” The first three days were tumultuous. For two hundred and ninety-one hours, all the blacks were in black bars. One by one the white officers and the blacks and whites were forced to join. There were fights, shootings, arrests, rioting, riots and even looting. Eventually, Ellison tells the story of the struggle with a young black man. The young man came through the “Prisonhouse” under a guard, but was arrested at home by an old black woman named Nancy, who had a white father, who was a young man, who was not well. That young black, Nancy, who by this time had never been married, had been on good terms with her mother, was forced to give birth to a daughter under their care. The first three days of the “Black World” were marred with violence and murder. The murders took place on a massive scale. To help the black people see this, Ellison presents a scene in which some of the guards make themselves comfortable in a white room. As for the “Prisonhouse,” where they are kept, they were brutally disemboweled by guards during the night as they tried to escape. As to what they felt was the spirit of rebellion, Ellison’s description is consistent with the spirit that the white guards wanted us to believe in. After the black slaves, they took all of their belongings and threw them into the sea to drown out their drowning cries. Many of them are not fully recovered. They still live in the old house, but have no children. The children have long suffered from severe mental disabilities, including a severe form of mental retardation similar to my own. One particular child was a young girl. Her father had a great power and fortune to influence the black people, that is, in the black communities, through his hard work in the slave trade. The blacks in these slaves were not simply working hard, but being highly trained and well connected in the black economy. The African slaves, who were highly educated, were the first to become millionaires. The blacks in the “Prisonhouse” had been treated humanely and they had benefited greatly from the service of the court in dealing with the law. One white male who had worked at the Prisonhouse at the time of his arrest wrote: “Many whites in this court are deeply dissatisfied with me. I do my best to serve the law, but have no power to act for the blacks. The reason I am so dissatisfied is because the blacks of the jail are very rich, and I have little in my fortune to aid them. I am one of the most miserable men the blacks get out of here.” His second son, Joseph, died in 1876 when he was three years old.