Ralph Ellison Battle Royal Analysis

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The short story “Battle Royal” written by Ralph Ellison is a symbolic story showing how a man must fight societies views to get the public to truly see who he is. The dominant tone of the story is candid or honesty, and the tone is created through the language elements of symbolism, literal imagery, and dialogue. The story’s tone is also supported by the fiction elements of character and point of view. In the short story the narrator lives constantly remembering his grandfather and what he had said to him in his last few days before he passed away. His grandfather had told him to continue the fight that African American men and women were in at the time. The narrator is asked to deliver a high school graduation speech by white leaders. Once …show more content…

Symbolism is the primary language element that forms the tone. The author uses contextual symbols to tie together the wishes of the narrator’s grandpa or the furthering of black society and the literal fight that the narrator encounters. The fight represents the constant fight that African Americans face in society. In the beginning of the story the narrator shares that he does not want society to see him as a threat when he has done nothing to disserve that title. While both literal and figurative images are used constantly through the story, only literal imagery forms the tone of the story. “it smelled even more like tobacco and whiskey. Then we were pushed into place. I almost wet my pants. A sea of faces, some hostile, some amused, ringed around us, and in the center, facing us, stood a magnificent blonde” (155). The way the author lists the senses he experiences around him shows the reader that they can trust the narrator and that he is a truthful and straightforward person as it is conveyed in the tone. The use of dialogue helps create the tone, it is primarily used to inform the reader of what the narrator is thinking since the majority of the dialogue is past quotes from his grandfather. “’Son, after I’m gone I want you to keep up the good fight.’” (152). The previous quote shows an example of the dialogue that is a quote from the

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