The Journey Of Race Indequality In 'Battle Royal'

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At some point of our lives, we all go through a journey of self-discovery. Our identity is formed by various interactions with our parents and other groups we are a part of. Imagine a young African American high school graduate immerging on the journey of self-discovery in a time marked by racial prejudice. “Battle Royal” depicts race inequality through both the physical and identity struggles of the main character; the story suggests that even though racial equality is almost a utopia at that time the “invisible man” (230) should fight against the white supremacy.
To understand the protagonist dilemma, we need to first understand why he defines himself as an invisible man. We can see trough the story that many times he is ignored. For instance, …show more content…

The story is set eight five years after the end of slavery for the main character’s grandparents and in a time when he was graduating high school. At that time “he [I] was naïve”. He believed that his graduation speech could influence his audience, however the opposite is reveled. The society was very manipulative of his actions and of the African American society in general. Daunted by his grandfather advise, the narrator is unsure whether or not he should fight against the manipulation against him. When he interchanges the words social responsibility for social equality in his speech, the Whites say “we mean to do right by you, but you’ve got to know your place at all times.”(241) The narrator wants to leave but at the same time he felted obligated to finish the speech because he was afraid of the consequences. They pretend to give him a chance to speak, but in reality they force them to act as they please. Forces him to participate in the battle royal and all other despicable games before giving him a chance to speak only to be ignored. Here once more we see the power of society shaping his behavior as well as the struggles of the main character to fight against his …show more content…

His grandfather plays a major role in shaping his character. Whenever he is confronted with a dilemma of achievement he seeks in his mind his grandfather approval he says, “It was as though I was carrying out his advice in spite of myself. And to make it worse, everyone loved me for it.”(231). Here we can see how it is hard for him to find a balance between his own wishes and the wishes of his family. He is constantly struggling to decide what is the right thing to do. His grandfather is the voice that keeps challenging him to fight against racial discrimination. He implores him to “keep up the good fight”

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