Battle Royal

The narrator is not the only black male in the story to have experience the racism with the white men. The narrator tries to get away from the racism but struggles to, he come across multiple African Americans that attempt to do the same thing. All of these provide an idea to the correct way to be black in America and it also demonstrates how blacks should act. It is said that anyone who doesn’t follow these correct ways are betraying the race. In the beginning of the story, the narrator’s grandfather says that the only way to make racism become extinct that African Americans should be overly nice to whites.

While there the white leaders make the black students participate in a fight called the Battle Royal. The narrator and the other students are forced to wear blindfolds. After they are blindfolded they are suppose to fight each other. The narrator tries to push the blindfold away but one of the white men argues, “Oh, no you don’t, black bastard! Leave that alone!” (22).With the blindfolds on the boys are blind to the fact that they are beating each other up for the white men’s entertainment.

No group fought together for long” (203). Though it is their white oppressors that serve as a catalyst fo... ... middle of paper ... ...ck males may have been their own worst enemy in trying to succeed and create opportunities for themselves. Allowing themselves to be pit against each other, there was no hope of propelling their status while they did not support one another as a whole race. Turning their anger toward each other rather than the white men who had put them in these situations, the struggle of black men transitioned from the fight for justice as a people to a war with other black men, so as to boost themselves in the eyes of the white man. They furthermore allowed themselves to be manipulated, mocked, scorned, and beaten, yet still stood up afterward to do what they were told.

In the beginning of the Invisible Man, the narrator is apart of this battle royal with other young African Americans youths. This royal occurs strictly for entertain of the white people. The narrator is then blindfolded and forced to box one another. An electric current runs through the floor and shocks them. The electricity represents the shocking truth of the white men's motives, to try to conform the young African American boys to the racial stereotype of blacks being violent and savage.

The black boys who were to take part in the battle were humiliated, some passed out, others pleaded to go home. But the white men paid no attention. The white men end up attacking the girl, who is described as having the same terror and fear in her eyes as the black boys. Once the girl escapes the black boys get in the boxing ring and are blindfolded for the battle royal. When the fight starts he stumbles around the ring like a drunken baby.

The white men yell at the boys for looking and not looking at the woman. It is as if they are showing them all of the good things being white can bring, and then saying that they aren’t good enough for it since they were black. Next the boys must compete in the battle royal. Blindly the boys savagely beat one another. This is symbolic of the ...

After being beaten and shocked in front of a crowd of jeering and drunk white people the narrator is expected to make the speech, after which he receives a college scholarship and the briefcase. This is a part of the book that represents both betrayal and Invisibility. The betrayal that takes place in this part of the book is quite obvious. The narrator is told to go deliver a speech, but when he gets there he finds out he is about to be subjected to the battle royal by the group of white people who arranged the social gathering. But after the fight when the narrator is making his speech some drunk whites from th... ... middle of paper ...

Triumphing Over Challenges The story “Battle Royal”, by Ralph Ellison is about a young black man who has to overcome racial inequalities. The story opens with his grandfather dying words and leaving the family with words that stick with the main character for life. The main character, whose name in not mentioned, is very intelligent and because of this the prominent white businessmen ask him to give a speech at a hotel. Upon his arrival, the white men put him through many humiliating acts for their enjoyment. There is a boxing match and also an electric carpet, but the boy preservers through them all.

He can have the world of a black man laid at his feet, he just has to make sure he doesn't get in the way of real men, of white men. IM's complains that feeling invisible makes him "ache with the need to convince [himself] that [he does] exist in the real world, that [he is] a part of all the sound and anguish" (1518). He is blinded by his view of the world. Yes, the people in the white society are oblivious to his existence. His presence in their world would be a threat to their concept of a black man.

Characters like Homer A. Barbee and Brother Jack believe they are all knowing but prove to be blind when it comes to the world they are in. By looking at the characters with impaired vision one can better understand their struggles with understanding the world around them that they, however, are not yet aware of. In the battle royal scene many black youths, including the Invisible Man, are brought together by the prominent white citizens of the town. Here they are gathered into a boxing ring while a naked white woman dances sensuously in front of them. The white men threatened the black boys if they looked and if they didn't.