Throughout history there have been numerous novels and excerpts from books that have become the base of many classroom discussions and essay topics. Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, specifically chapter 1, “Battle Royal” & George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” equally suggest an individual may not always possess complete control of their choices due to extenuating circumstances. Both stories have underlying themes and critical points that allow the audience to better understand the characters actions but differ in the context of where and how these themes actually present themselves. The narrator in each story exemplifies the theory of the “masking effect” in literature by making decisions that contradict their actual reaction and how their desired reaction.
“Battle Royal” begins Invisible Man with an unusual conversation between the narrator’s father and his grandfather as he lies on his deathbed. His grandfather declares to his family that he is a “traitor” and a “spy”. Also stating the father and generations thereon should “Live with your head in the lion's mouth. I want you to overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction, let 'em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open.” His family originally thinks the meek old man is uttering nonsense as he approaches his death but this unpretentious conversation holds much more meaning than the family thinks. Not knowing the context of the grandfather’s confession, his words having a profound effect on the narrator, became a constant question the narrator feels needs to be answered.
Throughout life the grandson remembered and honored his grandfather’s advice even if it is only mentally. By making Caucasians believe that he wholeheartedly fe...
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...nt did not pass away instantly. Instead the elephant falls to the ground in agony as the narrator leaves, struggling to breathe for another half an hour.
“Battle Royal” and “Shooting an Elephant” demonstrate the relationship between individuality and community, proving how difficult it is to remain true to both. Both narrators attempt to define himself through values and expectations imposed upon him by his culture or society. The arranged roles limit the complexity of an individual and force the character to play an unauthentic role. The essay and the first chapter play on the masking effect; believing in one thing but doing the complete opposite, making the audience confused about his true stance on a specific issue. Both stories are evidence that the opinions of higher powers may greatly impact someone’s decision making, triggering this character to wear a mask.
A characters courage is not measured by how an action will be accepted by others, but by how their actions stay true to themselves even in the face of a pressured surrounding. Colin McDougall’s The Firing Squad a story about a young soldiers attempt at redemption and George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant an essay about Orwell’s days in a British colony where he was called to handle the situation with an aggressive elephant are two pieces of literature that demonstrate the effects of courage. Courage takes many forms and in these two great pieces of literature it can be measured by looking at the characters and how they use courage and lack of courage as a driving factor in different ways throughout their story’s.
Ellison begins "Battle Royal" with a brief introduction to the story's theme with a passage from the Invisible Man's 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. ...
On his search, he encounters various father figures that he confronts, understands, and escapes. The first figure the narrator confronts, is Booker T. Washington, evoked in his speech at the Battle Royal and continuing through Mr. Norton. Whom the narrator meets when he is at the college. Moving onto Dr. Bledsoe, whom Invisible Man idolized until he exiles him to New York with hope of returning to his studies. Then there is Brother Jack from the Brotherhood, who guides the narrator in becoming the "chief spokesperson for the Harlem District" (Daniel S. Burt). One after another the narrator falls under the influence of these leaders only to rebel later. Ras, is the last of these figures, and he is "the representative of African nationalism who stalks him through the streets of Harlem as a rival speaker, accusing the narrator of faithlessness to the black man, seeking to align him with the ultimate father/mother symbol: Africa" (H. William Rice). Therefore, giving the scene where the narrator spears Ras's jaw shut importance due to him "having found his life by losing it. Thus, he has lived out the prophetic words of the vet from the Golden Day: 'be your own father, young man' " (H. William Rice) (Ellison
Throughout Ralph Ellison’s novel, Invisible Man, the main character dealt with collisions and contradictions, which at first glance presented as negative influences, but in retrospect, they positively influenced his life, ultimately resulting in the narrator developing a sense of independence. The narrator, invisible man, began the novel as gullible, dependent, and self-centered. During the course of the book, he developed into a self-determining and assured character. The characters and circumstances invisible man came across allowed for this growth.
During his life, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote many stories that delved into the psychology and the reality of what it is to be a human being. Although considered a most private person, which even Hawthorne himself once said that he wanted to keep, "the inmost Me behind its veil" (Norton 369), his writings are so vivid in both characterization and details that there is no doubt that he was a very perceptive and smart man. Examples of his insight-fullness appear within stories such as The Scarlet Letter, Young Goodman Brown, The Haunted Mind, and The Minister's Black Veil. One of his short stories, The Minister's Black Veil, uses symbolism and people's actions to reveal human nature.
One of the major motifs in Invisible Man is blindness. The first time we’re shown blindness in the novel is at the battle royal. The blindfolds that all of the contestants wear symbolize how the black society is blind to the way white society is still belittling them, despite the abolishment of slavery. When he arrives at the battle, the narrator says “I was told that since I was to be there anyway I might as well take part in the battle royal to be fought by some of my schoolmates as part of the entertainment” (Ellison 17). Although, the white men asked him to come to the battle royal in order to deliver his graduation speech, they force him to participate in the battle royal, where the white men make young black men fight each other as a form of entertainment for them. When the black men put their blindfolds on to fight in this battle, they are blind, both figuratively and literally. They can't see the people they are fighting against, just as they can't see how the white men are exploiting them for their own pleasure. Shelly Jarenski claims “the Battle Royal establishes the relationship between white power, male power, and (hetero)sexual power, the “self-grounding presumptions” of dominant subjectivity” ...
In Ralph Ellison’s novel, Invisible Man, the narrator who is the main character goes through many trials and tribulations.
In “Shooting an Elephant” writer George Orwell illustrates the terrible episode that explains more than just the action of “shooting an elephant.” Orwell describes the scene of the killing of an elephant in Burma and reveals a number of emotions he experienced during the short, but traumatic event. Effectively, the writer uses many literary techniques to plant emotions and create tension in this scene, leading to an ironic presentation of imperialism. With each of the realistic descriptions of the observing multitude and the concrete appeal of the narrator’s pathos, Orwell thrives in persuading the audience that imperialism not only has a destructive impact on those being governed under the imperialists’ oppressive power, but also corrupts
Elephants'." Studies in Short Fiction. 17.1 (Winter 1980): 75-77. Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 75-77. Literature Resource Center. Gale.
The narrator of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is the victim of his own naiveté. Throughout the novel he trusts that various people and groups are helping him when in reality they are using him for their own benefit. They give him the illusion that he is useful and important, all the while running him in circles. Ellison uses much symbolism in his book, some blatant and some hard to perceive, but nothing embodies the oppression and deception of the white hierarchy surrounding him better than his treasured briefcase, one of the most important symbols in the book.
Ralph Ellison speaks of a man who is “invisible” to the world around him because people fail to acknowledge his presence. The author of the piece draws from his own experience as an ignored man and creates a character that depicts the extreme characteristics of a man whom few stop to acknowledge. Ellison persuades his audience to sympathize with this violent man through the use of rhetorical appeal. Ethos and pathos are dominant in Ellison’s writing style. His audience is barely aware of the gentle encouragement calling them to focus on the “invisible” individuals around us. Ralph Ellison’s rhetoric in, “Prologue from The Invisible Man,” is effective when it argues that an individual with little or no identity will eventually resort to a life of aimless destruction and isolation.
Hanlon, Christopher. "Eloquence and "Invisible Man"."College Literature. 32.4 (2005): 74-98. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. < http://www.jstor.org/stable/25115308 .>
Every writer has that one special quirk that keeps readers coming back for more. Whether it is the humor or the characters, most authors carry their quirks from story to story. In “Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell describes his experience of shooting an elephant. In “A Hanging,” he describes the emotions that run through him as he watches the hanging of a prisoner. Both essays have similar key ideas that identify Orwell as a writer. The results of pride and power contribute to the themes that connect his essays and identify Orwell as a descriptive writer.
The representation of race in Hollywood cinema has been a widely discussed topic in film analysis since the medium’s inception. Historically, non-caucasian ethnicities have been underrepresented and/or misrepresented on the silver screen. It was normal for a white actor or actress to adorn themselves in black or yellowface to represent these races and further alienate them into the category of “the other”. This exclusion has been used time and time again as a tool for distinguishing not the race being alienated but those who are doing the alienation. In the following essay I aim to assess this phenomenon specifically in relation to representation of Asians in Hollywood cinema. To support my theory, I will put into conversation both Gina Marchetti’s essay, “White Knights in Hong Kong” and Anne Cheng’s essay, “Beauty and the Ideal Citizenship: Inventing Asian American in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song (1961)”. It was when asked to consider the question of national identity projected upon the bodies on screen as written about by Marchetti and Cheng that I came across my own thesis. Through their in depth analysis I was able to code an underlying theme in the historical representation of Asians in cinema. The theme in which Asian identity is derived through strategically situating them as “the other” in order to explain what it truly means to be an American.
Morally, I think this story clearly states that people would do anything to avoid being embarrassed. From my understanding, I think that this story teaches us that we should be open to hear people?s opinions but we should follow our instincts. We should not allow others to make the decisions for us. The police officers just shoot the elephant because people wanted him to do so. This essay is trying to help us to see that we should look at the pros and cons of an issue rather than making a quick decision that can affect someone. I cannot condemn the author for shooting the elephant, though he knew it was wrong. Nor can I condemn him for giving in to the natives and not sticking to his guns. He does not want to appear foolish to others like all of us do.