Theme Of Figurative Language In Invisible Man

In Battle Royal, the first chapter of Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison creates a vivid picture of the volatile relationships between the black inhabitants of an unnamed southern state and the dominant Whites of the area through master full use of imagery and complex figurative language. From the context of the story one can safely assume it takes place in the mid to late 40s, a time in American history where Jim Crow laws were in full effect and Whites controlled almost every aspect of the society. In brief, the story recounts an event in the anonymous narrator’s life where he was invited to speak at an special occasion yet is coerced into participating in a brutal melee against several other boys. The brawl is sport to entertain the men there

The simile is subtle and not as grandiose as the others in the passage yet it contributes to the author 's broader message in the chapter. If the white men are treacherous snakes lying in wait and the boys are self destructive crabs pulling each other down blindly, what is the significance of the nameless narrator being a rat? Well look at the rat’s reputation for being a vermin who feeds of the substance of others and spreads disease, that should be killed but is great at surviving. On the other hand rat’s are also considered highly intelligent and useful for scientific research as a testing subject. These ideas fall in line with the white men’s perspective on the narrator are. They see him as a no-good black who is a boon to their nation and is only fit to work but they also concede that he is smart and should be observed. The boy is a rat in the midst of snakes who are naturally in a predatory relationship yet he needs their money and goodwill as a means to survive so he plunges naively onto their electrified rug for coins he later finds to be unusable. Much as his grandfather says the boy is “living in the lion’s mouth” , this alludes to Aesop’s Lion and Mouse story in which the two animals are dependent on each other no matter their status, as mice are seen as the cleaner, nicer cousin of rats. The same way the Whites use black people for

White men are cottonmouths who subjugate the boys to perform vile acts for their enjoyment. The boys are in turn blind crabs in a barrel mercilessly dragging each other farther down into the void in attempt to grasp their own sliver of light. Of the boys, one is a wet rat leveraging his skill set and usefulness as a means to navigate the “lion’s mouth” unscathed that he might climb from the depth to be showered in light. Behind the scenes of this circus of animals is a disguised ringleader deviously orchestrating the spectacle for their own amusement forcing this endless cycle to repeat. Ellison creates this vivid picture all the while asking the audience: Is man no better than the savage beasts of the field who fight to climb the food chain? From Battle Royal, it would not seem