Symbolism in “A Battle Royal” The short story “A Battle Royal,” written by Ralph Ellison, has many symbolic meanings. It is about a young African American teen who had just graduated from High School, and his grandfather had also recently died. He is invited to give his graduation speech in front of a group of white townsmen. He arrived and was told to participate in the battle royal that was to take place as entertainment for the audience. Before the fight started a nude dancer was put in the ring as a distraction.
At this time the young man believes in the accommodations philosophy for his race “I visualized myself as a potential Booker T. Washington” (231). The main character speech is about humility and how by using humility improvement will be made. The protagonist arrives at the club ready to deliver his speech to the audience but when he arrived he was asked to participate in other activities. A boxing match or a Battle Royale is arranged and he is told to participate. The main character wasn’t the only one there, 9 other African American participated in this match as well.
Education represented on opportunity to escape ignorance and poverty. The ability to attend the Negro college comes to him through hard work. As valedictorian of his high school class he receives a scholarship. He idolizes, Dr. Bledsoe, the president of the Negro College. He aspires to emulate Dr. Bledsoe at the conclusion of his educational journey.
“Battle Royal” Fighting to gain freedom doesn’t mean that one will gain equality. The Civil War ended but African American ex-slaves still suffer from discrimination in this society. Ralph Elision portrays a life of a black young man who tries to achieve his dream in white society. The narrator is haunted by his grandfather’s last words before he die throughout his young adulthood. The narrator recalls delivering the class speech at his high school graduation.
The school bully, Barry Bagsley, teases him about his name. He tries to avoid Barry and acts invisible but swears to stand up to Barry in Year Nine. His Year Nine teacher, Miss Tarango, tells the whole class about the name Ishmael coming from Moby-Dick, which gives Barry and his friends more names to tease Ishmael with. Ishmael later intervenes when he sees Barry and his friends tease a younger boy from Year Four. A new boy called James Scobie becomes a target for bullying because of his appearance.
Steven was the first he met up with, and he was just bickering with Paulette from across the riot. Nate ran into Herr Schulteis next, and he had just spilled ketchup on his brand new stripped shirt, and was licking it off. Then, right before Nate made it to the middle; Candy’s daddy came up behind him and gave a big slap on the rear. What for, the world may never know. Nate decided since he did not see Candy he would just continue on with this traitorous journey through the riot.
This chapter takes place directly after the fight to sell the chocolates. Jerry Renault finally builds enough courage to go to school the day right after the fight, but when he gets to school everyone is looking at him and talking about the fight and how they are all in trouble for the fight only for some teacher told the Dean of Students what had been going on. As the day goes on all of the nerdy kids are looking up to jerry and being thankful to him. But on the other hand all of the vigils and the more popular guys are even madder at Jerry and he just doesn’t understand why or what he may have done. Jerry’s day has been going pretty good other than being beat up the day before.
Joe’s father brings home a bunch of books from Eastwood Academy’s summer reading list and Joe starts to read The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus. Joe finds an abandoned gym where he goes to practice basketball, but one evening a mist filled the gym; a mist that “somehow held the devil” (Deuker, On the Devil’s Court 92). That night he vowed “Give me a full season, give me twenty-four games of this power, and my soul is yours.” (Deuker, On the Devil’s Court 92). After that Joe made the Eastwood basketball team and they went to the State Championship. Joe believes he sold his soul to the devil, just like the book he is reading, and is scared he or his father will die for it.
This “bad boys” will do whatever it takes to keep their rebellious reputation. As the boys are about to get into a fight with a boy they mistook as their friend Tony, the narrator goes for “the tire iron [he] kept under the driver’s seat” in order to fight. (398) The narrator admit she hasn’t been in a fight since the sixth grade yet feels the need to prove his masculinity by grabbing the tire iron and hitting the greasy characters in the head. As soon as he lays the greasy character out, the narrator feels on top of the world. All three boys begin to develop a higher sense of pride knowing they defeated this guy when at first it looked like they were going to lose.
Throughout the fight we find our narrator friend getting knocked around until he receives a blow that cause his blindfold to come off then he fights with strategy. He slowly eliminates all the other boys until him and a boy name Tatlock were the last two standing. The narrator pleaded with Tatlock to let him win so that he could give his speech, but Tatlock refuse to let him win because that would give the narrator superiority over him. Tatlock stated, “I will win for me, for them, they will praise for breaking your behind. Needless to know Tatlock won but the narrator still gives the speech.