The narrator was awarded for his conduct on the day of his graduation. He gave a speech when he accepted the award but he didn't believe a word he said. He felt that the white folks didn't think of him any different then another black man, but no matter how he felt about his speech it was a great success. He was invited to present the speech in the main ballroom of the leading hotel in front of all the big names of the town. He got to the ballroom and was forced to enter in the night's battle royal. He was lead into a room with nine other boys to put on his fighting trunks and boxing gloves. Then all ten men were brought into

The irony in the story was that the narrator was awarded for his outstanding conduct and was looked as a future leader for blacks in his community. He was then forced to fight and was put through humiliating events. He was looked as a clown in the circus and was laughed and was used for amusement. He thought the white men were helping him to achieve his goals and would get him where he wanted to go. What he didn't realize was that he was doing everything the white men wanted him to. They didn't take him serious and they never would, he will just keep on leading his people in circles.

a smoked filled ballroom with all the white men yelling at them and a striking blonde woman who walked around the ring in front of them. A bunch of the boys on stage were very embarrassed and tried to run off, but they were pushed right back inline with the other boys. All ten boys were made to go through acts of humiliation before and after they had fought and were made to wear blindfolds durin

Some common words found in the essay are:
Ralph Ellison, , Battle Royal, fight boys, amusement white, story narrator, narrator awarded, battle royal, gold pieces,
Approximate Word count = 667
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)