Battle Royal

A detailed Summary of Battle Royal


There are many symbols in Ralph Ellison's story "Battle Royal." Ellison's story is full of excellent symbolism of how African-Americans have struggled throughout history to fight for their equality. The narrator starts off the story by describing his grandfather's dying last words. In his last words, the grandfather expresses his wishes for future generations to continue the struggle for black equality. Ellison uses many symbols in this story to demonstrate the lack of black equality. Among these symbols are: the battle itself, the brief case from Shad Whimore's shop, and the flag tattoo on the stripper.

The narrator of this story is under the impression that he is to give his speech he delivered at graduation to a group of white pillars of the community. Much to his surprise, when he arrives at the ballroom he is asked to take part in the battle royal before his speech was to be delivered. The narrator, along with nine of his classmates, was blindfolded, dressed in boxing gloves,


The flag tattoo symbolizes how a stripper receives more respect and had more freedom than the narrator had. She did not have to do anything to get these freedoms or respect. All she had to do was take her clothes off. Even though the narrator was never a slave, he still had to struggle just like his grandfather for rights and equality. The stripper showed that she was more respected from the crowd than an educated black man that was trying to better himself. It was at this point that the narrator finally understood his grandfather's dying words, and they set him free.

and placed into a ring. The narrator is then forced to hear a series of racial slurs from the crowd throughout the battle royal. The symbolism of the battle shows how the crowd sees African-Americans as inferior. By hearing these racist comments, the narrator realizes that the audience is not interested in what he has to say; instead, they are interested in ridiculing him and making a mockery of him. It is at this

Some common words found in the essay are:
Shad Whimore's, Royal Ellison's, dying words, grandfather's dying words, black equality, grandfather's dying, Ralph Ellison's, battle royal, flag tattoo, , understood grandfather's dying, struggle black equality, believes prove, symbols story, black race, speech delivered, throughout story,

Approximate Word count = 671
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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