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Battle Royal Character Analysis

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Is Setting All There is?
A compare and contrast of Ellison “Battle Royal” and Baldwin “Sonny’s Blues”

The setting is an essential part of a story; it can be the time, place, or even the characters surrounding the protagonist. The setting impacts the characters so much so that it often takes on a life of its own. The reader often needs to study the setting almost like another character. In the two short stories “Battle Royal” by Ralph Ellison and “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin the setting takes a very significant role in affecting the characters. They both take place in the United States in the 1950s. Historically, the ideal of the United States has been built on the idea that it is a melting pot. However, it is the sad truth that slavery has been part of the country’s history since the beginning. It ended in 1865 with the …show more content…

In the stories “Battle Royal” and “Sonny’s Blues”; the protagonists are dealing with the racial tension that is part of the legacy of slavery. Both Sonny and the unnamed protagonist in “Battle Royal” are trying to combat their antagonistic settings while coming to terms with their identities during a personal experience. Even though there are many similarities in the two short stories; one has a setting that drives him to drugs but saves him through music while the other setting forces the protagonist to realized that he is an invisible man.
The setting in “Sonny’s Blues” is set in 1950s Harlem which, is significant to the story because it is the external reason that creates Sonny’s conflict of him turning to drugs. Harlem changes those who live in it. One example of this is when the narrator starts out saying that “he hadn’t ever turned hard or evil or disrespectful, the way kids can, so quick, so quick, especially in Harlem.” (Baldwin 31)

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