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Ralph Ellison Battle Royal Essay

1002 Words5 Pages

Throughout history, fighting has been a symbol of manhood and power.
Though it may not be apparent at first, In Ralph Ellison’s invisible man, the protagonist fights in the battle royal in order to achieve a higher status with the white men. The Narrator is stripped of his senses, his dignity, but comes out enlightened. He is forced to undergo the initiation rite of the club members in order to be accepted and included by them. He tries to become level with them, and earn their respect, but certain troubles keep him from doing so. The battle royal serves as a symbol for the initiation and enlightenment which the author undergoes. Ralph Ellison uses the archetype of the journey to the underground in order to highlight the protagonist’s …show more content…

He has been through the underworld, and if it were in accordance to the odyssey, now is the time for his enlightenment. However, that is not the case. His enlightenment is troubled, because though the white men clap for him, they still assert dominance by mocking his pronunciation and forcing him to check himself when he said “equality.” Yes, they gift him a scholarship, but the scholarship comes with the message: Go to this negro school, and teach your people how to stay in their place. This can be seen in his dream the following night. He dreamed of the circus, and of his grandfather breaking into laughter after giving the narrator an envelope. Inside, another envelope and another and it continues on “endlessly”(Page 33) until the narrator arrives at the document. The endlessness of the envelopes symbolizes the fact that the narrator is still trapped within the underworld which he had believed he had escaped. The harrowing message of “Keep that nigger boy running” also illustrates the idea of the narrator continuously trying to run out of the darkness but being kept from doing so. The narrator also describes how he felt “safe” (Page 32) from his grandfather's curse. Despite this, the grandfather reappears to haunt the narrator, helping expand on the symbolism of the narrator continuing to be trapped in the dark

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