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Brief Summary Of Battle Royal By Ralph Ellison

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This essay is about a story(Battle Royal) in which a recently freed slave , tells his grandson about his life as a slave . And he instruct his grandson to “Battle Royal” and do whatever he has to do, in order not to live in the segregated world that he lived in. This story takes place shortly after the emancipation proclamation was signed into law, in which it made all slaves in The United States of America free as the white citizens were. The grandson of the freed slave did not have a name during the reading of the story, therefore we will refer to him as the narrator in this essay. …show more content…

Trueblood or any other black person who he felt did present the correct image for Mr. Norton. He believes that playing his role as a black person would make him successful, and the roles of black people in those days were basically shut up and do as the white man tells you to do. What the narrator should have done was follow the words of his dying grandfather from his deathbed, when he told him to fight for the equality of black people in America no matter what the price is that he has to pay. The narrator should have become some type of civil right activist because he did graduate from high school; he was looked a bit different from other young black men his age. He should have organized student protest groups and started a local movement in his community, that lets people know that the mistreatment of black people will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
During this time I do not think that there was any type of radical group the challenged law enforcement and society to have better race relations, there should have been a group formed back then like “The Black Panthers” (2015 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) . As this would have been the only way to for black people to have a voice that strictly represented them for all causes at all times. Though I do not support the violence that “The Black Panthers” displayed, I do support their ideology that there must be someone else other than the local law enforcement to oversee the treatment of blacks by

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For my topic on Frederick Douglass’ narrative and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance”, I will discuss several details and points. These points will include Douglass’ adversity as a slave and Emerson’s journey in making sense of his life and self-identity. Also, in the discussion, I will add the similarities and differences between the thoughts of Douglass and Emerson on how each felt about their masters or Whites in general. These thoughts include Douglass’ reasoning of writing his autobiography, so that the reader it was intended for could understand why abolishing slavery was so important and Emerson’s hope that people would use their inner voice and learn to confront the issues on hand and not what others wanted to instill onto slaves.

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Thomas Paine’s “The Crisis”, written during the revolution, possessed the goal of promoting inspiration to the soldiers, hoping to push them to make lemonade with the lemons they already possessed. While implementing some religious statements to cater to everyone’s beliefs, Paine emotionally invested into persuading the soldiers to also believe that they could win although the finish line seemed so far away. Paine promoted perseverance to the colonists and the soldiers, and in a similar way, Douglass promoted the freedom for slaves. In the speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, written in the mid-nineteenth century, the speaker Frederick Douglass desperately advocated for and tried to persuade the predominately white audience that the slaves of America deserved to be completely free.

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In contrary to peaceful protest and marches led by Martin Luther King there were other leaders who had more radical approaches to protest. Amongst these radical leaders are Malcolm X, Robert Williams, and the Black Panthers. The Black Panthers, a group created by in 1966, by Huey P Newton and Bobby Seale protected black communities patrolling areas with loaded firearms, monitoring police activities involving blacks. Since they were known for carrying loaded firearms FBI Director J Edgar Hoover considered the Black Panthers “the greatest threat to the internal security of the United States” (To Determine the Destiny of Our Black Community). The Black Panthers created the Ten-Point Program.

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Although a century apart, Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from Birmingham Jail and Frederick Douglass’s What to a Slave is the fourth of July are kindred spirits. Notwithstanding the many differences in their respective writing styles, deep down the essence of the message conveyed is still very much the same. Both Martin Luther King Junior and Frederick Douglas had similar beliefs and concepts related to the treatment of the African American community. They both describe a tough yet heart breaking situation that makes them question their moral values and doubt the system and its ability to change for better.

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In Ralph Ellison's short story Battle Royal, we are introduced to an intelligent, newly graduated young boy. This boy, the narrator, is struggling with finding out who he is, and learning his true self and purpose. He says he is an "invisible man"; but not in the supernatural sense, in the sense that no one knows who he really is. Many conflicts arise around the main protagonist which reveals his true character. At the beginning of the story, many characteristics are revealed through his interactions with others and himself like being uncertain, a pushover, and constantly needing validation from others.

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In the 1700-1800’s, the use of African American slaves for backbreaking, unpaid work was at its prime. Despite the terrible conditions that slaves were forced to deal with, slave owners managed to convince themselves and others that it was not the abhorrent work it was thought to be. However, in the mid-1800’s, Northern and southern Americans were becoming more aware of the trauma that slaves were facing in the South. Soon, an abolitionist group began in protest, but still people doubted and questioned it.

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The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows the imbalance of power between slaves and their masters. In his book, Douglass proves that slavery is a destructive force not only to the slaves, but also for the slaveholders. “Poison of the irresponsible power” that masters have upon their slaves that are dehumanizing and shameless, have changed the masters themselves and their morality(Douglass 39). This amount of power and control in contact with one man breaks the kindest heart and the purest thoughts turning the person evil and corrupt. Douglass uses flashbacks that illustrate the emotions that declare the negative effects of slavery.

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In the short story Battle Royale by Ralph Ellison, the theme was grounded in fear. The group of African American boys were forced in participation in harmful activities. His grandfather gave him advice in the beginning of the story. The meaning to his grandfather’s last words could be translated into two ways; to rebel or to follow. The grandfather was instructing him to agree with the white man's orders.

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Huey Newton and Bobby Seale wanted people to join the Black Panthers not only for them to be able to carry firearms in the streets but also to help the community and help educate and bring about the 4 desires of the Black Panthers of quality in education, housing, employment and Civil Rights (A)(H). The Black Panthers had a 10 point Plan to achieve these desires and it included ending all police brutality and ending all wars of aggression. They dint use violence because they wanted too, they used it to end conflicts and to protect themselves. They used violent and promoted the use of violent to help communities such as the Watts community which has been attacked by the police and had to result to violence as nonviolence didn’t stop the brutality(A)(D). The Police treated the member of the Black Panther in a horrible manner.

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The core theme of Ralph Ellison’s short story ‘Battle Royal’ is racism and its manifestation in the society that the author lives in. The conflict between the two cultures, black and white, the segregation and suppression of the African Americans by the whites are emphasized through various incidents. The fact is that the narrator himself unconsciously gives in to racism and as a black man longs for the approval of the white man. He considers himself superior to the other blacks. But the ‘battle royal’ that he is compelled to participate in finally makes him realize that in the society he lives he is “an invisible man.”

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The Battle Royal is a chapter from the novel “Invisible man” by Ralph Ellison. The plot is about a young afro-american male who has made a speech and is told he will obtain the opportunity to present his speech in front of a group of wealthy white men. The speech is about the afro-americans place in society and moreover their correlation to the white people. The boy has been praised because of his obedience towards the white population. The speech was going to be presented in the ballroom of a hotel but when the narrator arrives his events of the night takes a very unpleasant turn and he is forced to participate in the Battle Royal.

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Douglass managed to overcome the maltreatment of his wretched slave owners through the eventual attainment of freedom. The injustice imposed upon the African-American slaves by their owners was the crux of Douglass’s motivation to escape this inhumane life. Adolescents in today’s society could use Frederick’s determination as an example of moving forward to better oneself or one’s situation regardless of

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From this, derives a bond with the reader that pushes their understanding of the evil nature of slavery that society deemed appropriate therefore enhancing their understanding of history. While only glossed over in most classroom settings of the twenty-first century, students often neglect the sad but true reality that the backbone of slavery, was the dehumanization of an entire race of people. To create a group of individuals known for their extreme oppression derived from slavery, required plantation owner’s of the South to constantly embedded certain values into the lives of their slaves. To talk back means to be whipped.

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Harriet Tubman, a famous abolitionist, once said “I rescued a thousand slaves and I could have rescued a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves”. Many slaves of the 19th century were not able to read or write, and were completely oblivious to natural rights and other political situations happening around them. Alfred M. Green gave a speech in April of 1861 to recruit African American slaves to the army to fight for their freedom. In Green’s speech, he acknowledges the misery African Americans have already been through, points out the flaws in the enemy (the South); and motivates them to participate by using hortatory subjunctives, metaphors, irony, and other rhetorical strategies.

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“With them, justice, liberty and humanity were “final”; not slavery and oppression.” This relates to the hardships and the fact that the people don’t recognize how terrible it is. And that these meanings of these “free” words mean something else to him and other slaves. He shows that the changes are hard but once they are made everything will be peaceful. Rhetorical features and strategies are Douglass’ forte’ in engaging with the audience.

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