Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal" is based on the symbolism of equality and self-identity on African Americans. ... Ellison gives us a understand of how the narrator grew up from hearing the words of his grandfather on his deathbed, his parent's ignoring what is being said, and for him graduating high school to accomplish bigger things. At the time, the reader begins to raise questions if the story is based on Ellison. ... Why did Ellison choose the title of this story? In the "Emergence of Genius", based on Ellison gives us some background on why he chose to write t...

• Word Count: 884
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

In Ralph Ellison's short story, "Battle Royal", there is an African American man living during 1947. ... Throughout the story, Ellison throws several examples of symbolism in order to help add to the significance of its events. ... As if it weren't obvious enough, Ellison adds in that she also has a tattoo right above the split in her legs to throw the fact that she represents America in our faces. ... All in all, Ellison used symbolism in this short story as an adhesive to help tie everything in the story together. ...

• Word Count: 874
• Approx Pages: 3

Similarly, "Battle Royal" by Ralph Ellison conveys the way African Americans behaved when choosing between their natural self and what was expected of them as members of society. ... I had no dignity" (Ellison 3). ... Furthermore, Ralph Ellison successfully displays the fixture of social imbalance during the nineteenth century through the narrator's speech. ... Ellison dramatizes the situation by having the white men force the narrator to repeat "social responsibility" several times. ... Shirley Jackson and Ralph Ellison successfully portray the immoral aspects ...

• Word Count: 1232
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The Role of Women In "Battle Royal", Ralph Ellison tells us a story of people being used for entertainment at their own expense. Young men were forced to box one another blindfolded against their will and were forcefully persuaded to scrounge for money on an electric carpet. The townsmen would l...

• Word Count: 1013
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Ralph Ellison's short story, "Battle Royal", is symbolic in a myriad of different ways. In one form, the battle royal is symbolic of a struggle for equality. More specifically the battle royal is emblematic of the "battle" for egalitarianism in America's white society by African Americans in the 19...

• Word Count: 327
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School