Building Tolerance To Get Ahead In Ralph Ellison's Battle Royal

Building Tolerance to Get Ahead Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, "If civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships - the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together, in the same world at peace." Unfortunately, this has not always been the view of society, especially during times of slavery; whites saw themselves superior to blacks, and saw nothing wrong with it. In the short story, Battle Royal by author Ralph Ellison, the protagonist is illustrated as being a black young man who endures the unimaginable in order to obtain acceptance into a world where his skin color does not define his abilities as an individual. The protagonist struggles to break free from a predominantly white society which allows him to bring out a stronger character that lives underneath his colored skin, but no one can see. The title Battle Royal, is a very adequate title because as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary it means “a fight participated in by more than two combatants; especially one in which the last man in the ring or on his feet is declared the winner.” In like manner, the protagonist is invited to deliver a speech for the leading white town’s citizens, but later discovers that he is to participate in more than a deliverance
of a speech, but in a battle royal as well. The battle royal, as viewed by the protagonist is just a stepping stone for him to ultimately reach his dream speech, but when he is faced with the reality that this boxing battle is just for the entertainment of the drunken big shots, it takes more than desire and endurance to get him through it. The violence, physical and mental torture he withstands as drunk towns folks shout racial slurs, punch and beat him all while he is blindfold, makes reality seem as his hope is fading away with his every breath. Consequently, violence coupled with power, racism and decency lead major roles in this story. Violence, is illustrated throughout this story as the aggressive white men throw punches and racial slurs at the young black men participating in the boxing match battle. Not only is violence procured by the white citizens, but racism is as well. Racism surrounds this story, beginning with the protagonists’ family and making its way to him eventually during the battle. In addition, power leads the events that follow through as it showed beginning with the blindfolding proceeds with the ability to carry out such an event. The combination of power, racism, and violence all mingle and bring about torturous outcomes for the participants, which continue to suffer even when they are to be handed their coin reward; which is maliciously distributed on an electrically induced rug. Ellison, continuously delivers visual pathways of the world the protagonist lives in, with descriptions of the fear he faced, as he described his character stating, “the harder we fought the more threating the men became.” (p.
286). Ellison, also describes the room hall where the battle takes place as being a place full of smoke, alcohol, aggression and sexism through the use of the young girl who is placed nude in the center of the battle ring. With this in mind one can further analyze the use of extortion towards both genders, being that the girl was the victim of her sexual features to satisfy the likes of the white citizen, as well as the extortion of the young black men who took part in the
battle.
Nevertheless, the protagonist endures all the suffering to the very end, with the one thought running through his mind all the time: the speech must be delivered. The human condition allows the protagonist to endure the violence and racism brought upon him. Being that