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
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