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Hopelessness And Blindness In Ralph Ellison's Battle Royal

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How would one feel if they knew that no matter what they did, they will never be recognized for what they are trying to accomplish? Ralph Ellison’s “Battle Royal” discusses a part of his history where he thought he was making a difference in the world, but he was blinded by his innocence and naivete to the fact that he invisible to the white upper class, they don’t see the real him, all they see is a race that they can take advantage of. Invisibly and Blindness are both portrayed in “Battle Royal” through the specific examples like Ralph.

Ralph is blind to the fact that the people that he is performing his speech for don’t particularly care about anything that he has to say. Throughout the entire story, he was only focused on if there was …show more content…

Ralph to them was a submissive black man who can change all of his race to be submissive, and understand their place. They were then blindfolded with white blindfolds, which symbolically represents their oppression because they are not in control of what is happening to them, the white men control everything and they aren't being paid for their …show more content…

"Gentlemen, you see that I did not overpraise the boy. He makes a good speech and some day he'll lead his people in the proper paths. And I don't have to tell you that this is important in these days and times . . .He paused, removing the tissue paper and revealing a gleaming calfskin briefcase. . Keep developing as you are and some day it will be filled with important papers that will help shape the destiny of your people." (Ellison). This is an underlying theme throughout this story which shows how if ralph(african americans) continue to be submissive like Booker T. Washington wanted them to be, they will be rewarded by white America. They then give Ralph a scholarship to an all black college. This shows that because the whites are so impressed with ralph’s submissive nature, they give him a scholarship to a school filled with his people so he can teach others to act the same as him so it will make life easier for the whites so they won't have to treat the blacks like they are on the same plane field as

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