Portrayal Of Women In Ralph Ellison's Battle Royal
“Battle Royal” by Ralph Ellison: “And all the while the blonde continued dancing, smiling faintly at the big shots who watched her with fascination, and faintly smiling at our fear. I noticed a certain merchant who followed her hungrily, his lips loose and drooling. He was a large man who wore diamond studs in a shirtfront which swelled with the ample paunch underneath, and each time the blonde swayed her undulating hips he ran his hand through the thin hair of his bald head and, with his arms upheld, his posture clumsy like that of an intoxicated panda, wound his belly in a slow and obscene grind” (4).
This is a “key” passage in the larger text because the woman here is simply a metaphor for the minority’s, blacks and women, gruesome experiences
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Based off of this text, the descriptive details of the actions of both the woman and audience members are quite noteworthy. All these phrases used throughout the excerpt connect back to one idea: this woman is represented as a sex symbol, and nothing more; she is not of a great social status and is not praised in society; this is similar to back then when slaves were viewed as maids and nothing of greater significance. Moreover, “wound[ed] [their] belly in a slow and obscene grind” shows that the men were acting inappropriately and sexually based off of the woman’s performance. “Thin hair of his bald head” shows that the men there were old, proving the older mentality of the men who see the whites being separated from the minorities. “Diamond studs” represents the wealth of the men that were watching this performance. “Large,” “belly,” and “paunch” all exemplify the fact that all these men are large and dominant, just like a typical male who displays ideal manliness. “Like that of an intoxicated panda” is a simile, which is used here to
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