Battle Royal

After preparing for our seminar, I realized how many connections there are between the battle royal and the rest of the novel. The white men around the narrator are similar to the brotherhood. In fact, the two words I noticed that surrounded both of them were “responsibility” and “equality.” While the white men in the battle royal frown at the mention of equality, the brotherhood initially seems to espouse such equality. However, towards the end, the brotherhood seems to be less interested in equality and more interested in power. In the same way, the white men try to control the black boys by making them participate in the humiliating act of the battle royal. The “big shots,” by showing a sexualized white woman, could control the black boys because they are forbidden to look at white women but are also attracted to the naked lady. This sense of control continues on to when the narrator and other boys participate in the battle royal. However, both the narrator and the woman are trapped and belittled by the white men. By recognizing the woman’s fear, the narrator learns more of the evils produced by white men. Another important connection I saw was between the gold coins and the Negro bank that was in Mary’s room. In the novel, the bank stays with the narrator in the briefcase. The gold coins connect to the Negro bank, as “it was choking, filled to the throat with coins.” Ellison seems to say that money can be a violent force because, in both cases, the scramble for money causes some sort of violent action. These gold coins also connect to the fact that the Brotherhood is giving the narrator money. By the end, the narrator’s participation in the Brotherhood leads to his own downfall, and he seems to be choking. In addition, another important motif in the entire chapter and the entire novel is the circus imagery. In fact, the dream the narrator has at the end is about a circus. The nude woman is described as a “circus kewpie dolls.” Even one of the boys is described as a vulnerable circus seal. After researching the importance of such imagery, I learned that Ellison incorporates circus images because it shows the unpredictable nature of the world. In addition, in a circus, everything is controlled, and the narrator and the other boys are controlled in the battle royal scene. The brotherhood can also be considered as a circus because they try to control in order to execute a perfect, scientific plan. Connected to the circus imagery is all the animal imagery. In the beginning, Bledsoe also forms his hand into cages. If the narrator is seen as a wild animal, Bledsoe is the one to trap and tame the narrator. At the end of the novel, it seems as if the ones in power are also described as an animal. Brother Jack is a Cyclops and a bull terrier. Mr. Norton is a frightened animal in the epilogue. One possible interpretation for the incorporation of animal imagery is that Ellison is trying to show that everyone is trapped. In the end, the narrator seems to trap Mr. Norton as he mocks Mr. Norton’s previous concept of fate.