Essay Database

"Son, after I'm gone I want you to keep up the good fight…Live with your head in the Lion's mouth"(174). In Battle Royal, by Ralph Ellison, the protagonist is dealt many expectations. The unnamed narrator is placed in a situation where he instantly must choose between his own dream of college and his grandfather's hope of equality. He remains unnamed throughout the story because he has no sense of self. Contrary to his grandfather's …

…in front of the white community, the boy transforms into a scared little boy, much different from his demeanor at graduation. As he speaks, it is as if his grandfather enters into his own body and strangles him with the boy's own blood-a warning not to speak submissively. The boy, however, lets both his grandfather and himself down by losing sight of his own purpose-to rebel silently, for the boy does not rebel at all.