Battle Royal (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Ralph Ellison
- First Published: 1947
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: 1947 and the late 1920's
- Setting: Unnamed rural area in the American South
- Principal Characters: The narrator, His grandfather, The school superintendent, Tatlock
- Genres: Social realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: African Americans, Social action, Memory, Racism, Betrayal, Friendship, Equality, Boxing, Guerrillas or guerrilla warfare, Speeches, High schools or high school students
- Locales: South (U.S.)
The Story
The story consists of a frame in which the mature narrator remembers the advice that his dying grandfather gave to his son (the narrator's father) and his remembrance of a cruel betrayal that confirms the grandfather's advice.
The grandfather tells his son to “keep up the good fight,” to continue the black people's war by guerrilla tactics, to be a traitor and spy in the enemy's country as he himself has been. He tells his son: “Live with your head in the lion's mouth. I want you to overcome ’em with yeses, undermine ’em with grins, agree ’em to...
[The entire page is 1353 words long]
