Conflict out of the Ring - Literature review Example

here 22 September Conflict out of the Ring The conflict started well before the ring. In the chapter d “Battle Royal” from Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, the protagonist, who the reader assumes is Ellison himself, finds himself in a major conflict well before the real action of the story takes place. Growing up about 85 years after the abolition of slavery and a couple of decades before the African-American Civil Rights Movement, Ellison finds himself in a perplexing time as a Black youth. This confusion is compounded with the words of his dying grandfather, who challenges him to remain submissive to white Americans as a means to underhandedly overcome their oppression over time. His parting words uttered on his deathbed haunt Ellison everywhere he goes, staging a major conflict in his youth – whether he should deceitfully give the appearance of joyfully submitting to the whites or be real and put on the face of defiance and rebellion. This conflict resurfaces throughout the chapter as white community members abuse and denigrate Ellison, who feels conscious-stricken every time he acts the role white men want him to play. Well before the author actually enters the infamous “Battle Royal” – a boxing match fought by a group of blindfolded Black youth against each other for white men’s entertainment ? he is stricken with a conflict in the pristine setting of his grandfather’s bedroom at his deathbed. When his grandfather tells him for the first time that he was actually a spy and a traitor to the white man ? by joyfully doing right in his eyes ? and to keep up the good fight for his fellow Blacks, an unsettling conflict arises in Ellison’s heart that forever plagues him. The young man now understands that his grandfather’s seemingly joyful submission to whites for decades was all a front to eventually win the long war against their oppressors. The conflict of Ellison’s guilt for doing what white people tell him to do is witnessed as he reflects about what his grandfather said, “And whenever things go well for me I remembered my grandfather and felt guilty and uncomfortable. It was as though I was carrying out his advice in spite of myself. And to make it worse, everyone loved me for it. I was praised by the most lily-white men in town,” (Ellison 16). When Ellison receives an invitation to participate in the Battle Royal and give a speech because of his scholarly achievement at school, he is not able to truly enjoy this honor because he feels that he is underhandedly being a traitor to his white educators who praise him ? by playing into his grandfather’s game. This inner conflict follows Ellison through all of his successes. No matter how much acclaim and honor Ellison receives from whites in society, he is never fully able to enjoy his accomplishments. The words of his grandfather manage to ruin his every feat. The greater the victory, the more of a traitor he feels himself becoming, and this conflict tears at Ellison from both sides, “I was considered an example of desirable conduct – just as my grandfather had been. And what puzzled me was that the old man had defined it as treachery,” (Ellison 16-17). As far as Ellison knew, his grandfather never disrespected or rebelled against white folk, yet this was really his form of resistance – a paradox Ellison found hard grasp ? by appeasing them, he was actually betraying and cheating them. His conscience never lay at rest when he exceeded the white man’s standards, “When I was praised for my conduct I felt a guilt that in some way I was doing something that was really against the wishes of the white folk… The old man’s words were like a curse,” (Ellison 17). This unsettling feeling becomes especially apparent toward the end of the chapter after Ellison endures humiliation ? at the Battle Royal and at the money hunt on an electrified rug ?so that he could give his speech. After going along with all the antics, taking the blows, being electrocuted, and giving a speech with a mouth full of blood, Ellison is awarded for his scholastic achievement – and for being a good sport through all of the cruel games – with a luxurious leather briefcase and a college scholarship. Even though Ellison initially feels overwhelmed with pride and joy for earning such a prestigious gift, the chapter ends with a troubling and enigmatic dream he has of his grandfather, who laughs at him as he reads his message that says “Keep This N_____-Boy Running.” These haunting and puzzling words would reverberate in Ellison’s mind for years and keep him from fully enjoying the award he held so dear, for in the back of his mind, he knew that the briefcase and scholarship were more than prizes from the white folk – they were weapons by which to take them down. The conflict stirred in Ellison’s heart by the words of his grandfather on his deathbed became the measure by which the young African American man would weigh his every action. Things were now – so to speak – never black and white to him anymore. Doing good by the white man actually worked against his oppressive ways in the long run. This conflict within Ellison’s heart made the world he lived in more complicated – and made him more calculating. Seemingly giving in to the white man was not really a weakness; it was a sign of strength and endurance that his grandfather condoned – an act of sabotage to undermine the white man’s cruel grip on Blacks. But once Ellison fully understood what side he should stand on in this inner conflict, it would help him to discover who he truly was – a man like nobody else… an invisible man. Works Cited Delblanco, Nicholas, and Alan Cheuse. Literature: Craft and Voice, Volume 1. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print. Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. New York: Random House, 1995. Print. Read More