Zen Buddhism Essay, Research Paper
In Battle Royal, Ellison uses details of setting to create the
mood of horror and repulsion. The horror begins when the narrator
listens to a conversation between his father and grandfather, as
his grandfather lay on his death bed. Son, after I m gone I want
you to keep up the good fight. I never told you, but our life is
a war and I have been a traitor all my born days, a spy in the
enemy s country ever since I give up my gun back in the
Reconstruction. Live with your head in the lion s mouth. I want
you to overcome em with yeses, undermine em with grins, agree
em to death and destruction, let em swoller you till they vomit
or bust wide open (256). This statement had a great effect on
the narrator, although he wasn t quite sure what it meant. It set
a sense of fear in him. And whenever things went well for me I
remember my grandfather and felt guilty and uncomfortable. It was
as though I was carrying out his advice in spite of myself (257).
The narrator didn t plan on taking his grandfather s advice, and
each time he found himself doing exactly that, it made him feel
guilty. I felt guilt that in some way I was doing something that
was really against the wishes of the white folks (257). This
continued path of fear and hatred are carried out throughout the
story.
Ellison gives the reader the idea of hatred and horror when
he sets the scene in the ballroom of the hotel. This is where the
Battle Royal was to take place. The battle room was filled with
smoke and in the center was the portable boxing ring that was to
be used for the fight. On three sides of the ring, chairs were
placed for the audience to observe the battle. These audience
members were that of an upper-class status, …bankers, lawyers,
judges, doctors, fire chiefs, teachers, merchants. Even one of
the more fashionable pastors (258). To top it off, they were all
white as well. Each of them arrived in tuxedos …wolfing down
the buffet foods, drinking beer and whiskey and smoking black
cigars (257). Ellison was taking us into the scene to show us
the intimidation the narrator felt as he saw the audience
members. It was extremely terrifying for the narrator.
After the fighters were ordered to the ring, they were to be
blindfolded. This gave the narrator a sense of fear and horror
that he was not used to. He didn t like the darkness and the
unknowing of what lied ahead. …I felt a sudden fit of terror.
I was unused to darkness. It was as though I had suddenly found
myself in a dark room filled with poisonous cottonmouths (259).
One of the audience members spoke to the narrator, See that boy
over there?…I want you to run across at the bell and give it to
him right in the belly. If you don t get him, I m going to get
you (259). This was told to the other fighters as well. Not one
person in the audience felt any sympathy for the boys. One
yelled, I want to get that ginger-colored nigger. Tear him limb
from limb (259). Others were kicking chairs and causing quite a
commotion. This put an even greater horrifying feeling in the
narrator. I wanted to see, to see more desperately than ever
before (260). The blindfold was not allowing this. All it was
doing was taking away what dignity he had.
After the battle was complete, the portable ring was taken
away and a small rug with coins, bills, and gold pieces was put
in its place. Each of the fighters were told to sit around the
rug as though they were of another species, perhaps from another
planet. This set a sense of excitement in each of them, but at
the same time they feared what was to come. Once the narrator
heard the word Go (262) he went straight for the goods. I
lunged for a yellow coin lying on the blue design of the carpet,
touching it and sending a surprised shriek to join those rising
around me. I tried frantically to remove my hand but could not
let go. A hot, violent force tore through my body, shaking me
like a wet rat. The rug was electrified (262-3). This didn t
stop the crowd from yelling obscenities at the boys. Pick it up,
goddamnit, pick it up!…Go on, get it (263). This made the boys
feel as though they had to do what was said, they feared the
crowd more than they feared the electricity of the rug. Ellison
uses this scene to show the repulsion the audience felt toward
the fighters and the fear the fighters had of them.
Throughout this story, Battle Royal, Ellison creates a
mood of horror and repulsion toward the black fighters,
especially toward the narrator. From the first scene next to the
grandfather s death bed, to the money on the rug. He takes his
readers to the fight to see just what s taking place, not only in
the mind of the narrator, but in the minds of the upper-class
white folks as well. By describing to the readers the details of
each scene, he gives them a chilling sense of what it s like to
be horrified and hated.