This post is for PERIOD 8 FRESHMEN only.
There's an old saying, that "knowing is half the battle." The joke, of course, is, "What's the rest of the battle?" Fighting? Pain? Losing? Cats with laser beams?
Using this notion as a jumping-off point, address one of the following ideas in a thoughtful, thorough paragraph.
What 'battles' are being fought in Ellison's "Battle Royale"?
Who is likely to succeed in battle, and who is likely to fail?
Which battle is most worthy of being fought?
Which is least worthy?
We're not just speaking literally, here. We're speaking figuratively. Be sure to consider all the characters and conflicts: the narrator, his grandfather, the other contestants, the women, the men holding the event, the audience members. Consider the narrator's speech, his dream at the end, his hopes and worries. Consider that some conflicts are external, others internal. Consider that by the end of the story, some battles have been resolved while others have just begun.
Post your response in the comments section. Be sure to include your name so you can get credit. Remember, these are simply ideas - prompts to get you started. All I'm looking for, really, is some thoughtful, interesting discussion. Therefore, feel free to post additional comments in which you respond to your peers' comments. You might also consider checking back in to see if anyone has responded to your comments, so you can reply.
You can receive extra credit for each additional response.
Again, I'm looking for a discussion here, not simply a list of unconnected thoughts. So, make connections and claims, draw conclusions, provide evidence and explanations. I'll be checking in periodically.
In case you're interested, all of these paintings are by a guy named George Bellows, one of the 'Ashcan' artists.
The battles that are being fought in "Battle Royal" would be the physical fight between the main character and the people attending, the fight to break his grandfather's curse, the fight over the dancer, saying his speech, and getting people to listen to his speech(actually listen and to not think of it as a joke). The main character was likely to loose the battle between him and the audience because he is a black person in the 1950's, a time when black's were not considered equals to whites, and it would be hard to get people to take him seriously because he was talking about acceptance and blacks becoming equals with whites. The main character is least likely to win the physical fight because there are so many people fighting, and he is just one person. The main character fights his grandfather's curse throughout the story, and is most likely to win because he is very smart and open minded, so he could learn to live with white people. There is a fight for the dancer both mental and physical, and the main character is least likely to win because there are many people fighting for her. There was a fight in saying the speech because the main character had to speak with lots of blood in his mouth which made it hard for him to talk and talk loud. The main character was most likely to win this fight because he has a great desire to give this speech. The least worthy fight would be the fight over the dancer because she did not play a major role in the story and is not part of the theme. The dancer had been in the story for a couple paragraphs and the story did not say anything after about her after that.
ReplyDelete- Matthew Zerwic
The battles in the "Battle Royal" are physical battle and battle against society. One of the battles is physical because in the story the main character was jabbed, kicked, and punched during the time of the fight, but he was supposed to read his speech. In the physical battle I do agree that he was not able to win the battle because of all the other competitors were stronger. In the physical battle the one who succeeded was Tatlock because he was the one who received the winner's prize money and Tatlock must feel superior compared to the others. The other battle that the main character had to face was a battle against society. This battle showed through the story when the main character was worried about the judgment of the educated white people. He was worried because when he presented his speech he wanted to look educated. In this battle the main character won because at the end of the story he received a scholarship to attend college. The people who were likely to fail were the educated white people who looked down on him. The battle that was worthy is the battle against society because he received a scholarship and some respect from the superintendent. The battle that was less worthy was the physical battle because this battle was to humiliate the main character and the other people who participated.
ReplyDelete- Jenna Lee
In the story, "Battle Royal," there are two battles that occur. The physical battle where he is forced to fight Tatlock, and an insecurity battle against himself. In the physical battle, Tatlock is most likely to succeed because he is stronger, taller, and bigger overall. The main character knew he stood zero chance against Tatlock, making him most likely to fail. To no surprise, Tatlock wins the physical battle and the main character looses. The other battle that occurs in the story is an insecurity battle against himself. He feels insecure when all the white men judge him on how he isn't as big or strong or as good as a fighter as Tatlock. When the white man said he thought that Tatlock was going to win, it hurt the main character, making him feel insecure. I think the physical battle wasn't worth fighting because he didn't stand a chance when it came to winning, where as when he fought his insecurity problem, he could have easily won that. The physical battle was not worth the fight, but his battle with insecurity was worth to fight.
ReplyDelete-Dani Alper
I think there are more then two battles in this story. One of them would be the physical one against Tatlock,the second one would be the emotional one against the crowd, and the last one would be the main character against himself. Tatlock is a big fighter that always wins the battle and the main charater couldn't stand a chance against him and he knew that. Tatlock ends up winning the battle and severley injuring the main character. This physical battle was just for the crowds amusment and no one learned anything. The batle with the crowd might have hurt the main characters self esteme because the crowd was cheering for the big, strong fighter, Tatlock and not many people were cheering for the main character. This probably put a lot of pressure on him and made him very insecure. The battle with himself ties into the battle with the crowd because they made him scared and insecure which lowered his self esteme. The physical bettle is the least worhty because its just for pure amusement and is there to hurt people. The emotional battle with the crowd and himself is the one that matters because he actually learns lessons in the battle against himself which he doesnt and cant do in the physical battles.
ReplyDelete-Sarah Maestranzi
The battles in the story "Battle Royal" are a physical battle and a battle against the main character himself. The physical battle is when they are all fighting and hurting eachother. The battle that the main character faces against himself is his negative feeling towards what he is doing. Tatlock is most likely to succeed and the main character is most likely to fail, because of the main characters negativity towards himself.The battle that is most worthy is the battle that the main character faces against himself, because it is the glue to the entire fight. If the main chaaracter was more confident in himself, he might have won. So I believe that the battle the main character faces against himself is more worthy than the physical battle when they just fought and hit eachother.
ReplyDelete-Kaylie Kleutgen
In Ellison's story, "Battle Royal", the main character, Sambo, is faced with battles with himself both externally and internally. Sambo faces one battle in the beginning of the story when he speaks about his grandfather's last words and how they impacted his family as well as himself. His grandfather's words were like stubborn "curses" that clung to him and made him feel insecure and guilty. The second battle Sambo faces is when he wants to give his speech. Throughout the battle in the fighting ring, Sambo kept worrying whether he would be able to give his speech or not. Although Sambo did not win the fight, in the end, he was able to tell his speech to the white men. The last and most important battle Sambo faces is when he is in the fighting ring. There, he is faced with Tatlock, the great and strong man. Not only does Sambo have to face Tatlock, but also the discouraging words of the white audience. The man who succeeded in winning the fight was Tatlock and the loser, Sambo because Tatlock was more fit to be a fighter than Sambo. The battle that was worthy of being fought was Sambo's battle to tell his speech because his main purpose was the tell his speech, but he got himself in spider's web when he decided to join the Battle Royal. The battle least worthy was Sambo's fight with Tatlock because the whole combat was unnecessary.
ReplyDelete-Soomin Jeon
In the story the fighting ring battle was not the most important because the battle didn't prove the intelligence that he wanted to show to the educated white people. In the story Sambo wanted to read his speech and did not want to prove that he had physical strength.
DeleteI think the battle over the dancer was least worthy because it wasn't discussed much in the story and wasn't part of the main theme, like the physical fight and the fight to break the curse.
Delete-Matthew Zerwic
I don't think the battle against Tatlock was the most important battle, but I think it was still an important part of this story. I think the more important battle was against the crowd because Sambo really wants them to hear his speech. He could really care less about Tatlock, I think all he really wants is to read his speech to the crowd.
Delete-Amara Kabba
Amara and Jenna, I totally agree with you that the battle against Tatlock in the fighting ring was not the most important battle on the story. However, in my perspective, I feel that the battle in the fighting ring was also somewhat important because throughout the fight, Sambo learns what it feels of wanting to achieve a goal. He goes through so much emotion and that 'urge' of wanting to give his speech made him mentally more stronger. "I fought back with hopeless desperation. I wanted to deliver my speech more than anything else in the world..." (Ellison 271). I feel that if Sambo did not face Tatlock, then he would not have had that experience of what it is like to achieve your goal.
DeleteBut then again, I also agree with you guys, after reading your own response, that Sambo wanting the give his speech and getting his scholarship was also important. Thanks for your feedbacks!
I do agree with you that Sambo did get some confidence from the fight against Tatlock.
DeleteIn the story, "Battle Royal," there are two battle in the story. There is the physical battle of trying to defeat Tatlock when he is told to fight him. And there is the mental battle he has with himself about confidence. In the physical battle it is hard for him to succeed when he is being forced to fight Tatlock when he has strength, size, and confidence over the main character. In the mental battle the main character is fighting himself to get more confidence. But it is hard because when he is trying to do so he keeps getting shot down. For example, when he white men say that Tatlock was going to win is told the main character that he is weak and not a competitor for Tatlock which is obviously going to shoot his confidence even more and not want him to do things such as present his speech because he is afraid people are going to judge and think he is nothing. I believe that the physical fight was very unnecessary because I think he was just trying to show how strong and brave he is on the outside, but at the time he just had to be brave and strong on the inside. And discovering that is much more confident then a fight.
ReplyDelete-Sarah McDonagh
ReplyDeleteI thought battles being fought in Ellison’s “Battle Royale” is the fight between Tatlock and the main character, but also the battle between him and the crowd. All he really wants is for them to listen to him and to do that he had to fight this battle between him and Tatlock. Tatlock was for sure the one most likely to succeed in that battle. That being said, the main character was likely to lose that in that battle. Tatlock was much bigger and stronger than the main character and everyone, even the main character, knew that he had no chance in winning it. The battle against the crowd was also an important piece of this story. Once again the main character was most likely to lose because he is Black. At that time Blacks were not thought of as equals so seeing him winning a battle against the white audience wasn’t likely. I think he kind of won that battle though because he got to deliver the speech, but only some people were listening. I think the most important battle was actually the one against the crowd because all he really wanted was to deliver his speech and that battle is what determines whether he does it or not. The least worthy battle in my opinion is the one against Tatlock. This battle was important too, but just not as important as the battle against the crowd. The physical battle was more because he wanted to earn the respect of the crowd so they would listen.
-Amara Kabba
Amara I agree with you that the physical fight was important, and I think that the fight for the crowd to listen to him was the most important because this was during the 1950's, a time when blacks were not considered equals with whites, and in the end people enjoyed his speech and respected him.
Delete-Matthew Zerwic
I think there are three major battles in this story. One of them is the main character wanting to give his speech, but struggling do to the fact that he is an African American/fighting people and getting physically hurt. Another battle is the battle for the main character to break his grandfathers curse. He is scared to do so because he is in front of so many white people, and thinks they wont take him seriously and is insecure about himself. The final battle which is the most obvious one is the physical battle. The main character is not the best fighter, but I believe he is the smartest one. Which works to his advantage helping him progress through the battle, which gives him self confidence and helps him deal with his other battles as well. -Jack Szafranski
ReplyDeleteI think that there are three major battles in "Battle Royal". I think one is the actual physical fight between the main character and Tatlock. This is one of the battles because he is not as big or powerful as Tatlock so he has a lesser chance of winning the fight. Another battle is man against society, which in this case is the main character against all the other people in the room. I think this is the most important battle because he is a black man living in a white person's world. He is just fighting for their enjoyment and pleasure. It is amusing to them to watch these people fight each other for a "prize" since the white people find the black people less human. The final other battle is the main character against himself. He really doubts his abilities when fighting Tatlock. He also feels not confident about himself. The battle least worthy to fight is the one where he fights the other fighters. This is because he is doing what the white people wanted him to do. -Brian Filipiak
ReplyDeleteThere were three battles in Ellison's "Battle Royal." The first battle was when the main character had to fight Tatlock in the ring. I think that this was the pobably his most terrifying encounter, and this specific encounter was man vs. man. I thought that the second battle was His struggle against the entire crowd in the room and the very important people that were there, so this is man vs. society. The last battle i thought was man vs. self because he wouldn't admit to saying "equality" even though that may have been what he had meant to say. But one thing that i did not understand about the story was if it was all a dream or if only hte ending was a dream. - Sophie Menchaca
ReplyDeleteIn the story, "Battle Royale", many battles are fought. Both physical and mental fights occured. The first battle that occured was mental. He thought he was cursed from his grandfathers last words. People loved that he resembled his grandfather but he did not understand why. The next battle that occured was also mental. They were taken into a club by many white people and put in a very awkward situation. After they were forced to watch things they did not want to see they were taken to a boxing ring. The main charachter has a blindfold over his eyes when the fight starts. After getting pumbled by the 9 other kids he is the last left in the ring except for one other. The largest kid of them all, Tatlock. This battle was deffinitley physical but he is in a mental battle with himself during the fight. He does not want to lose because he wants to prevent his speech. If he loses he doesnt think he will get to present his speech to the wealthiest guys in town. He ended up getting knocked out. After he is knocked out he is forced onto an electric carpet to pick up money. That was a physical battle. He is electrecuted to a very bad extent. All the boys are told to leave and as the main character was walking out he was called back by the mc. He was asked to present his sppech. Anoher mental battle occured while presenting his speech. He felt the men were ignoring him. He kept going and spoke louder. At the end he did not think anyone had heard. A thunderous applause rose and the main character was in shock. He was presented with a brief case and inside was a scholarship to the all negroes college. He finally forgot aboout his grandpas curse. ~Nolan bertog
DeleteThe battles being fought in "Battle Royal" are cruel, racist and obviosly painful. In the the story middle aged men are forcing young teenagers to basically fight to the death.There were three main bttles in the story number one being when they attacked the dancing woman. Number two being when they blindfolded the boys and through them in a boxing ring to brutally beat each other. And lastly when they put the money on the electric rug and and had the boys fight over it. In my opinion the boy was brave for several reasons one being that he did not fake an injury or leave the boxing ring but instead showed the men that he was tough and could take the pain. And he showed tremendous bravery by going back in to the club and giving his speech and showing the men how truly gifted and smart he is. I think this story shows how racist and aweful white men could be back then.
ReplyDeleteHey there Tommy! I'm just curious about several things.
DeleteWhere in the story does it say middle aged men were forcing young teenagers?
Also, I don't think they were forced. Wasn't it their decision whether the men wanted to take part in the Battle Royal? "When I got there I discovered that it was on the occasion of a smoker, and I was told that since I was to be there anyway I might as well take part in the battle royal to be fought by some of my schoolmates as part of the entertainment" (Ellison 267). It says here that the main character "might as well take part"...but he was not forced.
Many battles were being fought in the story "Battle Royale." One battle was the physical battle. He fought other boys that were around the same age. They were all rutheless because they all had a point to prove. Another battle was the emotional and self confidence battle. When it was just him and Tatlock at the end, he knew he wasn't strong enough to beat him. He therefore tried to make a deal with Tatlock, with little success. Another battle was the battle of racism. It showed how ignorant and awful white people were to blacks back then. They had them fight for their own pleasure. Humility. the narrator showed how far he would go to please the white men. In the end, he ends up giving his speech, which shows courage. This story has many lessons that can be learned.
ReplyDeleteIn the book "Battle Royale" the only battle the narrarator has is with his own mind. He over thinks his grandpas words and MAKES it into a curse. And by the end he still doesn't feel like he is free. Those words should of insired him not made him grave and distraught. The author put the boxing fight into the book as a way to show that it actually didn't matter. That he had one thing in his mind.....his speech. The speech that he thought would change his life somehow. And in the end it did. But if his grandpa hadn't spoken the "curse" would he have ever ended up getting a scholarship or even being succesfull in any way? He spoke his mind in the speech even when people laughed because it was more for him than anyone else. Probably even if nothing happend after the speech he still would of been satisfied that he had accomplished what he wanted to. So the only battle that was being fought was inside his mind. Nothing else truly mattered for him to be happy
ReplyDeleteAll the battle fought in the story "Battle Royale" was a struggle for the protaganist. One of his battles was a emotional battle. He had to fight Tatlock, which he is an enemy. He knew that there was no way he would be able to defeat him because he was so much stronger. So he tried making a deal with him, but that didn't work out. Another battle was rascism. It showed how cruel some white men could be. They blindfolded him and beat him up for there own pleasure, which shows how ignorant people can act. The last battle was physical, in which he fought other men all trying to prove something to the people around them. But towards the end of the book he builds up his courage after getting beat down and he delivers his speech. This story shows the courage of a man, and what he'd do to prove a point
ReplyDelete~George Maroutsos
In the book "Battle Royal" the author of the story brings much suspence. In the book the main charchter is faced with many gory fights. Every fight he fought tought a lesson. One fight was about confidence, the other one was emotional, & last was there pride. He was hanging onto words that were spoken by his grandfather. He blames his grandfathers words, he thinks of it as a curse bestowned on him. As it turns out those words were a life lesson for him, that he did'nt realize. From those words that were clung onto him his whole life, gave him what he wanted, like a scholarship. In my opinion I feel as though if his grandfather never spoke those words to him, the story would end in a different way, & he would learn no lesson.
ReplyDelete-Claire Pak
The curse his grandfather put on him was important in the story because at the end the main character was able to overcome it even though it was very hard. He thought he couldn't do anything and at the end of the story he found out that he could do anything that he set his mind to.
Delete-Matthew Zerwic
I agree with Matthew. He overcame a great obstacle in the end. The cure=se was in his head and he overcame it by reaching a great goal. _Nolan Bertog
DeleteMany battles were fought during the story "Battle Royale". The first one was man vs. man. The curse that his grandfather spoke of, really messed with the narrators head. This speech was a way that the narrator thought he would get a chance to avoid the curse and make his life better. It ends up the speech does make his life better because they give him a scholarship. I agree with Edgar saying that if his grandpa didn't speak of the curse he would never get his scholarship or be succesful. He spoke the truth and even though people laughed, in the end he came out succesful. He wouldn't of become that way if he didn't have a hard to time to get there. The second battle was physical. The narrator fought against a group of men for a prize. The narrators mind wasn't even on the prize, all he wanted was to say his speech. This was the reason why he got so beat up. I agree with Abby saying that one of the battles was racism. When the narrator was trying to give the speech to the white people they didn't listen and laughed at the thought of social responsibility. This shows how white people were to black people in the 1950's. In the battles of racism and physical the narrator had no chance of winning but somehow in the end it all worked out. In the battle of racism the white people were going to win but the superitendent listened to the narrators words and the narrator won. In the physical battles Tatlock was bigger and stronger than the narrator and the narrator made it out alive. The least worthy battle was the physical one because it wasn't a huge part to the narrators success.
ReplyDelete-Megan Tristano
Wasn't the physical battle important in the story because it took up a lot of the story and it shows how much he wants to deliver this speech in front of a group of prominent members of his community. He was willing to fight to give his speech. He also was fighting during the speech, he could have gone over to the spittoon and spit out the blood in his mouth, but he knew it would make people pay attention to him less, and he delivered the speech even though it was hard for him to speak. I think the physical battle was one of the most important of the battles.
Delete-Matthew Zerwic
I understand what you're saying Matthew, but I agree with Megan that its the least worthy because him delivering his speech was more of an emotional experiance because yes he did fight for his speech and during his speech but that fighting was more then the physical fights, It was also the mental fights to get him through everything and to keep encouraging himself to not give up which was more a mental and emotional fight then a physical one.
Delete-Sarah Maestranzi
I agree with both of you, that the phisical battle was important, but the emotional battle was just as important. He had to go through the physical pain to get to his speech and it was almost like a test to see if he was strong enough to read it in front of the racist white men.
DeleteI also agree with that the emotional battle was as important as the physical, if not more. I think that the emotional battle lead to the narrators success and not the physicla battle. -Jack Szafranski
DeleteI think that the emotional battle of speaking infront of the white men had to have been an extremely difficult task. The white men were rude throughout the presentation. They talked and didnt give the main character much attention yet the main character managed to still present a great speech. He did it by being strong mentally. -Nolan Bertog
DeleteI agree with Megan and Edgar when they said that if his grandpa hadn't educated him with his strange words and sayings, the narrator wouldn't have been brave or courageous enough in the story. Also, this story shows just an example of how whites were to blacks back then. Whites treated blacks like animals. It was like a cock fight where the audience is the white men, and the birds are the black kids fighting.
ReplyDeleteI think there was two major battles in this story. The fight between Tatlock and himself was the physical battle. There was also another battle between his emotions. He was thinking he could give up and let Tatlock beat him or he strive through all his pain and fight back and give no mercy. Also another battle he had was not to jump in and help the woman who was dancing because he knew if he did the men would have hurt him even worse. - Jamie Christ
ReplyDeleteI do agree with the first fight between Tatlock, but the battle between his emotions in the fight wasn't another battle because that battle is connected to the first battle you wrote. I think the second battle is a battle against society. I think this because the main character was afraid of judgment by the white educated peers that were listening.
DeleteI think there were two battles fought in "Battle Royale", one being man vs. man with the physical fighting between the main character and the others competitors (Tatlock), another being man vs. self with the battles the main character faces with him and his thoughts and guilt due to what his grandfather had said. I believe that in the physical fight Tatlock is much more likely to win because of his ability and skill also with the negative comments from the audience that the main character received could have lowered his self esteem and that effected the main character's performance. The crowd's input was also similar to the words of his grandfather. Both had a big impact on him. I think that the battle between the main character and Tatlock was less worthy of being fought because it didn't prove much and it had an effect but not so much of an effect as his grandfather's words did and the constant battle he has due to it. The physical battle was much less damaging than the internal battle that the main character deals with constantly. -Mia Crespo
ReplyDeleteThere are many battles the narrator has to face in this story, but one that popped out for me was how the narrator had to constantly face the thoughts going through his mind. He had to believe in himself to read his speech clearly, hold onto his life when he was getting beat up in the ring, and ignore the racist comments from the white men. Even though at one point the narrator was getting beaten up phisically, he was getting names thrown at him which made him feel bad about himself.
ReplyDeleteDo you think this story is Fiction, or non-fiction? -Jack Szafranski
ReplyDeleteThat's a good question. I think that this story is fictoin, but it could have happened because of the cruelty between the African Americans and the white authority figures in this story.
DeleteI agree with you Sophia that the story is fiction.
DeleteI think that the story is fiction because the stroy must be made up by the author, but the author might be putting a perspective of how African American people were treated poorly by the white peers around.
DeleteI agree with Grace in the fact that the mental battles were important to this story. I think this because when you get an injury in time it heals, but when people constantly say negative things about you it starts to sink in and stays with you for the rest of your life. For example when the contestants were blindfolded I think not only was that to disable and give them a disadvantage in a fight, but it made them focus on the racist comments that audience was constantly throwing at them. Also I think that "Battle Royal" is a good example on how different and poorly African american people were treated versus the white people.
ReplyDelete-Michael Sohn
Does anyone think that what the grandfather said on his deathbed should have been said and if it shouldn't have been said,do you think that would it would affect the story at all?
ReplyDelete-Michael Sohn
What the grandfather said was important because it was always in the back of the main character mind while he was fighting and throughout his life. At the end, he seems to think he has escaped the curse, but he hasn't completely realized what it means. -Brian Filipiak
DeleteI absolutely agree with Brian! The grandfather's words were important in the story because the the words were so powerful and captivating that it was like a "curse" to him to the point where,just like what Brian said, was always in the back of the main character's mind. Without the grandfather's words, the beginning of the story would not have a leading conflict.
DeleteI think this story is fiction, but it portrays the cruelty that whites showed to black in the time of racism.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you too :D
DeleteI believe this story is based on events that inspired this story
ReplyDeleteI agree with edgar that this story was true and the facts were true but may have been changed over time.
ReplyDeleteDid you feel that the men reacted as positive as you they would to the boys speech. tommy karnig
ReplyDelete