Essays on Battle Royal

“Battle Royal” is a short story by Ralph Ellison that was first published in 1952. It is about a young black man, who is the narrator, who tells the story of a time when he was invited to give a speech at a local gathering of white men. The young man is forced to fight in a “battle royal” boxing match against other black men as entertainment for the white men at the gathering. The young man is humiliated and degraded during the fight, but he eventually prevails and gives his speech. The story is an allegory for the racial inequality and discrimination that was prevalent in America at the time.