Royal Battle
...g spirit during these times. What does it mean to have a fighting spirit? And have a warrior mentality? Throughout the “Battle Royal” the boy was taught by his grandfather to “live with your head in the lion’s mouth” (Ellison, pg. 556, 2005). These things add up to being the Invisible Man, a black male back in the 1950’s. The life of a black man consisted of always playing the game of society. They had to bite their tongue and hold back any true feelings they had about life. You must fight through any battles life sends your way and know that you do not want to get murdered by any of the wicked, racist white people. In the segregated south, Black people were always taught the game of society, which was to respect and obey white people. Life was not supposed to be happy with black people. Black people were always being humiliated and they were to stay in their place no matter what. In consequence of not doing what you were supposed to do, you risked being lynched or killed in a brutal way. For instance, in this story a young black boy was brought before a white citizens’ gathering to give his speech. The white man wanted to make sure this black boy knew who ran things during that time. So they made him a victim in this blood battle just so that they could have a source of entertainment. The white citizens at the gathering reinforced that the boy was expected to stay in his place. They were abusing the young black boy for their own gratification. This blood battle forced the black boy to have a fighting spirit. It made him focus on what was important. (Which was his speech.) This part of the story, also, goes for life in general. Life is meant for you to focus on what is important to you. No matter what obstacles or punches life gives you, overcome them. The black boy overcame any strong punches thrown at him by thinking about his speech. Despite him getting beat up, he still wanted to give his speech and prove that he is somebody and that those white citizens could not break him down. The grandfather told the boy that the way he lived his life was by hiding his true self. By him being a traitor, he betrayed his own people just to get in good with the enemy. If th...