...government did not do anything to stop this. There were many discriminatory laws in place called the Jim Crow Laws, which basically made it legal for whites to treat blacks with cruelty. In the short story “Battle Royal” by Ralph Ellison, there are many examples of the cruelties done to blacks by whites. Throughout the story, the white men hurt the protagonist and the other black boys emotionally, psychologically, and physically, and yet the protagonist still feels that blacks should follow the cruel and unjust laws for the good of society. In the beginning of the novel, the white men use a naked stripper to gain control of the protagonist and his group and hurt them psychologically and emotionally. As the African American literature critic Lee states, “ the stripper is a synthetic metaphor of white Mother America, Pocahontas, Martha Washington, the Scarlet Woman—white-fleshed, an object for rape and adoration, a pleasure-object--and yet for this “Nigger” a locus classicus of threat, a taboo, a castration” (Lee 23). This woman is a metaphor for how the government is also controlling the black people’s lives. The stripper is meant as pleasure for men, but for black men, it could mean serious trouble. If black men look at a naked white woman, they could be put in jail, beaten, or even killed in the most extreme cases. The black boys, including the protagonist are psychologically and emotionally distraught. The protagonist “wanted at one and the same time to run from the room, to sink...
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...In the short story, Desiree’s Baby, Kate Chopin there is a sense of karma and consequences that are used in the story wrote that. The story explores the problem of a man’s pride overcoming the love he has for his wife and race. In the short story, Desiree’s baby by Kate Chopin the character Armand Aubigny is racist, in denial and mean. In the story, Armand is a slave owner in Louisiana. In addition, the historical background puts race and heritage into the story as the key points to be seen and understood. The theory that I am applying in my story is that of Cultural Studies. The cultural studies theory concentrates on how and the way a particular subject relates to a social class, ideology, gender, ethnicity, and nationality. Armand Aubigny’s environment and childhood influences his lifestyle and beliefs to accept racial discrimination as common. By owning a family name that represents a boastful heritage “that is the oldest and proudest in Louisiana,” and a place in society as a plantation owner, Aubigny has superiority over the blacks (Chopin, n.a, 2). Therefore, Aubigny, confident that he is a white, a male, and a master in control automatically looks for a black mother Desiree, his wife to blame as soon as he realizes his son resembles a quadroon one quarter black. Because of his regular habit of racial prejudice, Aubigny betrays his loved ones and undergoes the trauma of receiving the news that his family is black. Armand Aubigny is like the other men in his family and...
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...“The Lottery” “The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. The story is set in the small town of Bennington, Vermont and is a fictional dark tale about the dangers of blindly following tradition. There is symbolism in the story dealing with the objects involved, the event is held on the 27th of July every year. The black box and three legged stool along with the paper used to perform the event. Gathering of the stones and the use of the stones to complete the final part of the lottery ritual. The town square of Bennington, Vermont, between the towns Post Office and the Bank is where the town’s people would meet every June 27th for the event. Everything about the Lottery is tradition and ritual. The town children would start to gather first in the town square a little before 10 o’clock am, and then the men show up a few minutes after the children. The women of the town are the last to show up and they would begin talking with one another as they waited for Mr. Summers to arrive for the lottery to begin. “Soon the men begin to gather together, surveying their own children and speaking of planting crops, rain, tractors and taxes” (Jackson 290). “Soon the women by their husbands as they begin...
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...The use of symbolism is one of the most prevalent ways Ellison helps the reader better understand his story. Ellison uses symbolism to express the narrator’s struggle trying to work his way through the social divide in “Battle Royal”. Symbolism such as the use of color, the metaphoric messages of white supremacy, and the grandfather’s vague words of advice help Ellison tell this short story. The use of color in this story is one of the most beautiful and interesting ways Ellison provides context and understanding for the intense scenes. When the narrator says, “All ten of us climbed under the ropes and allowed ourselves to be blindfolded with broad bands of white cloth.” (229) it depicts the lack of choice the black men had. And although he states that they “allowed” the white men to blindfold them, the reader understands that there really was no other option. White men literally blinded the black men by not allowing them to make eye contact with white women. And figuratively speaking, the prejudice whites have against blacks...
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...Influences on Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Work In the late eighteen hundreds, America was no longer a fledgling nation, now well established and rapidly evolving on the inside. These forces of change are most clearly exemplified by literary works in this time period. The short story “The Lynching of Jube Benson”, by Paul Laurence Dunbar, is a reactionary piece to the new forms and mediums of racism taking flight during this time. While lynching was not invented during the late eighteenth century, lynching reached the height of its popularity with the emergence of the first Ku Klux Klan. The primary target of this lawless group were African Americans. The state of this practice is criticized in the Dunbar’s short story. Upon reading of the...
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...government; and whether this nation, born of a declaration that all men were created with an equal right to liberty, would continue to exist as the largest slaveholding country in the world. The Civil War started because of uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states. When Abraham Lincoln won election in 1860 as the first Republican president on a platform pledging to keep slavery out of the territories, seven slave states in the Deep South seceded and formed a new nation, the Confederate States of America. The American writer Richard Gibney later used this as a theme in his novel “The Whipping Boy”, where he gives us a portrait of the differences between what the written law said and what actually happened. In the short story, foreshadowing is one of the things you will read. P. 1, l. 6: “In destroying the beasts as they slept, the slaves treated the dogs better in death than the dogs had treated the slaves in life”, in this sentence it is described how brutally Mikey and Tommy kills their former owner dogs, and then suddenly, like nothing has happened, the writer tells us about how Martha is in the kitchen cooking. This is a brutal way of starting a story, but it makes it much more interesting to read. The historical setting is one of the most important things in this story. Richard Gibney uses...
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...Similarities found in Hawthorne’s Literature “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story that shows an evil perspective of the world. Hawthorne truly shows the truth that hides behind closed doors, or one could say the evil truth that hides deep into the woods. The journey he entailed was an eye opening experience that changed Young Goodman brown forever. In “The Ministers Black veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne the minister also has an experience that changes him forever. The minister openly chooses to show that he is a holy man, but evil is still present in his life. The veil symbolizes the evil that he has chosen to live with. Evil, Symbolism, and everlasting impact are all very present thematic connections in “Young Goodman brown” and “The Ministers Black veil.” In Hawthorne’s literature, “Young Goodman brown” and “The Ministers Black veil,” evil is the most prominent theme. To a certain degree the devil consumes both men in the literature. In “The Ministers Black Veil,” evil has already been explored, but evil is equally as present. (Barry 16) Hawthorne never reveals what...
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...“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor is about a family trying to decide where they want to go on vacation. The short story is stocked with symbolic messages that will be explored. It helps to understand the background of O’Connor to help with the symbols. “Her work was informed by her experiences growing up as a Catholic in the South. Religion was a recurring theme in her work.” She was also born in 1925 which was a pivotal moment for religion. Theology and religion where having discussions about which was right which made O’Connor’s writings and short stories that much more important. The story opens with the family trying to decide where they want to go for vacation. The family consists of, the grandma, Bailey her son, Bailey’s...
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...Fiction short stories consist of a few named characters that make use of the plot in a far lesser degree than a novel. Short-story plots deal with the most basic conflicts, and they show how those conflicts build tension and lead to climatic moments throughout the story. The setting focuses on where the story takes place, how believable the setting makes the story, and what mood the setting creates. The setting is also able to use symbols or create expectations that ultimitly turn around in the end. In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game,” Richard Connell uses various details to enhance his description of the setting, creating a vividly mysterious image. In addition, he builds tension between the two main charcaters which altimately leads to the...
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...Many female writers write about women's struggle for equality and how they are looked upon as inferior. Kate Chopin exhibits her views about women in her stories. The relationship between men and women in Kate Chopin's stories imply the attitudes that men and women portray. In many of Chopin's works, the idea that women's actions are driven by the men in the story reveals that men are oppressive and dominant and women are vulnerable, gullable and sensitive. Chopin also shows that females, like Desiree and Eleanor, undergo a transformation from dependent and weak to stronger women free from their husbands by the end of the story. In the short story 'Desiree's Baby,' Kate Chopin reveals her idea of the relationship between men and women by showing instances of inferiority and superiority throughout the story. In 'A Point at Issue,' there are many instances where the idea of hypocrisy and the attitudes that the main characters display and how their actions affect each other's lives, show the impact that men have on w... As I read "Desiree’s Baby" by Kate Chopin, I couldn’t imagine living in an era where my value as a human being was determined by my skin color. I ask myself if I would have been considered an Afro-Cuban and treated like a slave just because my father is a "Quadroon" (1/4 African)? Would my father’s skin color, heritage and ethnicity make me an "Octaroon" (1/8 African) regardless of the fact that my skin is lighter than most Caucasian’s? "Desiree’s Baby" by...
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...During the era of regional realism, many writers sought to expose Americans to the culture and issues of the South and late 1800s. In their writings, there is a clear distinction between three groups of people: white males, blacks, and women. These stories display a power struggle between these groups, in which the white males dominate society, leaving blacks and women voiceless and oppressed. Regional realist writers took it upon themselves to expose and discourage the oppression of blacks and women they witnessed, thus challenging readers to grapple with these important socially radical issues. Although presented in several different fashions, in many regional regionalist writings, blacks are portrayed as victims in society. One way this oppression is exposed is through the trickster. The role of the trickster was to represent...
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...ENGL 1302 Paper #1: Central Idea January 28, 2016 Word Count: 515 “The Lottery” In Shirley Jackson’s short story, The Lottery, you automatically begin to wonder what the “lottery” actually consists of. The story starts off on a nice day in June, June 27th to be exact. The kids are running around and the men and women are beginning to gather and wait for the lottery to take place. After everyone gathers, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves join the rest of the town with the wooden, black box. Inside the black box are little sheets of paper, and on one sheet there is a black dot made with charcoal. One by one the men from each family come up to draw a slip of paper, and once every family has one piece, everyone opens it at the same time. The town frantically looks around to see who is in possession of the slip of paper with the dark circle, and then they finally see it; it’s Mr. Hutchinson. Whispers begin to arise as each member of the Hutchinson family begins to draw a slip of paper from the box. When each family member has drawn, they open their sheet to see if that charcoal circle lay inside. Tessie Hutchinson, who was late to the lottery, who kept making excuses, opens her paper to see the black dot. She then moves into the center and awaits her fait as the town slowly approaches her with stones in their hands. After reading this story I conclude that the central idea is related to the human behavior during the time period of Nazi’s and World War II. What makes me come to the...
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...Ellison is a story about a young black man living in 1940s south. “A Rose for Emily” is one about an elderly white lady in the 1930s South. Although each of these stories are centered in the same time period of the South, they are extremely different. The main difference being; racial issues, the age and color of the main characters, and the accepted social behavior. In “Battle Royal” the entire focus of the story is centered on racial discrepancies between white and black people. The short story is about an African American teenaged boy who is invited to be a guest speaker before a group of a town’s superior white men. The event turns bad once the protagonist...
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...is a movie from New Zealand about a family where the mother comes from a fine old tribe, and the father comes from a slave tribe. The family lives in a house in the modern civilization, and the father goes to a pub every day because he is fired. See the Plot document. * Going Home Going Home is about a black boy called William or Billy. He is very successful as a painter and football player, and he has forgotten all about his aboriginal roots because he is ashamed of them. One day he meets his disgusting aunt and another day his uncle sleeps on his veranda so William has to move because the neighbors look at him. He decides to visit his family, but it’s not easy and he doesn’t feel comfortable. He gets a gold watch, because it is his 21 years birthday, but when he walks out of the door the next day he is grabbed by a policeman and so is his brother. * The Guilt The Guilt is about an old woman who lives alone in South Africa. She is afraid when black people come to the gate in the high wall around her garden. She becomes irritated when they ask for money, but she feels guilt for being white and she always give them some change, food or clothes. One day a young black man called William comes to her gate and asks for a job, she says she don’t have any and gives him 5 rand. He says that he can’t accept it and starts fixing the garden. When he is finished he goes into her house and demands 10 rand more for his work. His attitude is a bit threatening so she commands her dogs...
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...“Battle Royal” was first published as a short story which later became the first chapter of the well-received first novel of Ralph Ellison(1913-1994), Invisible Man. “Battle Royal” is the story of the unnamed protagonist, a Black youth who just graduated from high school brought to a meeting of the town’s elite leaders to give his eloquent speech because he is the smartest boy in his school. The youth is proud and eager to give his graduation class speech and prove his ability. The problem is that the audience is composed of White men of the South during the time prior to the struggle for civil rights. Each plays out his part, leaving the horror of racism for all to see. The youth narrator takes on the typical Black role of the time, that of a submissive pleaser. The White men also take on their expected roles. They humiliate the narrator and the other youth who have been invited to the affair. But in so doing, they unwittingly humiliate themselves as well. The youth’s grandfather, lying on his deathbed admits that he feels like a traitor, but prompts his son to give the Whites what they want. Throughout the story, Ellison’s symbols give layers of meaning. The White woman is used just as the Black youth are, to humiliate and denigrate them, and keep them in their places. The woman is symbolic of the thirst the youth has for America and its opportunities. The youth are made to fight a battle royal, a fight between several who struggle until the end. Through all this turmoil...
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