A Party Down at the Square

“A Party Down at the Square” by Ralph Ellison is a story of a young boy, who witnesses his first lynching of a black man. Running toward the crowd the young boy is looking for a party, but quickly realizes that it isn’t a party at all. The crowd surrounding the black is angrily awaiting to burn the black man for his wrong doings. During the lynching a plane lands near the Square and a woman is electrocuted to death. This however, has no effect on the crowd and their objective. The crowd quickly turns their attention back to the burning man and continues their lynching. The boy is sickened by the by the burning man but finds it hard to look away. He analyzes the entire situation from beginning to end without fully understanding his own feelings toward execution of the black man.
“A Party Down at the Square is told in first person, by a young boy who struggles with himself as he tries to accept the events of the night as normal. Although, he “wanted to run somewhere …show more content…
When an aircraft lands in the wrong area due to the fire, the crowd pays little attention to the disaster around them once the black man starts to burn. The hate the crowd has for the black man takes precedence over the madness the aircraft has caused. This is also suggested, as the author never mentions the reason why the black man is being burned, only that he is being burned to death as a form of punishment. People came “from Phenix City” to see the black man burn to death without questioning why the black man was being murdered (457). Ellison also implies, that a child is molded and greatly influenced by their surrounding persons and environment. The day following the lynching, the young boy “feels too weak to go out”, but his uncle tells him “you get used to it in time” (459). Implying, that the young boy will witness another lynching and after a while will grow accustomed to seeing such an