Comparative Analysis On Ellison’s “Battle Royal And Jackson’s “The Lottery”

Ralph Ellison lays his tale after the Reconstruction in 'Battle Royal.' The white, elite rulers of the moment invite the narrator to give graduation speech in his tale to the hotel room. Before he can deliver his speech, however, the narrator becomes engaged in a violent boxing match against the other employees. Similarly, the village initially seems calm in 'The Lottery.' Yet, in the end, it is disclosed that because of the long-standing tradition, a man who has chosen a paper with a black dot would be stoned to death as a type of sacrifice to 'prosper' the village. Both tales express the significance of tradition. The idea of conformity arises along with tradition. Because people seek comfort, they are inclined to conform to tradition because it sets out repetitive beliefs that have been passed down for generations. Traditions either make society prosperous or diminish society. According to Colombia University's Anthropology Department, 'Tradition was the name provided to those cultural features that were to continue to be passed on, thought about, maintained and not lost in circumstances of change.' However, if individuals fail to evaluate or 'think about' the tradition, it demonstrates to be harmful to society. If the tradition has been the same for a long time, the individuals under this tradition are brainwashed. If they were to question a tradition that remained unchanged, the society would shun them, and they would feel guilty themselves. Both stories portray the idea of unchanged tradition as neither the oppressed nor the oppressors refuse to break away from the set of cultures / traditions nor question their nature.

After Reconstruction, African Americans were released physically from being slaves, but in reality white supremacy still linked them emotionally like slaves. Although rebelling against the scenario now sounds like an optimal solution, in fact, most African Americans thought they would succeed if they remained obedient to white people. Similarly, in “Battle Royals”, which is is set after the Reconstruction, demonstrates the same dilemma that the narrator faces in this short story. To further heighten his dilemma, on the narrator’s grandfather 's deathbed, grandfather instructs the narrator to “live with [his] head in the lion’s mouth... overcome ’em with yeses, undermine ’em with grins, agree ’em to death and destruction” (Ellison 1). The grandfather suggests that the narrator succumb to white supremacy to win and succeed against them. Therefore, the narrator gets the honor of giving the white people of the upper class a graduation speech because he was an obedient student. However, the white folks force the narrator to participate in a brutal brawl for the purpose of their own entertainment. Even though the narrator is involved in a ruthless war against his own colored people, he still continuously “worried about [his]speech. [He worried if] they would recognize [his] ability” (Ellison). He worried because he desires to desperately feel accepted in the society.

Although the narrator knows that white people torture him for their own entertainment, he accepts this idea because white people have been doing this for so long that it would feel more bizarre if they didn't do it. The narrator mistakenly mentions 'equality' in his speech, but he corrects it immediately. The narrator wants to speak about equality, but he refuses to reveal his real feelings because it would generate chaos by revealing it, which would alienate him from accepting the white society he wishes. Battle Royal introduces the culture in which the oppressed people, the African Americans, refuse to break away from white people's position, because that is what they have been doing all their life. If they were to break away from what they are accustomed to, then their life would present more hardship. After the brawl was over, the white people ordered the African Americans to grab money from the rug, but despite the electrification of the rug,'[ they] struggled out of their hands and kept after the coins.' (Ellison 8) Despite demeaning themselves, they went after the coin because they would not be able to live peacefully without succumbing to the demands of the white people. Therefore, in his short story, Ellison introduces that it is difficult to break away from the tradition for both sides that has stayed for many years: oppressors and oppressed. Humans have lived through the traditions of their ancestors for many years. While not all cultures in their birthday perform the tradition of blowing candles, most cultures do. So why are they celebrating this? There must have been reason behind this act; however, the reason behind it is not known to most people. This tradition, however, is still followed by most people. Similar to 'Battle Royal,' Jackson also depicts in her short story, the Lottery, the impact of traditions and rituals of traditions. Although the setting of the village and its people seems ordinary, readers originally discover that a hazardous ceremony, relying exclusively on a tradition, exists behind this normality. Jackson points out that 'the lottery was conducted— as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program' which suggests that this lottery 'ceremony' was conducted by the villagers in the same way as other 'normal' projects. (Jackson, 1) Just as people don't question the reason behind the birthday candle, neither do villagers question the lottery ceremony in this tale. The reason most villagers stubbornly refuse to give up the lottery tradition is because they strongly believe in 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy quickly' (Jackson 4), but if they were to give up this culture they thought that'[ they] would all eat stewed chickweed and acorns.' Since the lottery started for food and the village's survival, it's hard for the villagers to discard this tradition as they fear that without the lottery they won't be able to survive. Although 'every year the black box grew shabbier... it was no longer entirely black, but badly split on one side to demonstrate the initial wood color, and faded or stained in some locations' (Jackson 2). The faded color symbolizes that some villagers are losing importance to this tradition, but one of the villagers, Old Man Warner, rejects this concept by saying that 'Pack of insane fools, listening to the young people, there has always been a lottery for them.' (It was Jackson 4). Warner is an instance of an oppressor who will not enable his individuals to forget the tradition and instill in them guilt. Therefore, even if some individuals want the tradition to alter, the guilt of letting the community down prevents them from discontinuing the tradition. Just like how Warner shuts down the potential rise against the tradition, the white leaders in the battle royal laughs at the narrator when he mistakenly brings up equality. The narrator, like some villagers in the lottery, immediately stops his thoughts against the white leaders.

The unaltered tradition's impact is seen not only in the theses of fictional short stories, but also in the true globe. The narrator's faith appears to parallel Booker T. Washington's views. Washington was an African American, who advocated education for them. Washington was a son of slave. Since early in his childhood, Washington had developed an interest in education. Washington was a significant figure in the African American society; however, he never advocated for equal rights. He sincerely believed that African Americans should accept the segregation and obey the whites so they can prosper in life. Similarly, the Battle Royals narrator also thought that he would succeed and prosper in his education as long as he was faithful to the whites by being accepted by the white people. Like the narrator, it was difficult for Washington to dismiss a long-established culture / tradition. If he were to disagree with this tradition, he would not have been able to gain recognition from the white society he had previously received. The foot-binding tradition in China, on the other hand, began during the 10th century and persisted until the late 19th century. Foot binding was a practice in which girls as young as 5 had to tie their feet because they had smaller foot were considered to be aesthetically pleasing.

However, the negative impact of achieving this beauty showed when the women grew older; they couldn't stand up or sit alone. The females had to suffer from hip fracture and broken bones, not only this. So why has this tradition lasted for nearly 9 centuries, irrespective of these dire effects? It was effective because although females knew the adverse implications of this tradition, they were forced by society to succumb to this culture because if they were to discard this culture they would never discover any potential partner and turn out to be a society outcast. While 'lottery' depicts a distinct type of tradition from the Chinese tradition, the mindset of the society that both the chinese and lottery forced onto its people is the same. In “Lottery”, Mrs. Dunbar is aware of the villages’ wrongdoing; therefore, she rejects to stone Tess and orders Delcroix to “go ahead.” (Jackson 8) Even though Mrs. Dunbar refuses to stone a human being to death, she does not argue against it, but rather prevents it. Since Mrs. Dunbar is afraid to talk out, most likely, after Tess the stoning continued. Similarly, individuals must have been against foot-binding in China as well; however, individuals were afraid to talk out because they were afraid to be outcasts of society. This is precisely why fear and conformity prolong the tradition until the majority realizes its culture's damaging impact. Tradition has long existed in our culture, but traditions and cultures still exist today that are harmful to our community. Even if some people realize the harm, it becomes hard for them to rebel against the tradition because guilt and fear of rejection influences them to suppress their feelings.