Beginning of Essay
Ralph Ellison begins the story of the main character's life with the Battle Royal episode, setting the tone for the rest of the book, as well as providing a symbolic statement on race relations in America. The main character delivers a speech to his graduating cl ....

Middle of Essay
.... in a dehumanizing debacle, geared toward the entertainment of the rich white men in attendance. The symbolic message is that blacks have to fight just to be heard in white society and that society is arranged to create conflict within the black community. The narrator states "In those pre-invisible days I visualized myself as a potential Booker T. Washington." Booker T. Washington was known for advocating working within the white community, quietly and without protest to gain status in the white society. The view that makes this a possibility is discarded by the narrator later in his life, but it is important to note he believes in the theory ....