The Relevance of Postcolonial Theory: A Look at “The Battle Royal” and United States History by Madison Shiner

The Relevance of Postcolonial Theory:

A Look at “The Battle Royal” and United States History

by Madison Shiner

It seems to be everywhere; you talk about it in your literature classes, you read about it in journal articles, so what is Postcolonial Theory and why is it important? Postcolonial Theory aims to be conscious of people from distinct cultures by bringing to light a common unification of culture (Tyson, 263). Postcolonial Theory is commonly used to point out oppression and racism like in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. As a society, we are slowly progressing by recognizing racism and understanding cultures, making Postcolonial Theory important to us as humans. By observing Ellison’s first chapter in Invisible Man titled “The Battle Royal” through a Postcolonial Theory lens, readers can point out aspects of othering, mimicry, and resistance which reflect a historical context of racism in the United States.

Lois Tyson describes “othering” as “judging those who are different from ourselves as inferior, as somehow less than human” (266). Historically in the United States, “othering” is commonly seen between whites and people of color; an example includes scientifically attempting to prove physical differences to justify Africans as separate from those with European genealogy. “In the mid-19th century, science and the scientific community served to legitimize society’s racist views. Scientists argued that Africans and their descendants were inferior - either a degenerate type of being or a completely separate type of being altogether, suitable for perpetual service” (Smithsonian). In “The Battle Royal,” othering is clear between the white men and the black children. The white men make a literal show of the teenagers fighting each other and watching them get hurt for their entertainment. By showing this ability of control and entertainment from harm, the white men are separating themselves from the black children through the power of their race. 

Nott, Gliddon. "Types of mankind or ethnological researches, based upon the ancient monuments, paintings, sculptures, and crania of races, and upon their natural, geographical, philological, and biblical history"

“Mimicry” is the “desire” for the subaltern to fit into the “dominant culture” (Tyson, 268). In America, race became associated with status and privileged:

"Physical differences were merged with status differences and coalesced to form a social hierarchy that placed “white” at the top and “black” at the bottom. By the beginning of the 19th century, “white” was an identity that designated a privileged, landholding, (usually male) status. Having “whiteness” meant having clear rights in the society while not being white signified your freedoms, rights, and property were unstable, if not, nonexistent" (Smithsonian).

The acceptance of whiteness but not blackness triggered a necessity for mimicry for some people, sometimes without realizing it. In “The Battle Royal,” readers witness this when the narrator is overjoyed after his speech and his award of the briefcase; the narrator states, "I was so moved that I could hardly express my thanks. A rope of bloody saliva forming a shape like an undiscovered continent drooled upon the leather and I wiped it quickly away. I felt an importance that I had never dreamed" (Ellison, 345).The narrator is so amazed with the gift from the white men, a small offer of assimilating with them, that his blood, a physical reminder of the violence he faced at the hands of the white men, is disregarded. 

Though resistance is not prevalent from the narrator, during the chapter of “The Battle Royal,” the grandfather shows a form of anti-colonist resistance as he is dying. The narrator describes his grandfather as the one “who caused trouble” and told the narrator’s father as he was dying:

“Son, after I’m gone I want you to keep up the good fight. I never told you, but our life is a war and I have been a traitor all my born days, a spy in the enemy’s country ever since I give up my gun back in the Reconstruction. Live with your head in the lion’s mouth. I want you to overcome ‘em with yeses, undermine ‘em with grins, agree ‘em to death and destruction, let ‘em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open” (Ellison, 335).

The grandfather’s last form of defiance was to encourage his son to be resistant himself and to teach his children to do the same. Similarly to what we see today, people take anti-colonist approaches due to trauma and violence through generations that carry over into present times. The Black Lives Matter movement was founded in 2013 in response to the murder of Trayvon Martin (About, blacklivesmatter.com), a black teenager who was shot by a white neighborhood watch volunteer (Trayvon Martin, history.com). The movement declares its mission is “to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes” (About, blacklivesmatter.com). 

BBC News. "Trayvon Martin's legacy and Black Lives Matter"

Postcolonial Theory works to unite humanity through a common understanding by recognizing prejudices and oppression. By analyzing Ralph Ellison's chapter one "The Battle Royal" in his novel Invisible Man through a Postcolonial Theory lens, readers view examples of othering, mimicry, and resistance. Postcolonial Theory additionally shows its value in connection to history; the examples of othering, mimicry, and resistance found in "The Battle Royal" are echoed throughout United States history.

Work Cited

“About.” Black Lives Matter. https://blacklivesmatter.com/about/. Accessed 18 March 2024. 

Ellison, Ralph. “Appendix C: ‘The Battle Royal’ (Ralph Ellison, 1952).” Using Critical Theory: How to Read and Write About Literature, Third ed., Routledge, New York, New York, 2021, pp. 335–346.

“Florida teen Trayvon Martin is shot and killed.” History. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/florida-teen-trayvon-martin-is-shot-and-killed. Accessed 18 March 2024.

“Historical Foundations of Race.” National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian. https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics/historical-foundations-race. Accessed 19 March 2024. 

Nott, J.C., Gliddon, Geo. R. “Types of mankind or ethnological researches, based upon the ancient monuments, paintings, sculptures, and crania of races, and upon their natural, geographical, philological, and biblical history.” 1854.

“Trayvon Martin’s legacy and Black Lives Matter.” YouTube, Uploaded by BBC News, 14 February 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sXeEmwgQ4Y

 Tyson, Lois. “9 Using Concepts from Postcolonial Theory to Understand Literature.” Using Critical Theory: How to Read and Write about Literature, Third ed., Routledge, New York, New York, 2021, pp. 262–305.