The story “Battle Royale” and our discussion on it was something that really stayed with me all week. I have been turning over what the grandfather said and how his grandson took it. This was a point of contention in our class. I think I may have another interpretation of it. Maybe by humiliating himself, delivering his speech, and accepting the scholarship, the grandson was perfectly in line with his grandfather’s advice. The character’s uneasiness comes from following his grandfather’s advice, which does not always seem to him like a good idea. By accepting both the humiliation and the scholarship to a segregated college, the narrator is showing deference to the rich white men. However, he actually comes out looking a lot nobler than any of them (for example, his treatment of the “exotic dancer” is much more humane). His deference is meaningless if he actually propels himself to a higher moral and intellectual ground. And even though the white people applaud his accomplishments, he is actually living proof that the theory that he supposedly believes in is wrong. His very existence also undermines their theories on race. I admit there are a couple of holes in this theory: for one, the grandfather’s statement in the narrator’s dream makes it seem as though he is laughing at his grandson’s foolishness. Nevertheless, it may be that the grandfather is laughing at his grandson’s foolish intentions: through his good intentions, the narrator has kept the white people on their toes, prompting them to dream up ways to contain him, separate him, and humiliate him.
For my short story reading I read one by Chuck Palahniuk and one by Christopher Buckley. I picked these two authors because they have both written novels that I liked. The Palahniuk one was very interesting, most notably because it was absolutely repulsive. I enjoy the “off-colordness” of his books, it makes them unique and I believe is supported by the fact that he has legitimate (or at least entertaining) beliefs and ideas to get across to the reader. This story was no exception, but it was so repulsive that I do not think I could write a successful paper on it: I could not quite stomach the plot enough to discuss its overall significance. The other short story, By Buckley, was a vast departure from his colloquial style in Boomsday. I found it extremely boring and found myself thinking “so what?” after pretty much every paragraph. Anyway, I will keep searching for a story that would interest me more.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Richie--OK. Keep looking. That sounds like a good idea, from what you say of the two stories you read. I've also read one of Pahlaniuk's books, one called Lullaby, about a group of people trying to eliminate all the copies of a deadly song. Compelling book, strange premise.
As to the Ellison story, the question I still can't quite answer is this: if he is, as you suggest, acting in accordance with his grandfather's wishes, shouldn't he feel that in some way he was "undermining" or "overcoming" the racism of the whites by feigning submission?
Post a Comment