Ralph Ellison’s “Battle Royal” depicts the life of the “invisible man”, a young African-American who struggles to adapt to society in a time of racial segregation. While living in the south, he actively seeks to be a good member of his community and takes advantage of his education resulting in academic success. Regardless of his good intentions, he fails to overlook past the masks worn by the city’s elites and their malicious intents resulting in public humiliation and both physical and mental torture. This demonstrates that even in a time where certain problems are evident, the naivety of youth leads to failure to recognize such traumatizing scenarios. After being invited to give a speech at the town’s gathering, the invisible man initially
