Up From Slavery Ralph Ellison Analysis

Both W.E.B. Du Bois and Ralph Ellison used their influence as authors to write about and discuss African Americans’ struggle for civil rights in the United States. These authors were by no means the first authors to discuss the issue, and were heavily influenced by the writings and speeches of Booker T. Washington, especially his address at the Atlanta Exposition, and his book, Up From Slavery. This influence does not imply similarity, however, as the ways in which Washington advocates for racial equality and civil rights in Up From Slavery is markedly different from the ways in which Du Bois and Ellison advocate for the same cause in The Souls of Black Folk and The Invisible Man, respectively. By sampling works of the three 20th century authors …show more content…
The boy thought this would be an opportunity that would allow him to advocate for civil rights, calling the chance “a triumph” for the African American community in his town (Ellison 1212). However, immediately after arriving it became clear that the opportunity that the boy had been given was not a triumph, but a way in which he was going to be exploited. The boy was told that “since [he] was going to be there anyway [he] might as well take part in the battle royal to be fought by some of [his] schoolmate as part of the entertainment” (Ellison 1212). After being told that he will have to participate in the battle royal, the boy then worries that participating in the brawl “might detract from the dignity” of his speech (Ellison 1212). Throughout the battle, the boy worried that he would not be able to deliver his speech to the gathering, and, just prior to falling down in the arena, the boy says that he “wanted to deliver my speech more than anything else in the world,” and that “only [the men in the room] could judge truly [his] ability” (Ellison 1216). After enduring a grueling battling and nearly being knocked out, the boy goes on to quote Booker T. Washington and uses Washington’s bucket metaphor, encouraging his classmates to “cast down [their] bucket where [they] are” (Ellison 1219). Finally, after his speech, the superintendent of the boy’s school gives him a scholarship to the state’s black college, saying that he hopes the boy will “lead his people in the proper paths” (Ellison 1220). Through this, Ellison shows that the influential white leaders of the town attempted to placate African Americans by having a member of their community preach a message of slow change that would not disrupt white society. Additionally, by