`God,` was all I could say. For the second time that day I looked at him a long time. I said nothing. He ran down the stairs, and soon I could hear the bump bump bump of his ball bouncing against the garage doors underneath. He was looking very earnestly. Their nurse, dressed completely in white except for her dark glasses, which I saw when she raised her head, sat still as a picture, bent over a book on her knees. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1725 titles we cover. John thinks thus: He was learning the rules of the game already, but he didnt know it. After you claim a section youll have 24 hours to send in a draft. I had a hard time seeing as we walked back, and scratched myself by stumbling into the evergreens as we went around the building. One of the children,Jackie, is the gardeners son who had earlier told Johns boy that he is too black. At the beginning of the story, the four year old son asked his father if he was black because a boy at school told him he was, the father replied by saying . In Boy on a Train, young Jamess Daddy has died, and Jamess mother (Mama) has to move him and his baby brother Lewis to a rural town, which is the, Instant downloads of all 1725 LitChart PDFs But actually, hes trying to show that he understands the Jim Crow system and knows why John would be so distrustful of white people. His father died in an industrial accident when he was a young boy, so his mother took him and his brother to Gary, Indiana, where she thought they would find better opportunities. Literary analysis of Ralph Ellison's short story "The Black Ball" In the short story "The Black Ball" by Ralph Ellison, a father named John is desperately trying to hold onto his job as a hotel porter to support his child and initially ignores the entreaties of an eager white man who would like John to join a union. It presents aray of hope, but at the same time a tinge of sadness is registered as we realize that the sons bright naivety will soon fade as he experiences more and more prejudice. `Yessir.` But Id begin telling him the rules later.. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Then, Mr. Berry comes over, furious: the ball ruined one of his plants. The Black Ball - Ralph Ellison A short story about an attempt to build an integrated union in the American south. This is matched with the Union mans struggle to ensure a fairer andmore equitable working conditionfor the laborers. He feels in his pocket for thebusiness cardand thinks there may besome hopeafter all. In both "Boy on a Train" and "Hymie's Bull," the American railroad serves as a powerful symbol of the harsh realities of racism and segregation in the United States during the early 20th century. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. I had started at six oclock, and around eight I ran out to the quarters where we lived over the garage to dress the boy and give him his fruit and cereal. `Two months.` The list of present participles indicates the ongoing routine of unskilled work, but there is also a sense of pride in the narrative, pride in both his work and his son. Instant PDF downloads. When they did have something to say to us, they always became familiar. This instance also presents the idea of apportioning blame to the marginalized groups and finding scapegoats for the fault/crimes committed by powerful ones, as can be seen throughout history. Hes worried his job might be stolen, and continues to answer curtly, attempting to hide his annoyance. After the song, hes completely speechless. `No thanks,` I said. Who threw it, son? Analysis of Ralph Ellison's Stories By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on April 21, 2020 ( 0). Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. It is the simple innocence of Johns son which brings it to the surface, with his aspirations to drive a truck when older; he sees this as a possibility because he saw that a colored man drove the truck today. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. Much like Mama in Boy on a Train, John struggles to balance work and family as a single Black parent living under Jim Crow. He was smiling again. That part wasnt missing. `Did the man I saw leaving wish to see me, John?` `My ball, my ball, Daddy. Two fellows who worked at the building across the street had already been dismissed because whites had demanded their jobs, and with the boy at that age needing special foods and me planning to enter school again next term, I couldnt afford to allow something like that out on the sidewalk to spoil my chances. Johns conversation with the union organizer opens new possibilities and dangers for him; it also gives a new meaning to his relationship with his son. Not affiliated with Harvard College. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. This represents the societys outlook and treatment towards African-Americans, where different people of different ages face the same discriminatory conduct. `Hi, Daddy,` he called. Ralph Ellison's Battle Royal: Symbolism Initially, the story seems to be about one black boy's struggle to get ahead in a predominantly white society. By truthfully insisting on the mans innocence, they are guilty of making a white woman out a lie. This is similar toHarper Lees novel To Kill a Mockingbird, published 23 years later. This section is largely written in dialogue, but retaining Johns narrative perspective, so throughout the reader sees his suspicion and hostility towards the man, distrusting his apparently pleasant manner. The Story "The Black Ball" written by Ralph Ellison is about a man named John, born around the civil war that goes through difficulties and challenges in his life him being an African American. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. His son asks if hes Black, because the gardeners son, Jackie, is making fun of him. Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Ralph Ellison's The Black Ball. While narrated in the first person by an African-American caretaker, it is perhaps his son who is the central character of the story. Unions dont want Negro members.`, `You mean some unions dont. They did that to him and this to me, and both of us was fifty miles away.`. The choir sings the Welsh national anthem, then God Save the King, the Internationale, and finally, in Parkers honor, The Star Spangled Banner. Parker feels a dizzying combination of confusion, guilt, and pride, and then he starts to sing. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." He warns John that he will be behind the black ball (out of a job) if his son keeps playing on the lawn. `Aw, Daddy, youre kidding. They represent the way that people can maintain their sense of dignity and hope even in the face of difficult circumstances. Ellison writes abeautifully illustrativeparagraph later in the story where John in watching the kids play from the window of his room. Ellison published two books of essays Shadow Act in the 1960s and Going to the Territory in the 1980sEllison spent his later decades laboring on a vast novel, which he never finished. The Black Ball by Ralph Ellison Upgrade to A + Intro Plot Summary Summary & Analysis Themes Quotes Characters Symbols Theme Wheel Teachers and parents! He tries' to accomplish this goal by adhering to his grandfathers dying words. He does not want his son to grow up basing hisidentityon his color, but rather toform an identity as a good citizen. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides. `He threw it up in the window.` Johns thought process shows how precarious his situation truly is. As I started away, the four oclock whistle blew and I had to go water the lawn. `Oh, Im trucking.` Refine any search. Struggling with distance learning? `Your ball is white.` Mostly white, anyway, I thought. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. Across the street a group of little fellows in bright sunsuits were playing on a long stretch of lawn before a white stone building. Like Invisible Man, many of the stories in The Black Ball were based indirectly on Ellisons personal experiences. The Black Ball Ralph Ellison 3.81 559 ratings66 reviews 'If he only knew what it was, he would fix it; he would kill this mean thing that made Mama feel so bad.' Belonging and estrangement intertwine in these four lyrical short stories from the the author of Invisible Man. Theintimacy of the father-son duolends a greater depth to the intensity of discriminatory practices that these two individuals face. The way the content is organized, Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. While narrated in the first person by an African-American caretaker, it is perhaps his son who is the central character of the story. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. `I guess Daddy was just looking out on the world.`. John returns to work, but a white stranger approaches him while he is polishing the brass door handles. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. Against the background of the black lives matter movement, Flint Taylor takes a look at the racist, A short history of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers - a radical union of black auto workers. Not only is the boy blamed for the fault of a white bully, his father is threatened with being fired by another white bully. He didnt answer then, but when I came out of the bathroom, he seemed more inclined to talk. John assumes that the stranger wants his job, because the manager, Mr. Berry, has been firing his few Black employees and replacing them with white people. Those hands were on my brain, and I couldnt forget that fellow. As I came around the building past the tall new evergreens, I could hear the boy crying in just that note no other child has, and when I came completely around I found him standing looking up into a window with tears on his face. `Yes, son,` I said. Ellison blendsdialogue and description,and usessituations and conversationto emphasize key elements in the piece. PDF downloads of all 1725 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. He then hands John a card, telling him the meeting will start at8pmsharp, and just as swiftly, he disappears. A summary of Symbols in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. If he stays away, there wont be trouble for him. `Sure you wont smoke some Durham?` Similarly, Hymies Bull is loosely based on Ellisons experience hopping freight trains to travel to his college, and in The Black Ball, the white union organizer says hes from the place Ellison went to college: Macon County, Alabama. He stood there watching, and I could feel his eyes in my back as I polished the brass. They specifically target Black bums, often grievously injuring or even killing them. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Teachers and parents! You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. He relates it to thephysical toy balland wonders why one would call it black when it is more of a white one. I left him to play with his toys and a book of pictures until I returned. | Summary and Analysis, Transients in Arcadia | Summary and Analysis, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July | Summary and Analysis. Our Teacher Edition on The Black Ball can help. Now get him on round to the back and then come up here and clean up this mess hes made.`. Stop crying and tell Daddy about it.`. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. `Whats the matter, Daddy?` he asked. A boy that size will make you do that. The narrator remembers how he saw a white bum named Hymie kill one of the bulls. Write the correct word in the space next to given definition. I wondered where the boy could have gone. The phrase comes from billiards and is a position from which it is impossible to make a successful shot, but it also carries connotations of 'black-balling', voting against someone to deny them a position or oust them from one they hold. `Ever smoke Durham?` he asked. An editor At the end of the paragraph John reveals that the child was the little son of the white gardener. . Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. But actually, the stranger is an organizer with a local union. This goes to show that African-American community have been excluded fromsociety if someonesupports them, that person will beostracizedas well. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. The white mans joke about the rope, which is a reference to lynching, might appear to be in bad taste. Unlike the colloquial drawl of the man, Johns speech is formal. I noticed his hands were scarred as though they had been burned. John mentions that Mr. Berry, his employer, hates that educatedworker implying that John isworking towards rising against the societys discrimination. Both stories' read analysis of Trains The White and Black Balls The inclusion of the four-year-old son especially brings to light just howcruelly persisting and unjust the society is. In the story, it seems like it's just a straight forward story but if you take a real close look at it you can see that there is a message within the story. The fact that Mr. Berry doesnt like the damned educated niggerreflects not only the prevalent discrimination but also the hostility towards possible modes (education in this case) by which people of color may better their station in life. Struggling with distance learning? My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. In Ralph Ellison's The Black Ball, the term blackness is referred to throughout the story with the use of the ball his son is playing with. This was the language casually used at the time, sometimes without direct ill-intent (as seen throughout Hucks narration in Mark Twains Huckleberry Finn), but of course it always marked out African-Americans as other on the grounds of race, and recognition of this led to the change of attitude towards such language. `Fellow like me offering a fellow like you something besides a rope.`. __________________ intense dislike. It is only when the man refers to American race history that there is a change; he comments that John is unaccustomed to a Fellow like me offering a fellow like you something besides a rope. This sudden, direct reference to African-Americans being lynched by white Americans shocks John; he stops and sees the mans smile. The nurse forbids the other children from playing with Jackie, so he pulls his toy back into the garage, quietly stealing a flower from the bush. Why tempt me to choke him? (Racism helps it achieve those goals by making it easy and socially permissible to exploit Black people like John.) Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. But John is not able to concentrate, his mind filled with thoughts. `Oh no, sir. She says she remembers passing the same silo when she and Daddy first migrated from the South to Oklahoma City to seek a better life. Refine any search. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. He was fooled by the smile. Instant PDF downloads. Thus, two different generations face the same racial discrimination in the same incident of the story. The black ball represents the way that racism and segregation can hold Black people back and prevent them from achieving their full potential. In Hymies Bull, an unnamed Black narrator who lives as a bum, riding freight trains around the U.S. during the Great Depression, tells the reader about watching, All four stories in The Black Ball show how, throughout most of the 20th century, white Americans used racist violence as a tool to terrorize Black people into accepting a subservient position in society. In spite of myself, he says, I had to smile. A barrier has been broken and it is noticeable that Johns previous formal No thank you changes to No thanks. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1725 titles we cover. Lost and Found. It may also act as alinkbetween them- The Union man and John- presenting anew ray of hope,and reminding John thatdespite what society says, they are both equals. While doing his work, he notices a fellow watching him, slowly approaching him to start a conversation. Of course, that was where he would go, out in front to sit on the grass. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The Union man needs Jack as much as Jack needs him. Contains racial slurs, and references to racial motivated assault and sexual assault, among other issues. (including. It goes on to demonstrate the generational nature of racial discrimination is highlighted in the story. They looked uneasy when I came up. While the narrator exaggerates his importance as Norton's driver, the only power he has is that which Norton bestows on him. This racism has been so ingrained in society that it has beeninternalized by the oppressed themselves. Ellison uses . John works at a boutique hotel somewhere in the southwestern part of the United States. When he realizes that his son is probably just playing with the white boys, John is conflicted, just like Mama in Boy on a Train. On the one hand, he wants his son to enjoy himself and play, like any child should be able to. The ball had gone into his private office. As he works, his son asks himAm I black?,as thats what one of his friends had told him. But something was missing, something usually behind that kind of drawl. John also struggles because he is Black, an attribute that made someone less-than-desirable and unappealing in the world. That innocence is also central to the episode with his ball, significantly taken in an act of bullying by a white boy who has thrown it through the window into the office of Johns boss. Its uncomfortably hot, but soot will fly inside if they open the window. This is a promising alternative to his current plan: to work hard and hope that his boss shows him mercy. `In time.`. But John knows that, as a Black man in a deeply racist, unequal society, he has no option but to accept this injustice and try to avoid more confrontation in the future. First, Ralph Ellison shows how Black Americans live in an atmosphere of constant threat. Your email address will not be published. `What you really mean is that youll get in here and bounce me out. I asked if they had seen a little Negro boy, but they said they hadnt. I looked out the window, and a colored man drove the truck today, and, Daddy, he had two buttons on his cap. ), but of course it always marked out African-Americans as other on the grounds of race, and recognition of this led to the change of attitude towards such language. The list of present participles indicates the ongoing routine of unskilled work, but there is also a sense of pride in the narrative, pride in both his work and his son. It was afternoon and the sun was brilliant. Ellison's early-20th century readers also would have recognized "black ball" as an anti-Black racial slur. Hymie had spent much of the day sitting on top of a train, sick and vomiting from a bad stew. In "Hymie's Bull," the railroad serves as an allegory for the struggles and challenges that Black people faced during the Great Depression. But in the rest of this story, Ellison will test and challenge that assumption. In contrast, Catti is genuinely and uncondescendingly polite to Parker. The children saw him and were running toward him in a group when the nurse looked up and called them back. `Looks like you working purty hard over that brass.` I could see him turn slowly around and drag his toy, some kind of bird that flapped its wings like an eagle, slowly after him. will review the submission and either publish your submission or providefeedback. The skin was drawn and puckered and looked as though it had been fried. Instant PDF downloads. I explained that I was thinking, and got up and walked over to stand looking out the front window. , recently published, about an attempted workers revolution in China. There must be no flaws this morning. `Now, dont you go trying to figger it all out right now. Hymies Bull, Boy on a Train, and The Black Ball were completely unknown until after Ellisons death. I looked up just as Berry appeared at the window. Some of the language used in the dialogue is now taboo, yet here it is used by John himself and the union man, who is clearly in sympathy with John and is working against racial discrimination. I turned my back to him as I worked. Austere, controlling, and humorless, Berry represents the values of the American economy, which cares only about efficiency and profit. This line becomes significant when one compares it to what he has to say in the end: Indeed, poor little rascal, he would play until he grew sick of playing. literature. But Id begin telling him the rules later. While the man greets John and admires his work, John is making judgements, separating himself from the man When they did have something to say to us, they always became familiar. He dismisses white people as a general type, using the impersonal pronoun they, but this seems to be born out of experience. Some of the language used in the dialogue is now taboo, yet here it is used by John himself and the union man, who is clearly in sympathy with John and is working against racial discrimination. `Good morning, sir,` I said. `But its a helluva lot different.`. The theme ofrelationshipshas been portrayed in The Black Ball in both personal and public lives of the character. Complete your free account to request a guide. Later on, he will bephysically bulliedwhen the white boy throws his ball inside the window of Berrys office who says this to his father: Well, if I ever see him around here again, youre going to find yourself behind the black ball. Johns answers are careful and neutral; he interprets black purely as colour, answering youre brown, taking racial division out of the response, especially when he dismisses talk of colour superiority with American is better than both. I picked up the book to read again, and must have fallen asleep immediately, for when I came to it was almost time to go water the lawn. Mr. Berrys response to the situation is obviously unfair, because he punishes Johns son for something that he didnt even do. For example, although many people conceded that slavery was profoundly wrong, few were willing to campaign against it. I noticed that he limped as he moved away. He was learning the rules of the game already, but he didnt know it. When a strange fellow walks up to him to start a conversation, Johns first expectation is that he wants the job- and he fears it, too, becausethe man is white. Me and him was trying to borrow some seed fifty miles away when it happened if it did happen. I could see em plain.`. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. While John recognizes that his son will inevitably have to learn these codes in order to survive, his decision to join the union also shows that he now sees politics as a way out of the game. This is the closest thing to an explicit political message in this book: at least early in his life, Ellison believed that labor organizing offered Black Americans best chances at improving their position and winning justice in American life. `Is it Daddy?` His father died in an industrial accident when he was a young boy, so his mother took him and his brother to Gary, Indiana, where she thought they would find better opportunities. I called, but no answer. He was lean and red in the face with that redness that comes from a long diet of certain foods. At the same time, The Black Ball has an optimistic undercurrent: Ellison also suggests that Black people can achieve progress through political organizing, and specifically by building coalitions across racial lines. `Not used to anything like that, are you?` It was near time for him to arrive. I felt terrible when I looked closely at his hands for the first time. This was largely because it enabled them to work alongside white people (whom people in power take more seriously). Indeed, Johns sense of disappointment and heartbreak is obvious when he has to tell his son to play alone in the back, instead of with the other children, just for his safety. Of course, when Johns son emphasizes that the ball is really white, not Black, he is also drawing attention to the fact that a white boy really threw the ball through Mr. Berrys window, and yet he is being punished for it. This is what John tells his son as he tries to explain him Mr. Berrys warning: `He meant, son, that if your ball landed in his office again, Daddy would go after it behindthe old black ball..
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