Power

The narrator begins the novel with his grandfather giving him the advice to "undermine the whites with yeses and grins." The grandfather is telling him that despite the equality that has been achieved in the segregated town, the whites still held the power to the largest extent. The narrator and many other boys are forced to participate in the "Battle Royal." The Battle Royal was a form of entertainment for the whites where they blind folded the youths and forced them to participate in fighting and aggression. The white men laugh at the boys hurting one another. This demonstrates the lack of respect from the white population. For example, when he is in the lead in the fighting ring but hears a white man say "I got money on the big boy" (25), referring to his opponent, he questions whether he should purposely forfeit to fulfill the wishes of the white man. The narrator wants to believe that blindly obeying their orders will free him from the chains of racism. ut the "white" mindset of that time will always lead them to believe they are superior and have power over the non-whites.