Battle Royale Ralph Ellison begins the story of the main character's life with the Battle Royal episode, setting the tone for the rest of the book, as well as providing a symbolic statement on race relations in America. The main character delivers a speech to his graduating class. In the speech, the narrator advocates "humility was the secret, indeed, the very essence of progress." However, he states that he does not believe in the statement, he only believes that "it worked." He believes in possibilities that he has never seen for himself. At this point of the novel, he is idealistic and thinks he will be able to overcome the obsta