r and his father to ??overcome ?em with yeses, undermine ?em with grins, agree ?em to death and destruction ?? (2359). The narrator doesn?t quite like this idea. He prefers conformity to revolt, because he thinks that ?? someday they would look upon me as a traitor and I would be lost? (2360). Because of the narrator's well-received speech at graduation, he is asked to repeat his speech at the gathering, which he [estimates=considers] a great honor. With a hope to present his oration to the well-known and most respected whites, he accepts the participation in ?Battle Royal.? Even if he suspects that ?fighting a battle royal might detract from the dignity? (2360) of his speech, just to stick with his initiative, he fights. [You ought to at least mention that he is so driven to be accepted by the whites that he even discriminates against the blacks. He does not respect the other black men; he doesn?t like them; he doesn?t want to be considered like them. Of course, the last point is exactly why the whites have set him up to fight in the battle royal. To show him that no matter how smart he is, if he doesn?t have the ?right? attitude, he will be no different to the whites than the other black men, and he will get nowhere.] Pushed to the front of the hall, he, half-naked, is brought into full view of a naked, blond woman who is expected to dance for the crowd. The far-fetched humiliation of this scene shocks the narrator but he stays. [Document the incident, and explain the connection to conformity here. Wanting to look, but fearing to look. Intimidated by the whites and afraid. No choice.]Double-space.During the fight, he endures the punches and poundings from several participants. He also tolerates irritating shouting.?Kill him? (2364)! ?For me, sonofabitch? (2364)!?Go to hell? (2364)! [Put the quotation into clearer context. Who?s doing the shouting and why?]Like this is not degrading enough, he obeys their commands to pick up coin...
