12th December, 2023.

The Black Ball: By Ralph Ellison

Complete Analysis

Name: Waris Ntow

Form: 4 Pine

Subject: English Literature(Prose)

Biography of Ralph Ellison

Ralph Waldo Ellison was an American writer, literary critic, and scholar. He was born on March
1st, 1914, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Ellison attended Frederick Douglass School in
Oklahoma City. He is best known for his novel Invisible Man, which won the National Book
Award in 1953 and wrote the short story The Black Ball in 1937. He died of pancreatic cancer on
April 16th ,1994 at the age of 80.

The Black Ball: The Significance?

The term “the Black Ball” is generally used to express disapproval or exclusion in a voting sense.
When someone is voted for, for example to enter a certain membership or club, a voting session was
held in which already existing members of the club would put either white or black balls into a
container to show whether they approve of the to-be member or not. The white balls meant that the
member would be accepted while any black ball put into a container would mean that the person
who is being voted for, is excluded or not accepted. So what about the title of the short story by
Ralph Ellison? The title of the story highlights the exclusion of the black people or the people of
African descent in America back in the 19th century. The title is significant in the way that it
indirectly states what the short story’s message is. The segregation and racism at that time.

The Narrative Point of View

The story is narrated by an African American working father called John in the first person narrative
point of view.

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Why?
The story is in the first person point of view to allow the reader to experience first-hand the issues
and experiences that John went through in the story. This allows the readers to better sympathize
with John or the African Americans as a whole and see a need for change. That is, to expel the
segregation between the blacks and the whites.

The Themes
There are two main themes highlighted in the short story “The Black Ball”:

Racial Segregation
Racial segregation was a huge topic in the early and mid-nineteenth century because there seemed
to be a strong bareer between the rights of the black or colored people and the white people. The
short story clearly shows this issue when a white man was talking to John and telling him how he
was burned on his hands just for defending a negro, he also said that the negro’s house was burned
to the ground because he was accused of raping a white woman which was not even proven to be
true. This part of the short story clearly emphasizes that the black race was controlled by the white
race and did not have the sime rights as those of the whites.

The Struggles of the Black Race

Ralph Ellison’s story also highlights the troubles of the black race. The author made it so that John,
the main character, represents the whole of the African American society. The struggles that all
Negroes faced is made clear to a reader in the story through what John’s experiences. For example
in the story Johns son is harassed by a white boy, yet John couldn’t do anything about it. This pert
of the story shows the helplessness of the negro race in that era. Evidence of the many struggles the
Negro race experiences is also found in the story of the man who wanted to offer John a job at a
union. He had said that a Negro friend of his had lynched and had gotten his house burned down by
some white people who wrongly accused him of raping a wild girl. In this part of the story, it is
evident that the colored race struggled because of the white races behavior toward them.

Setting
The setting of the story is in The United States of America in an apartment building most likely at a
time where racism was extreme in The United States. It has a historical setting.

Plot
The story focuses on John a hardworking janitor and a father. The story tells how John works under
his boss, Mr. Berry a white racist man but how one day he is approached by a white man who offers
to recruit him into a mixed race union to change the view of others on segregation and unity of all

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Americans. At first John is skeptical, believing that unions are only for white people but later in the
story as he realizes that hard work alone will not change his situation, he gives in to joining the
union.

Characters
John
John is the main character in “The Black Ball” . He is a negro hardworking father. John is a victim
of racism yet believes that working hard and studying well would make a change for him. John is a
humble and a person who practices self control when needed. John is also a good father and dislikes
racism. His humility is shown in the way he addresses his racist boss, Mr. Berry while Mr. Berry
just calls him by his first name. When Mr. Berry said, “Good morning, John.” John had humbly
replied saying,”Good morning, sir.” Which shows his humility. John is able to control himself as
well, which a reader sees when he is talking to a man who claims to belong to a union and wants
John to join. John dislikes him in the beginning because of all the things the guy says. He has
thoughts like, “Why tempt me to choke him?” and, “A little more of this guy and I would see red”
yet he didn’t attack the man in the end. Throughout the story John is also portrayed as a caring
father, who works hard to support his son and to go back to school. This is evident when John is
doing his work diligently in the first paragraph of the story.

Tone and Mood

The tone of this story is mostly sad, somber or even melancholic because of the struggles that John
faces everyday, at some parts of the story, John even sounds a bit frustrated and annoyed. The mood
a reader has when they read this story is mostly very reflective and a pondering mood. Multiple
times in the story, the narrator looks outside the window or stares into empty space which makes the
tone a sad one. As a reader reads the story, they reflect a lot on what racism really is and how much
those who go through racism struggle.

What Can We Say?

“The Black Ball” is a short story by Ralph Ellison, written in 1937 about the racism and segregation
back in the early 1900s. It is a meticulously written story which uses all the 8 elements of prose to
fully delve into the struggles of the Negro race at that time. I hope you enjoyed my analysis.