Comparison between “Get Out” and “Battle Royal”

Comparison between “Get Out” and “Battle Royal”

The film “Get Out” and the short story “Battle Royal” have more similarities than differences. The “Battle Royale” gives a story of a boy who grows up in a racist society. In a glance, the short story presents an event where a black boy is blindfolded and thrown inside a boxing circle surrounded by white men. The black man is beaten and left bloodied before being forced to give a speech to the white people concerning the reason why African-Americans should be meek and educated. The narrator gets some time to remember his grandfather’s advice that the best strategy to deal with the whites is to remain meek and humble in older to win a position at the top and use the position to mock the status quo later. The narrator’s speech on the need to educate African-Americans helps him to win a scholarship to college. On the other hand, the movie “Get Out” presents the life of a black photographer who falls in love with a white lady. Similar to the occurrences in the Battle Royal, the black photographer finds himself surrounded by whites who make offensive comments about the blacks and the photographer later realizes that the invite to his girlfriend’s house was a trap. The whites were intending to do a brain transplant using the photographer’s body, but the photographer managed to escape. The theme of racism in “Battle Royal” can be affirmed with evidence from the movie “Get Out.”

First, the short story and story are similar in that the stories revolve around black men struggling to achieve better lives at the hands of racist white men. The narrator in the short story “Battle Royale” manages to win the trust of the whites by following the advice given to him by his grandfather during the grandfather’s death. The grandfather reveals to the narrators’ family that he had spent an entire life as a spy but a meek servant. The narrator’s grandfather had served as a traitor to the whites who had trusted him for his humility and cooperation. The whites would not have suspected the narrator’s grandfather for any betrayal: “Live having your head in the lion’s mouth.

I want you to overcome them with yes, undermine them with a lot of grins, and agree with them to death and destruction…,” (Ellison, p.1). The narrator is convinced that his grandfather’s advice still dwelt in him and he was ready to stick by the advice with the hope of winning a high position in the white’s structure. The framing can be supported by evidence from the movie “Get Out” where the protagonist Chris Washington is faced with a situation that requires a lot of wisdom in dealing with the whites. The encounter with Rose’s family exposes Chris to rather unusual behaviors of the blacks in the house and compound. Chris has no idea that the whites had been transplanting whites’ brains into black’s bodies to benefit from the strength and sight of the blacks. Chris is however lucky to escape the plot by the white family and kills several members before leaving.

Betrayal is seen to be done by the closest friends who could not be suspected for the actions committed. The confessions by the narrator’s grandfather about betraying the whites leave the narrator’s family in disbelieve. The narrator’s family was the closest family members to their grandfather and yet did not have an idea that the grandfather could have betrayed the whites in any way. The narrator’s grandfather had been a great friend of the white leaders who always termed the narrator’s grandfather as being meek and cooperative. The grandfather even advices his grandson the narrator to keep the good fight and continue supporting the guerrilla tactics without attracting the attention of the whites: “I may have never told you, but we lead a life of war… have been a traitor all my days and a spy in my enemy’s country ever since I decided to give up my gun back in the Reconstruction” (Ellison, p.2). The betrayal is further affirmed by evidence from the movie “Get Out.” Rose is the girlfriend to the black photographer, Chris. Chris cannot suspect that Rose is on a mission to provide black men for the brain transplant process and not love as Chris had been thinking. Even after noticing the unusual characters of the black people in the house, he does not suspect Rose of any unusual business. Chris decides to leave with Rose but is astonished to find Rose’s pictures that suggested that Rose had been in relationships with several black men. Although Chris manages to escape the transplantation trap, the betrayal comes from an unlikely source.

Victory comes after rising against the odds and being confident in front of the whites. The narrator carries his grandfather’s advice even to the battleground. The involvement into the blindfolded fight does not appear to have made the narrator any bitter against the whites. The narrator pretends to uphold meekness and cooperation since he has goals to achieve. When the whites request the narrator to give a high school graduation speech, the narrator does not resist but instead gives a strong presentation on the importance of educating the black Americans. The speech given appears to most whites as an affirmation to the need for humility virtues by the black Americans. The speech by the narrator wins the hearts and praises by the white leaders in the gathering: “You can see that I did not give excess praise to the boy. He makes a nice speech, and someday he will lead his people in the proper paths…,” (Ellison, p. 11). The narrator goes on to win a scholarship in one of the Negroes colleges as a reward for the speech delivered. The supporting evidence from the movie “Get Out” is the way Chris struggled to escape after being caught in the trap set by his lover. Several whites surround Chris, and the only blacks around have been possessed by white minds. Chris has to fight his way out alone until Rod comes to his rescue.

The presentation of ideas from the short story “Battle Royal” can efficiently utilize evidence from the movie “Get Out.” The two works give stories that revolve around racism and the struggle by the blacks to survive in a racist society. The stories aim at giving a hint concerning how one can survive wisely in a racist society. Also, betrayal is seen to occur from close associates such that one would not suspect betrayal to come from such sources. Generally, the stories tend to affirm that success only comes after a struggle.