What role does isolation play in the short story "Battle Royal" by Ralph Ellison? How does isolation affect the narrator?

In s
, isolation is a pervasive theme that manifests in many nuanced ways.There is the isolation of
communities, black from white.The dying grandfather is isolated from his family in his
self-identification as a traitor and a spy.The narrator feels separate from his own community,
particularly the other boys involved in the battle royal.Within this, there is forced isolation
of all the fighters from one another, both by the one-against-all nature of the fight and the
blindfolds they are forced to wear.The blonde dancer is isolated from everyone else in the hall
- a lone young woman in a sea of men, many predatory and dangerous.

The story
is composed of layers of isolation, and the isolated parties are portrayed as both conciliatory
toward and afraid of their counterparts.This is true of the narrator as well.He takes after his
grandfather, the meekest of men, and is considered by all a paragon of good conduct.He even
delivers a speech about how humility is the very essence of progress.Among his peers he is
resented, and the dislike is mutual.I felt superior to them in my way, he says, and it is
evident that even in his own community he is marked as different.This leads to feelings not only
of superiority but also of loneliness and confusion.

In the opening
paragraph, the narrator reveals how he has struggled to understand himself and his place in the
world.Despite his isolation (or perhaps because of it) he turns outward for answers about his
own identity, the meaning of his grandfathers dying words, and how to make his voice heard.This
latter is especially evidenced by his preoccupation, throughout the whole of the battle, with
his speech and how it may affect the audience of high-society white men.

As
far as his grandfathers message, it is itself a source of isolation that the narrator describes
as a curse.He cant understand what it means, and is troubled that the behaviors his
grandfather described as traitorous are those he himself displays.This leads to guilt, anxiety,
and a fear that his actions are really against the wishes of the white folks.Once again, the
isolated party is compelled to please those from whom he is isolated.

However, an important outcome of this isolation is the narrators realization, described
in the first paragraph, that he is an invisible man.This can be difficult to
understand.However, clarification can be inferred from his grandfathers description of himself
as a spy who tells his family to overcome €˜em with yeses [and] undermine €˜em with
grins.This behavior sets apart the meek from those they placate, but their conciliatory nature
makes them invisible.A spys work depends on this kind of anonymity; they are inherently isolated
from those they spy upon.It is only by being invisible that either the meek or the spy are able
to undermine those they are against.Thus isolation can become a tool for the
oppressed.

If we understand the grandfathers words in this way, we can see
that perhaps the narrator has also been able to turn his invisibility into a weapon.Perhaps he
now sees himself as a spy and traitor too.