In four pages this essay compares and contrasts these short stories in terms of similarities and differences regarding senseless acts of violence and men's reactions to them. There are no other sources listed.
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a True War Story" is set in the jungles of Vietnam sometime during the Vietnam War (late 1960s through early 70s). Although different in content and style, these two stories
are also similar in that they both largely concern the "gut" reactions of men facing trauma and senseless violence. Ellisons story is autobiographical and told in convention, chronological
order. He begins his narrative by relating the dying words of his grandfather, a man who had "gotten" along with whites his entire life. At this death, Ellisons grandfather confesses
that he has "been a traitor" all of his life and he t ells Ellisons father to "overcome em with yesses, undermine em with grins, agree em to death
and destruction" (2319). The entire family is somewhat perplexed by this deathbed change in attitude, and this is particularly true of young Ellison who does not know what to make
of it at all. Ellison has been taught his whole life to acquiesce and accommodate the extravagant demands of Southern whites, so his grandfathers words seem inexplicable to him. However,
events in his life serve to start Ellison on the path to understanding. Ellison describes how the graduation speech that he gives at his high school commencement draws the
attention of the white community and gets him an invitation to deliver the speech at a gathering of the towns leading white citizens. On arriving at the meeting, Ellison
discovers that some of his schoolmates will be involved in what is called the "battle royal," which is slated as part of the entertainment, and he is told that since
he is there anyway, he should join in (2219). The "battle royal" is a one-sided fight in which the African American young men are blindfolded and put in a boxing