Introduction
Like the child narrator in “A Party Down at The Square,” when it comes to writing stories in different voices, it seems writers are too ingenious to let readers know their true intentions in using the type of voice they chose. The third person or first person; whatever it is, they use it on purpose. The most interesting, however, is the use of a first-person child narrative as Ralph Ellison has consummately done in his story “A Party Down at the Square.”
Objectives of Using a Child Narrator in “A Party Down at The Square”
Disregarding fulfillment of his real objectives, he has done it very ingeniously to demonstrate that a third-person adult may have ulterior motives, vested interests, or something more to hide due to ethnic bias or racial prejudice. Ralph Ellison has shown that it is difficult for a child of just ten years to hide the malice of a mob when it incites individuals to torture and perpetrate horrific crimes against others. These others are mostly different from the mob such as African Americans or American Indians. The treatment includes burning a human being alive, watching him, and enjoying his suffering. Though it does not appear that the white mob is sadistic, the boy has reported in such an objective manner that it has become their routinized ritual to kill an African American man. It happened even though nature is also showering its fury on them in one or the other way. Despite clear signs of the anger of nature in the form of a storm, the mob does not feel any remorse or prick of conscience. Ralph Ellison uses the child narrator in “A Party Down at The Square”to observe every detail minutely, transforming him into his literary device to demonstrate the impacts of mob violence on the children’s mentality, comment on the public mood and report the events with honesty.
Studying Mob Through a Child Narrator in “A Party Down at The Square”
Studying the mentality and psychology of a mob and its violence objectively is very difficult due to racial, ethnic, and familial loyalties. No individual, part of a mob resorting to ritualistic violence, takes the risk of betraying it by joining the bandwagon of rebels to condemn the violence. The best way to unearth such realities is to use a child, as it happens in investigations of crimes where mob violence takes place. Ralph Ellison has adroitly pictured the worst form of racial segregation through mob violence by placing a ten-year-old child from Cincinnati in the middle using him as a child narrator in “A Party Down at The Square.” True to his innocent nature, the boy starts narrating the whole party and how his uncle invites him to see it though he is unaware of the major reason “what started it” (01). By the end, he tells that it must have been a ritual performed after a hiatus (01). The child very minutely observes the mob violence. When he reaches the spot with his Uncle Eds, the violence is taking place right in “front of the courthouse” (01). No adult would have noticed such a point, for it is highly ironic that an innocent person is being burned alive in front of the symbol of justice. This device of using a child is not only innocently proving ironic but also laying bare the very gist of the loud shibboleths of equality, fair play, and justice. More than this, the child narrator also observes mob psychology.
Observation of a Child Narrator in “A Party Down at The Square”
The narrator, when reaches the spot, starts observing the psychology of the mob very minutely. He sees that a person is moving his shotgun at the African American man encircled by the people and is threatening him that he is going to pull the trigger though he does not do so. He hears somebody yelling to enjoy the discomfort of the African American man by suggesting him to “take [his] hands out of … pockets” (02). He sees that when a single person yells, he, in fact, coaxes others to follow suit. “Everybody was yelling crazy,” the child states after this, adding he could not hear any voice of the African American man for which he had to make a way from the crowd to come in the front rows (02). However, he is pushed from this side to the other and he hears yelling again. He observes that people are either yelling or pocking fun at the burning of the feet of the African American man. Even when he sees that an airplane comes down in the clouds, hovering over the heads of the crowd, going past them after striking with the high voltage wires, the crowd does not take notice. They rather carry on torturing the African American man. For the crowd, it is important to continue with their ritualistic torture of the individual from the opposite community instead of saving the life of any one of them, as a woman becomes the victim of the broken electricity wires. The boy says that he does not know what to do in the midst of so many people. However, he observes another striking fact of the mob psychology in that they do not fear the sheriff. And he must have been there to support them, though he only asks his men to pick up the body of the burnt woman and does nothing else. The mob does not move at his arrival, while the mob is exuding its confidence or fearlessness. Even when the African American man tries to tell something to the mob about his wish to die like a Christian, he faces ridicule. It would have been considered blasphemous in some other cases, but for the crowd, it has become a holy response. In other words, the boy, though feels sick of these actions, realizes that the life of an African American man is worthless. He feels deeply about the psychology of the mob and how it turns violent and disregards basic humanity and fundamental teachings of religion. However, as he is a literary device as a child narrator in “A Party Down at The Square”, he receives the impacts of this mob violence.
Child Narrator in “A Party Down at The Square” as a Literary Device
The child narrator proves an effective literary device to observe the violence and mob psychology, but he is, after all, a human being and an innocent one. He must have the impacts of such heartrending and merciless burning of an individual alive. Ellison shows this through different comments of the narrator. Although some of his comments show that he is indifferent to the events like the courthouse, the sheriff, the statue of the general, and even the natural storm. It has, however, very shocking impacts on his mind. The first thing that he learns is to watch and see what happens to a man when a mob kills him. This makes his senses, somewhat, numb. When he feels that it is becoming a new normal despite the presence of people, he starts integrating with the mob, “The crowd was running. I ran too” (03). He mixes himself with them, but still, he is an innocent human being. When he faces push from the crowd, he also touches the burning African American man. Thus, he could feel the “taste the blood in my mouth” (03). It makes him feel disgusting. It is because he cannot stand the burning of a human being and that too alive. Another realization to the child narrator is how much torture a person can withstand. Among the common white people, a person must have died of what is being applied in the case of the African American man. “Well, that African American man was tough,” (05) he states which further leaves grave impacts on his mind that African Americans (ne–) are from some other community – which is perhaps a way different from them. That is why it implicitly enters his mind that they are to be killed no matter whether they are right or wrong. He, stoically and silently, hears a person saying that they were to kill two African American men, but one escaped. The child narrator imbibes the mob violence so much so that even his uncle tells him that he is “the gutless wonder from Cincinnati” when he shows him that he is somewhat weak from yesterday’s happenings but the response is “you get used to it in time” (04). It is showing clearly that he is getting in for what his uncle brings him to the square. However, Ralph Ellison’s strategy of using the child narrator has made its impact in objective and honest commentary.
Objectivity Through a Child Narrator in “A Party Down at The Square”
A child is a very innocent individual who cannot think of inventing lies and contriving excuses to hoodwink others and shelve the facts under the carpet. The objective of Ralph Ellison to use a child narrator to report the public mood and incident honestly and objectively seems fulfilled. The child, though, does not state his objective of visiting the square and tells it honestly what is happening over there. He records the actions of different individuals and describes the place, the circumstances, and the mood of the weather. He also reports the landing of the plane, the breaking of the electricity wires, the dying of a white lady, and then the taunting and burning of the African American man. At several places, he displays honesty in such a way that it seems ironic. It seems that the author has intentionally put those descriptions in the narrator’s mouth such as he tells that the incident is happening “in front of the courthouse”, then he tells about the statue of a general, probably of one of the founding fathers of America, and then of the slogan, the crowd raises that “We are all Americans” (03). All these three comments that the boy reports about the crowd honestly are highly ironic due to the severity of the crime being committed in the presence of these symbols of justice, fair play, safety, and security.
Another purpose of using a child narrator is to report the events honestly. The boy, despite experiencing sickness due to the burning of the flesh of the African American man, reports exactly what he feels. He sees when he is burning, reports the comments from the people, and describes different methods of torture. It seems that the child narrator is describing the full detail of how the police are conniving with the mob. It is clear as a sheriff comes there with his men but he hardly notices the burning of the African American man. His final comment “All that in one night, and all of it but the storm over one African American man” is testimony that Ralph Ellison’s objective of bringing honesty and objectivity into the recording of an incident of the worst racial killing has fulfilled to a great extent (04) through his use of a child narrator in “A Party Down at The Square”.
Conclusion
Ending the argument of using a child as a first-person narrator, it is fair to laud the efforts Ralph Ellison has made to take the risk of presenting the incident of a racial killing event through a first-person child narrator in “A Party Down at The Square”. It is quite interesting to note that this literary device of using a child narrator and that too in the first person has proved effective in recording and then reporting minute details. The child from Cincinnati, though hardly ten, does well to imbibe the impacts of the mob violence to the point of making him numb. Even he feels sick at times and expresses his disgust openly. What he does best is the honest and objective recording as well as reporting of the public mood as well as the events how, when, and where they happened and how people reacted. In nutshell, Ellison has been highly effective in using the first-person child narrator to prove his objectivity and honesty in his short story.
Works Cited
Ellison, Ralph. “A Party Down at the Square.” UWM. n. d. Web. 21 Jul. 2023.
Relevant Questions
- Narrative Perspective: How does the use of a child narrator in “A Party Down at The Square” influence the reader’s understanding of the events and themes in the story, particularly in relation to issues of racism and social tension?
- Character Development: What insights does the child narrator in “A Party Down at The Square” provide into the character development of the story’s adult characters, and how does the child’s perspective enhance our comprehension of their motivations and actions during the gathering at the square?
- Symbolism and Innocence: In Ralph Ellison’s story in “A Party Down at The Square”, how does the child narrator’s innocence and limited understanding of the complex racial dynamics at play symbolize broader societal ignorance and prejudice, and what message does this convey about the story’s social and political commentary?
