" Ellison's "Battle Royal" would not have taken place in New York City or any other cosmopolitan place. A small town element is necessary to convey the idea that small towns breed small mindedness. Similarly, Jackson, Mississippi is an apt setting for Faulker to describe the townspeople's impressions of Emily.

Characterization is similar among these four stories. A sense of loneliness and isolation pervades "The Lottery," as well as "A Rose for Emily," "Young Goodman Brown," and "Battle Royal." In each of these stories, the protagonist seems up against a mob mentality, and has to decide whether to submit to that mentality or challenge it. All of the characters find it difficult to express and assert themselves. Of all these characters, Young Goodman Brown and the narrator of Battle Royal are the ones who can best assert themselves. Tessie Hutchinson in "The Lottery" fails to do so and she dies....
[ View Full Essay]