No.26 The Black Ball (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE English Literature): Revision Note

The Black Ball analysis

In the exam, you will be asked to answer one question from two options. Both questions will be on a different text from the selection of ten texts in Stories of Ourselves Volume 2. 

Because there are so many text options, make sure you read through the exam instructions carefully, and look for the questions on Stories of Ourselves.

The following guide to The Black Ball by Ralph Ellison contains:

• Plot summary

• Themes, ideas and perspectives

• Writer’s methods

• Key quotations

Plot summary of The Black Ball

American author Ralph Ellison wrote the short story in 1937, and it was first published in 1967 in Flying Home and Other Stories. It is a semi-autobiographical first-person account of a Black father’s challenging day, working and raising his son alone in a racially-segregated America. 

John works as a janitor for a luxury apartment block. This particular morning, he rushes back from work to get breakfast for his young son. The boy tells his father that one of the white children called him “black”. John says that he is “brown”, and, most importantly, American. 

Back at work, while polishing brass door knobs, John thinks about his rude and petty boss, Mr Berry. He is approached by a man with “red” skin typical of the “deep South”. John is suspicious, but the man encourages John to join his union. To convince him of his good intentions, he reveals his scarred hands, and describes how a white supremacist mob set fire to him for supporting a wrongly-accused Black man, and lynched his friend. The union organiser gives John a card with the details of the meeting, and leaves. 

At lunchtime, John warns his son not to play with his football at the front of the building because that is where the white boys play, but while he is asleep a white boy takes the ball from his son and throws it at Mr Berry’s window. Mr Berry confronts John and warns him that if the ball is thrown again, he will be “behind the black ball” (a threat to fire him, but a reference to disenfranchisement).

Later, when John goes to water the lawn, he reflects on his son’s future, and that he, too, will be blackballed, or excluded. Remembering the union man’s scarred hands, he looks for the card with the details of the union meeting and wonders if there is any other colour than “white” on his son’s ball. 

Themes, ideas and perspectives in The Black Ball

For top marks, you need to form a critical understanding of the text’s themes and ideas. This is best when it includes personal judgements and evaluations of the themes, ideas, and perspectives of the text. Here are some of the key ideas you will need to understand in Ralph Ellison’s The Black Ball. 

What are the key themes in The Black Ball?

Writer's methods in The Black Ball

How does Ellison present his ideas and perspectives?

Ralph Ellison illustrates the results of racial segregation in early 20th-century America through his depiction of a struggling and fearful working father, and a tortured white civil rights supporter. The story advocates for solidarity and action to ensure a fairer future. 

Key quotations in The Black Ball

The mark scheme for the CIE IGCSE Literature in English Paper 1, Section B asks you to showcase your knowledge of the story in the question. To do this, you should refer to the text through references and quotations. Remember, though, summarising, paraphrasing, referencing single words, and referencing plot events are all considered valid supporting evidence for your points. 

The best way to revise quotations is in connection to a theme. Below you will find explanations and analysis of some key quotations from Ralph Ellison’s The Black Ball, arranged by the following themes:

• Discrimination

• Hope  

Discrimination 

Ellison’s story highlights the entrenched racism existing in America in the early 20th century through his depiction of an isolated and anxious Black janitor and his innocent son. 

Meaning and context

• When John’s son says that “brown” is better than “white”, John quips that some people think being “white” is better

• He adds that being “American” is more important than the colour of one’s skin

Analysis

• Ellison raises ideas about discrimination in 20th-century America, suggesting that being a citizen of America should not depend on race

• Ellison presents his protagonist as patriotic despite injustices to which he is subjected

Meaning and context

• When the union man smiles at him, John is distrustful

• He thinks the man’s polite smile will not change racist attitudes or past oppression

Analysis

• Through John’s monologue, Ellison presents cultural barriers between two strangers — “my kind and his”:

  • Regardless of behaviour now, bitterness and doubt remains

• Ellison may be alluding to slavery, as well as the Jim Crow laws, under which Ellison lived

Meaning and context

• John questions the union man as he finds his offer of help suspicious

• He says that white men have never seen reason to help before, and asks why is he trying to do so now, suggesting it is not his place to “organise” Black men

Analysis

• Ellison illustrates how John’s fear and anxiety manifests in a cynical attitude

• His interrogative tone presents him as frustrated and bitter at the complicity of those who allowed racial segregation and oppression to occur

• The italicised and repeated word “you” addresses all white men, not just the union man

Hope 

Meaning and context

• John thinks about the union man when he goes home

• He remembers his scarred hands, and how he got them 

Analysis

• Ellison uses a metaphor to convey John's distracted thoughts about the union man

• He implies he cannot get the idea of the man’s burned, “fried” hands off his mind:

  • This highlights the influence of the man’s tragic story, and foreshadows change

Meaning and context

• John dismisses the union organiser’s advice to attend a meeting, telling him that unions are only for white men

• The union man corrects him, telling him that only “some” are racially segregated 

• He says that racism within the unions is decreasing over time

Analysis

• Ellison’s union man represents the idea of change in America

• His correction “some unions don’t” contrasts John’s pessimism and suspicion

• Although John is sceptical initially, the union man’s optimistic words influence John, and contribute to his more hopeful attitude by the end of the narrative

Meaning and context

• The final line of the story presents a changed John:

  • He thinks there may be a chance his son will have a better future

• He says that maybe the “ball” thrown by the white boy, for which his own son was blamed, will become less “white” in the future 

Analysis

• Ellison’s symbolic “white” and “black” ball presents the idea of racism via a child’s toy:

  • This highlights the significance of John’s son in the story

• The ending illustrates how fatherhood helps to motivate action:

  • John’s hope for a better future for his son encourages him to change

Sources

Wilmer, M (ed.), 2018, Stories of Ourselves: Cambridge Assessment International Education Anthology of Stories in English Volume 2, Cambridge University Press.