In "Battle Royal," who are the protagonist and the antagonist? Give examples from the story to support your answer.

Thein
"" is the narrator. The other nine African-American youth do not "care too
much" for him and are, therefore, not pleased that he will be at the fight, so they feel
antagonistic toward the narrator. In addition, there are other antagonists: the white men who
exploit them during the battle.

's narrator is invited to give a graduation
speech, and since he is going to be in the hotel for this speech, he is told that he might as
well participate in the battle royal with some of his schoolmates. This is a fight among the
youths that the town's "big shots" attend in their tuxedos.

The
narrator has his doubts about participating in this fight with them: he says, "I felt
superior to them in my way, and I didn't like the manner in which we were all crowded together
into the servants' elevator. Nor did they like my being there."

When
they arrive in the ring, the narrator hears the school superintendent yell, "Bring up the
shines, gentlemen! Bring up the little shines!"

The young men find
themselves there facing a naked white women. They are embarrassed, worried, aroused, and laughed
at during the exhibition. The narrator's teeth chatter in fear. As the woman begins to dance,
one boy pleads to go home, embarrassed at his uncontrollable physical reaction.

The older white men become very excited by the young woman and they delight in the
discomfort of the young men. After the young woman is removed, the African-American youth are
further exploited as they are blindfolded and told to hit each other. As the white men yell for
them to kill each other, the narrator recalls that "everyone fought hysterically. It was
complete anarchy." 

After the fight is over, the youths are told that
their money for fighting is on the rug. But, when they grab for it, they receive electric
shocks. The narrator finds himself knocked around and shocked repeatedly, and he later realizes
that the coins are brass advertising tokens.

When he finally is allowed to
give his speech, the narrator accidentally says "social equality" when he has meant to
say "social responsibility." Quickly, the narrator apologizes. Then, he is given a
briefcase that contains inside a scholarship to the state college for Negroes. The narrator is
so overjoyed that he does not even mind that the coins given him are merely brass pocket tokens
that advertise a certain make of an automobile.