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Jazz Music's Parallel to Ralph Ellison Jazz, popular music of black origin, is a genre unique to America. It began as a social music, the natural response of the black population, especially in the Southern American states, to their situation , their sorrows and oppression, their hopes and aspirations. It is distinguished from all other genres of music by it's characteristic rhythms, close harmonies and distinctive melodies, and the involvement of improvisation. The tone of jazz is low, and it revolves heavily around a central rhythm. However, improvisation that is more complex is taken off this base, and at some point, the pieces eventually come back to the central rhythm, the place where it originated. In Ralph Ellison's first chapter, "Battle Royal," of Invisible Man, the reader travels through the story as if traveling through a jazz composition. The characters and plot of this story, parallel the rhythm, harmonies and melodies, and improvisations characteristic of a jazz composition. Ellison's use of symbolic language and allegorical references in the story of the "Battle Royal," parallels the history of jazz. Ralph Ellison's first chapter of Invisible Man introduces us to an African American man whose grandfather feels that he is a traitor for having lead a life based on a guiding principle of submissiveness in the face of the South's enduring racist structure. We are left with a moral ambiguity because we never learn whom the grandfather feels he has betrayed. Did the grandfather feel that he betrayed himself, his family, or his entire race? Those whom the grandfather feels he has betrayed is left to our own interpretation, much like the ambiguous melodies of many jazz pieces. Jazz melodies are interpreted by each listener very differently. One may hear a jazz composition and feel sorrow in it while another person may interpret the melodies as frustration.
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Another ambiguity that is introduced by the grandfather are the last instructions that he gives his family. These ambiguous instructions are the central rhythm of the composition. The narrator's grandfather directs his family to uphold two different identities good and obedient slaves on the exterior; on the inside however, they should be resentful of this façade that they must uphold so that they do not betray themselves. These instructions play an important role in giving the narrator a foundation upon which he can generate his own set of beliefs and morals. The narrator does agree with his grandfather in that he must be a good and submissive towards the white people, however, he believes that in doing so, he will earn respect and praise. The instructions of the grandfather are much like the fundamental rhythms in a jazz piece, and the narrator's own beliefs that stem from that central rhythm are his improvisation. The improvisation that the narrator makes has it's roots in his grandfather's central rhythm that is the foundation for the composition. The narrator's involvement in the "Battle Royal" can be paralleled to the close harmonies of a jazz composition. In this "Battle Royal" the boys involved are blindfolded by the white men that are running this event. Without the ability to see, the boys fight chaotically amongst each other. In a jazz composition, the close harmonies sound like chaos. It is hard to tell one line of notes from the other very easily, however, jazz composers have knowledgeable control over the overlapping notes that are used in a piece in order to give the music it's unique quality. We can say that the white men running this "Battle Royal" are the composers. They have full control over the chaos that they create. Not once did any of the boys in the "Battle Royal" try to hit one of the white men in the chaos, even though these boys probably could have, and then deem it an accident. In the end, the narrator is given a briefcase and a scholarship the state college for Negroes. This was a way that the men, once again, exerted their power. The narrator may have felt that he had finally won his respect and praise, however, the reward that he is given was the men's way of controlling his social advancement in their terms. In a jazz composition, the central rhythm controls the movement of the piece, as well the improvisation of a solo performer. The narrator paints himself as this solo performer who breaks off from the main melody of the piece to play his own improvisation; the notion that he is better than all the other boys there. However, despite this deviation, the white men still have control over his advancement in the composition through the use of their dominating central rhythm; blacks are to be inferior and put in their place in a white society. Aside from the parallel of Ellison's first chapter of Invisible Man to the technical aspects of a jazz composition, we can parallel this story to the history of jazz music. In his presentation of the narrator's speech, Ellison introduces the black social debate. The speech, placed after the "Battle Royal," is Ellison's way of questioning and critiquing it's beliefs. More specifically, he criticizes the optimistic social program of the black educator and writer Booker T. Washington. Although the narrator doesn't directly name Washington in the speech, his speech contained quotations from Washington's Atlanta Exposition Address of 185. He believed that blacks should stay away from trying to gain political and civil rights, but to focus on achieving economic success. He believed that if blacks worked hard enough, they would be granted equality by the white men. The history of jazz music parallels Ellison's introduction of the black social debate. As a way to cope with the hard labor, slaves would sing "work songs" to break up the monotony of their work. It was also a way that the slaves retained their roots, since slaveholders usually actively sought to destroy any allegiance to their former country. Eventually, from these "social songs," there was a progression into new rhythms and melodies, and soon jazz music started to become a expressive genre of music as we know it today. In the birth of jazz music, the majority, if not all the musicians were black. The South had a long tradition of both slaves and free black musicians entertaining audiences of both races. Jazz music, music with black origin, was accepted and enjoyed by the white population. If such music was accepted by the white population, did they accept blacks into their society? Could this music be a passive way into which blacks could eventually gain acceptance and equality in a white supremacy society? Obviously, the course of history proved that even in the birth of jazz music, and the acceptance of this music by the white population, the people of this music were not accepted as equals to the whites. We can see that there are parallels between the technical aspects of jazz music to Ellison's story, as well as the history of jazz to Ellison's allegorical references and symbolism. Many critics have compared Ellison's writing to jazz music, and they do it rightfully so. All art forms somehow influence one another, whether it is cinema and literature, or literature and music, the list can go on. We have seen such influences of jazz music in Ellison's writing more importantly, parallels of jazz music in Ellison's "Battle Royal" of Invisible Man.ReferencesEllison, Ralph. "Battle Royal" Invisible Man. New York; Random House, Inc., 18Websiteswww.allaboutjazz.com/timeline.htmhttp//historymatters.gmu.edu/d/www.jass.com
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