King of the Bingo Game, Ralph Ellison

What is the significance of the protagonist's hunger at the very opening of the story? How does this set the tone and thematic focus of the story? Where does the action of the story take place? Why? What is the significance of this setting?

Who is the protagonist? What do we know about his socioeconomic background and origins? Is it important that we never learn his real name? What does such namelessness suggest? Why does he miss the South? How is that possible for a black American? What does that suggest about the alternatives open to such a person? How does the story compare the agrarian South of the past to the industrialized North of the present? What was the outcome of the Civil War? What does that suggest about American history and its supposed social and technological progress? Was the Civil War fought primarily to free the black people from slavery? Does the nominally "free" protagonist find himself in a new and subtler, perhaps even more insidious, sort of slavery? What has gone wrong when people in an advanced industrial society are forced to go hungry and are incapable of obtaining medical care?

What is the significance of the movie theatre where the action of the story takes place? How are the movies connected to concerns of the story such as hunger, oppression, social injustice, and the continued enslavement of many? Do the movie and the theatre play any role in such problems?

In the action-adventure movie, the hero probes with the beam of a flashlight to locate a trapdoor. What does this trapdoor stand for? How about the flashlight? How is this movie connected to the black audience's real-life? What motivates the audience to see themselves in the hero? How does he become a hero?

What is the significance of the image of the woman who is tied down in the movie? Why are the people in the audience disappointed when the hero unties her? What do they want? Why? What is lacking in their lives? How is the woman's subjection related to their own? What is their fantasy? Does the film validate that fantasy? Where does the identification between hero and audience begin? Where does it end?

In the movie, what does Ellison suggest through the sharp contrast between the darkness of the room and "the beam of a flashlight"? In the theater, what does Ellison represent through the white projection beam overhead? What is the function of "light" in this story? Is the light beam in any way related to the spinning wheel? When the protagonist stumbles onto the stage, what does the "light so bright and sharp" mean for him? What is the "strange, mysterious power" associated with that light? Is this light friendly or hostile? What effects does Ellison seek or accomplish by using the dual images of white and black in continual opposition? Is there any other usage of dual images in the story? What is Ellison criticizing? How may this story be connected to the Harlem Renaissance of Ellison's time?

What is the symbolic meaning of the projection that always lands right on the screen? What is the significance of everything being "fixed" by the white projection beam? If the protagonist sees the mechanical projector as life's controlling force, why is it so? What lies behind the images of the projection reel and the train wheel? What do they commonly stand for? Is this related to the historical context of the story? American history? Technology? How?

If there is juxtaposition between the "reel" and the real, how does it apply to the theme of the entire story? What does Ellison suggest through the cinematic fantasy of controlling one's own destiny? Is freedom in American a reality or merely a media-generated fantasy? Is the protagonist convinced that the conditions of the mechanical, white world are unalterable? Why does he stick to the illusion that the cards might alter his fate?

What is the meaning of the recurrent nightmares of the protagonist who imagines trains trying to run him and his wife down? Why trains? What do trains symbolize? How are they connected to American history? What is intended by these images?

What realization does the protagonist have while in the theatre? What is meant by the idea that "They had it all fixed. Everything was fixed"? Who controls his destiny? How? How is the Bingo game and its wheel related to the representation of those forces?

What does the Bingo game stand for? The wheel? Does everyone have an equal chance of winning? Why or why not? Why is the protagonist called "one of the chosen people"? Is there irony in that designation? Is he finally in control when he is handed over the button? Why does he feel like getting away? Why does he feel like a fool? Is he being mocked in some way? Why does he feel alone? Is there meaning in numbers such as the amount of the jackpot, $36.90? How about the double zero ("00") designating the winning space on the wheel? What does that suggest? When the wheel does finally land on the double zero, why is it said that "he would receive what all the winners received"? Is that related to the idea that "everything was fixed"?

Why is it said that the wheel draws him into its power as it spins? Why does he feel "helplessness" and "a deep need to submit"? What does he realize suddenly? Why does he say of the bingo wheel, "This is God!"? What does he mean? What has he discovered? What are the implications of that discovery? How is this "God" related to the Bingo wheel that "had always been there, even though he had not been aware of it, handing out the unlucky cards and numbers of his days"? Is this a good or an evil God?

What does the protagonist think he can accomplish by continuing to press the button? How does this alter the usual functioning of the wheel, of the game, of "God," of society? What is the "most wonderful secret in the world" which he has discovered? What are the implications and symbolism behind his desire to press the button forever? What does the control of the button represent? How about the continuous spinning of the wheel? What happens to the divisions on the wheel (between winning and losing numbers) as the wheel spins without stopping? Who wins? Who loses? How is this connected to the social problems and the economic and historical context which are the concerns of the story? What does he mean by saying "I'll show you how to win. I mean to show the whole world how it's got to be done"? How is he redefining the rules of the game? What is the game which he means to alter?

What is the significance of the image of the protagonist when he is described "like a long thin black wire that was being stretched and wound upon the bingo wheel"? Is it significant that he begins to bleed out of his nose? Why does he call himself a "king"? What has he, symbolically, become? Any parallels to biblical stories and situations?How is his ordeal related to the revelation of a redeeming truth? How is his message related to ideas of salvation as found, for example, in Christianity? How does the audience react to his antics? Are they interested in what he has to say? What do they want? What do they say?

As the police try to catch him, what is the meaning of his running around in a circle while holding on to the cord? What happens at the end? Why does he see a man winking and another quickly stepping out of the way? What's the literal purpose of letting the curtain down? What symbolic functions does the image play in the story? What happens to the protagonist? What is meant by the idea that "his luck had run out on the stage"?

Does the protagonist accomplish anything through his sacrifice? Are any significant messages delivered by his seemingly insane and foolish behavior? Does Ellison suggest some meaningful answer to the problem of the oppressive and powerful god of the wheel? Is the protagonist merely another fool falling victim to the wheel's inescapable sway? Is it only blacks who are enslaved to the power represented by the wheel? Who is free and who is enslaved? What are the implications concerning the ways of life and socioeconomic organization of contemporary capitalist societies? Does Ellison see any solutions? What may those be?

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HOME INTRO TO LIT AUTHORS & WORKS GLOSSARY TIMELINE INDEX CONTACT INFO CREDITS	"King of the Bingo Game" Author Time Language & Form Synopsis Main Issues Study Questions Links Author Ralph Ellison (1914-1994) (click here for details) Time 1944, first published in Cross Section. Language & Form Short story. English. Third person narrator. Synopsis A young black man, who remains nameless throughout the story, cannot find work in the wartime factories because he has no birth certificate. Pressed by his wife's urgent need for medical care, he visits a movie theatre where he participates in a Bingo game, hoping to win it by keeping extra cards. As a winner of the card game, he is then given a chance at a jackpot of $36.90 which he can win by spinning the bingo wheel and having it land on "00." In a mad but grand gesture, he refuses to relinquish the cord and button that control the wheel, pressing the button so the wheel keeps spinning and preventing it from landing on any spot. His quixotic performance is ended by the intervention of the police and a falling curtain which crushes his head, ending his game and, presumably, his life. Main Issues juxtaposition and contrasts between the main character's fantasy and his real life. impact of modern capitalism and urban reality on the folk sensibility of a nameless young black man from the South. literary surrealism, dream-like fantasy Ellison's choice of the name Laura creates links to the love lyrics of the Italian Renaissance humanist and writer Petrarch (1304-1374); the Bingo wheel can be related to the idea of the wheel of fortune and its proverbial fickleness. framework of dualities in continual opposition: freedom/restriction, black/white, North/South, madness/sanity, ideal/real. narrator moves from a frontier belief in freedom to a confrontation with the reality of coercion, restriction, and oppression; Americans, who declare freedom of opportunity (symbolized by the wheel), live the contradiction of outright slavery and subtler forms of enslavement (a game that is "fixed"). a fable on the predicament of all modern Americans (regardless of race); the problem of living or learning to live, in a world where the odds are stacked against anyone born into the wrong circumstances. Study Questions What is the significance of the protagonist's hunger at the very opening of the story? How does this set the tone and thematic focus of the story? Where does the action of the story take place? Why? What is the significance of this setting? Who is the protagonist? What do we know about his socioeconomic background and origins? Is it important that we never learn his real name? What does such namelessness suggest? Why does he miss the South? How is that possible for a black American? What does that suggest about the alternatives open to such a person? How does the story compare the agrarian South of the past to the industrialized North of the present? What was the outcome of the Civil War? What does that suggest about American history and its supposed social and technological progress? Was the Civil War fought primarily to free the black people from slavery? Does the nominally "free" protagonist find himself in a new and subtler, perhaps even more insidious, sort of slavery? What has gone wrong when people in an advanced industrial society are forced to go hungry and are incapable of obtaining medical care? What is the significance of the movie theatre where the action of the story takes place? How are the movies connected to concerns of the story such as hunger, oppression, social injustice, and the continued enslavement of many? Do the movie and the theatre play any role in such problems? In the action-adventure movie, the hero probes with the beam of a flashlight to locate a trapdoor. What does this trapdoor stand for? How about the flashlight? How is this movie connected to the black audience's real-life? What motivates the audience to see themselves in the hero? How does he become a hero? What is the significance of the image of the woman who is tied down in the movie? Why are the people in the audience disappointed when the hero unties her? What do they want? Why? What is lacking in their lives? How is the woman's subjection related to their own? What is their fantasy? Does the film validate that fantasy? Where does the identification between hero and audience begin? Where does it end? In the movie, what does Ellison suggest through the sharp contrast between the darkness of the room and "the beam of a flashlight"? In the theater, what does Ellison represent through the white projection beam overhead? What is the function of "light" in this story? Is the light beam in any way related to the spinning wheel? When the protagonist stumbles onto the stage, what does the "light so bright and sharp" mean for him? What is the "strange, mysterious power" associated with that light? Is this light friendly or hostile? What effects does Ellison seek or accomplish by using the dual images of white and black in continual opposition? Is there any other usage of dual images in the story? What is Ellison criticizing? How may this story be connected to the Harlem Renaissance of Ellison's time? What is the symbolic meaning of the projection that always lands right on the screen? What is the significance of everything being "fixed" by the white projection beam? If the protagonist sees the mechanical projector as life's controlling force, why is it so? What lies behind the images of the projection reel and the train wheel? What do they commonly stand for? Is this related to the historical context of the story? American history? Technology? How? If there is juxtaposition between the "reel" and the real, how does it apply to the theme of the entire story? What does Ellison suggest through the cinematic fantasy of controlling one's own destiny? Is freedom in American a reality or merely a media-generated fantasy? Is the protagonist convinced that the conditions of the mechanical, white world are unalterable? Why does he stick to the illusion that the cards might alter his fate? What is the meaning of the recurrent nightmares of the protagonist who imagines trains trying to run him and his wife down? Why trains? What do trains symbolize? How are they connected to American history? What is intended by these images? What realization does the protagonist have while in the theatre? What is meant by the idea that "They had it all fixed. Everything was fixed"? Who controls his destiny? How? How is the Bingo game and its wheel related to the representation of those forces? What does the Bingo game stand for? The wheel? Does everyone have an equal chance of winning? Why or why not? Why is the protagonist called "one of the chosen people"? Is there irony in that designation? Is he finally in control when he is handed over the button? Why does he feel like getting away? Why does he feel like a fool? Is he being mocked in some way? Why does he feel alone? Is there meaning in numbers such as the amount of the jackpot, $36.90? How about the double zero ("00") designating the winning space on the wheel? What does that suggest? When the wheel does finally land on the double zero, why is it said that "he would receive what all the winners received"? Is that related to the idea that "everything was fixed"? Why is it said that the wheel draws him into its power as it spins? Why does he feel "helplessness" and "a deep need to submit"? What does he realize suddenly? Why does he say of the bingo wheel, "This is God!"? What does he mean? What has he discovered? What are the implications of that discovery? How is this "God" related to the Bingo wheel that "had always been there, even though he had not been aware of it, handing out the unlucky cards and numbers of his days"? Is this a good or an evil God? What does the protagonist think he can accomplish by continuing to press the button? How does this alter the usual functioning of the wheel, of the game, of "God," of society? What is the "most wonderful secret in the world" which he has discovered? What are the implications and symbolism behind his desire to press the button forever? What does the control of the button represent? How about the continuous spinning of the wheel? What happens to the divisions on the wheel (between winning and losing numbers) as the wheel spins without stopping? Who wins? Who loses? How is this connected to the social problems and the economic and historical context which are the concerns of the story? What does he mean by saying "I'll show you how to win. I mean to show the whole world how it's got to be done"? How is he redefining the rules of the game? What is the game which he means to alter? What is the significance of the image of the protagonist when he is described "like a long thin black wire that was being stretched and wound upon the bingo wheel"? Is it significant that he begins to bleed out of his nose? Why does he call himself a "king"? What has he, symbolically, become? Any parallels to biblical stories and situations?How is his ordeal related to the revelation of a redeeming truth? How is his message related to ideas of salvation as found, for example, in Christianity? How does the audience react to his antics? Are they interested in what he has to say? What do they want? What do they say? As the police try to catch him, what is the meaning of his running around in a circle while holding on to the cord? What happens at the end? Why does he see a man winking and another quickly stepping out of the way? What's the literal purpose of letting the curtain down? What symbolic functions does the image play in the story? What happens to the protagonist? What is meant by the idea that "his luck had run out on the stage"? Does the protagonist accomplish anything through his sacrifice? Are any significant messages delivered by his seemingly insane and foolish behavior? Does Ellison suggest some meaningful answer to the problem of the oppressive and powerful god of the wheel? Is the protagonist merely another fool falling victim to the wheel's inescapable sway? Is it only blacks who are enslaved to the power represented by the wheel? Who is free and who is enslaved? What are the implications concerning the ways of life and socioeconomic organization of contemporary capitalist societies? Does Ellison see any solutions? What may those be? Links to come Dr. Fajardo-Acosta gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Jung-Joon Ihm in the creation of this page © 2001, 2002 by Fidel Fajardo-Acosta, all rights reserved
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"King of the Bingo Game"