Essay on Ellisons King of the Bingo Game - 1076 Words

Ellisons King of the Bingo Game Ellisons King of the Bingo Game encompasses a variety of different implications that transform an otherwise sad short story into a political statement regarding racial injustice towards African Americans. Ellisons use of colors, slang phrases, names, irony, and his almost constant use of metaphor change otherwise meaningless sentences into poignant testimonial of disparity. This exceptional use of language, in conjunction to the hardships African Americans faced at the time of the stories conception allow it to paint a picture of inequality and prejudice that insight insanity into the main character. As the story begins Ellison?s main character, the man who remains nameless is described as†¦show more content†¦Also he writes that the man is surrounded by the darkness of the theater, consumed by it, and with the white light ahead and on stage he is alone, and lonely in the darkness, playing the game. These are all references to how invisible and alone the man is. When he actually wins bingo the story goes from metaphor to reality. As he steps on stage the men on stage berate him with racial slurs, as does the crowd. They call him ?boy,? and say that ?he?s one of the chosen people.? People yell, ?Are you all-reet,? and the announcer says ?So you decided to come off that mountain to the U.S.? All of this confuses the man because he is so consumed with the desire to win the money that he can not understand they are making fun of him. He cautiously grins, knowing that they are probably making fun of him, but he is consumed with his own anxiety. What he does understand is that the spin is his only chance to bring life back to his only companion. The thought of loosing the spin and the money makes him believe that his life will become unlivable if winning is not the outcome. He unconsciously knows that he must win, or Laura will die and he will become completely alone and helpless. As these thoughts cross his mind he pushes the button, and the process of spinning the wheel begins. Blood rushes to his head, and immediately his sense of reality disappears. The spin will determine his entire outcome, or so it seems, and theShow MoreRelatedPrejudice in King of the Bingo Game938 Words   |  4 PagesRalph Ellison’s â€Å"King of the Bingo Game† is the story about an unnamed black man, in the 1930’s, who is hoping to win the bingo game that is being held at the local cinema, in order win enough money to pay for his gravely ill wife to see a doctor. The central idea of this story is about race, and the inabili ty for a person to be the master of his or her own destiny, when they live in an unfair and prejudicial system. The main character is completely alienated from the world around him. He is aRead MoreInternal And External Conflicts Of The Narrator862 Words   |  4 Pagesexternal conflicts of the protagonist The narrator of Ralph Ellison’s â€Å"King of the Bingo Game† is a scared but fighting man. The protagonist of this story is an African American man. He is from Rocky Mont, North Carolina. In the story, his wife Laura is ill and will die if they are not able to take her to a doctor. He is playing a game of bingo in order to try to win the daily jackpot, so he can take Laura to the doctors. He gets bingo and is called up to the front to spin the wheel, but when heRead More The Distinguished Works of the Preeminent Black Author, Ralph Ellison2059 Words   |  9 Pagesthe novelist Richard Wright (Kennedy and Gioia). In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Ellison was primarily an essayist who was published in several American periodicals. It was in these early years that he wrote King of the Bingo Game and the Buster and Riley trilogy. In 1952, Ellisons Invisible Man was published in what became his most notable work. Invisible Man won Ellison numerous honors including the Na tional Book Award in 1953 (Kennedy and Gioia). Ellison continued to write short storiesRead MoreKing of the Bingo Game1745 Words   |  7 PagesAnalysis of â€Å"King of the Bingo Game† Ideas of slavery, identity, and what is acceptable behavior differ greatly in the past-Civil War North and South. Ralph Ellison’s â€Å"King of the Bingo Game† depicts how traditional southern slave mentalities are in conflict even after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of the slaves, leading many, like the nameless main character to try and find a new identity and giving him a taste of power to control his life and the lives of others. From the beginningRead MoreThemes and Styles of Ralph Ellison3336 Words   |  14 Pagesdialect of Faulkner and Jones vernacular locations. He is sensitive to black speech especially by calling it our own version of English. American language shows directness, flexibility and imagery to the Negro presence (Tuttleton 296). Overall, Ellisons perspective shown in his works is very personal. He concerns himself with more personal matters than social. He has tried hard to protect and prove his distinctness, his difference from various predefined ideas of his identity. He refuses to be definedRead MoreEssay on Ralph Ellison Living with Music1434 Words   |  6 Pageshis youth by his mother bringing books and magazines home for him from the houses she cleaned. In addition, a black episcopal priest in the city challenged the white custom of barring blacks from the public library and the custom was overturned. Ellisons horizons were broadened to a world outside his own sheltered life in Oklahoma City, by the many books now available to him in the library. During his teenage years, Ellison and his friends imagined being the eclectic combination of frontiersmenRead MoreBlack Boy : Breaking The Chains Of Mental Slavery1720 Words   |  7 Pagesstill believes both blacks and whites have a long way to go. His views become much more positive and he expresses a strong sense of independence and comfort in the man that he has become. Slave: A new Spelling of my Name 5. Ralph Ellison’s â€Å"King of the Bingo Game† depicts the slave mentality post Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of the slaves. After the Emancipation Proclamation many former slaves took this time to embark on new journeys of self-exploration. The story begins with the nameless