55 pages • 1 hour read
Ralph EllisonKing of the Bingo Game
Ralph EllisonFiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1944A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
The Bingo Wheel
The bingo wheel symbolizes fate, random luck, and chance. In theory, the outcome of spinning the bingo wheel should not be predetermined. The ability for anyone to win is what makes lotteries, gambling, and other games of chance compelling.
In the story, the white man in charge of the game controls the wheel. Ellison often used situations that occurred in everyday life as symbols and metaphors for dynamics in society at large. The apparatus of the wheel is not rigged; the man with the microphone does not surreptitiously control the number on which the wheel stops, nor does it seem that the wheel is fixed in a way that would prevent it from landing on the winning number. While the protagonist holds the button, he controls the wheel. The game seems fair.
The “fixing” occurs in what happens after the wheel lands on double zero. Because the protagonist refuses to end his turn before he is ready, the man with the microphone decides that he will not win the jackpot. The decision is not based on the rules of the game. While the protagonist is spinning the wheel, he asks the man, “Anybody can play this bingo game, right? […] Anybody can win the jackpot as long as they get the lucky number, right?” (474).
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