Racism In Ralph Ellison's King Of The Bingo Game

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” both tell stories using literary techniques of tone, symbolism, and irony that help to convey stories that leave the reader baffled by their ending. Although Hawthorne and Jackson utilize these literary techniques in a different way, both of the stories end with a sense of darkness.

Shirley Jackson is often regarded as one of the most brilliant authors of the twentieth century. Born in San Francisco in 1916, she spent the majority of her adolescence writing short stories and poetry (Allen). While she is known best for her supernatural stories, one of her most popular works is a short story called “The Lottery”. The lottery takes place in a small village in which once a year on June 24th, the town population is gathered. After the gathering, there is a drawing to see which family is chosen, after the family is chosen, another drawing takes place to see who is stoned to death. In the New Yorker's magazine book review hailed “The Lottery” as “one of the most haunting and shocking short stories of modern America and is one of the most frequently anthologized” (Jackson). This review stems heavily from Jackson’s brilliant use of irony, symbolism, and foreshadowing. However, perhaps what truly stands out is how Jackson is able to wrap all of those elements together as a way to show an overarching theme of the corruption that exists in human nature. While the real source of “The Lottery’s” inspiration is unclear, there has been heavy speculation that the roots lie heavily in the actions of the holocaust and the actions that took place during World War II. Regardless of the source material, a general consensus can be made that the plot of the lottery is a dark reflection of human actions.

Ralph Ellison’s “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 inability for a person to be the master of his or her own destiny, when they live in an unfair and prejudicial system.

In the short story, “King of the Bingo Game”, published in 1944, Ralph Ellison explains a man’s brief journey to attain freedom from his oppressing and segregating society, while economically assisting his ailing wife. He is granted the opportunity to control his destiny and alter his life forever. He portrays the hope of endless possibilities, as well as anticipated control over one’s future. In the other short story, “The Lesson”, published in 1960, Toni Cade Bambara explores the concept of social and economic injustice during the Civil Rights Movement period. Both of these literary works encompass the theme of predominating one’s destiny to be liberated from a socially and economic society during an era of segregation in American history.

Thesis: The literary works of “The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown” both appear to show the fallibleness of human behavior and judgment.

Ralph Ellison’s short story, “A Party Down at the Square” displays the United States’ racially violent past through obscene and graphic imagery. The intent was to call out racism and disturb the reader into awareness of social problems that were present at the time in the story and even today. The story of “A Party Down at the Square” is about a boy visiting his uncle in the southern United States and attends a “party”, which is actually a gathering to participate and spectate in the lynching of a black man. The story uses hellish imagery and graphic, obscene descriptions to show the evils of racism and prejudice.

Racism is an issue that blacks face, and have faced throughout history directly and indirectly. Ralph Ellison has done a great job in demonstrating the effects of racism on individual identity through a black narrator. Throughout the story, Ellison provides several examples of what the narrator faced in trying to make his-self visible and acceptable in the white culture. Ellison engages the reader so deeply in the occurrences through the narrator’s agony, confusion, and ambiguity. In order to understand the narrators plight, and to see things through his eyes, it is important to understand that main characters of the story which contributes to his plight as well as the era in which the story takes place.

Ellison's '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. Ellison's 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 American's 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.

From the beginning of the story, we are shown racial inequalities. Ellison introduces us to our character who is a broke and hungry African American economically struggling to save his lady friend’s, Laura’s, life. The protagonist “got no birth certificate to

In the 1940‘s racial segregation gripped southern American life. The notion of separating blacks from whites created immense tension. Separate water fountains, bathrooms, restaurants, etc. were variables that helped keep races apart. “Jim Crow” laws in the south were intended to prevent blacks from voting. These laws, combined with the segregated educational system, instilled the sense that blacks were “separate” but not equal (174). Many people of color weren‘t able to survive through this time period because of the actions of whites. One individual who overcame the relentless struggles was Ralph Ellison. Ellison, a famous author, depicted racial segregation in the 1940’s through a fictional short story entitled “Battle Royal.” Battle

Henry ford, once wisely said,’’ History is more less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker's dam is the history we made today’’. “The Lottery” and “Harrison Bergeron” are the best deprivation short stories. Harrison Bergeron” and “The Lottery” both reveal that it is human nature to blindly want a better situation without considering all the possible outcomes. Not just in these stories, but also in reality, people want to attain an equal society, although many people do not consider how everyone will become equal, in ‘’Harrison Bergeron’’ He is afraid of everything and try to enlighten to other member of society and In Shirley Jackson’s ‘’The Lottery’’ the story shows winning the lottery is bad, but in the lottery the lucky winner who draws the winning paper then gets the prize of being stoned death. Jackson uses Tessie Hutchinson’s character to condemn force. However, both stories are false equality and blind traditions but both societies while awareness is the difference between them.

Though there was a heightened sense of tension over civil rights in the late 1950s when A Raisin in the Sun was written, racial inequality is still a problem today. It affects minorities of every age and dynamic, in more ways than one. Though nowadays it may go unnoticed, race in every aspect alters the way African-Americans think, behave, and react as human beings. This is shown in many ways in the play as we watch the characters interact. We see big ideas, failures, and family values through the eyes of a disadvantaged group during an unfortunate time in history. As Martin Luther King said, Blacks are “...harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what

On the other hand, in “King of the Bingo Game” protagonist was an African-American who left his state in south to find a better future. He was from minority community and his grandparents were slaves of white people. They were not having equal rights and were treated unfairly, even his name was given by a white. Like Montresor, the unnamed protagonist of “King of the Bingo Game” felt alienated among the whites. “Folks down South stuck together that way; they didn’t even have to know you. But up here it was different. Ask somebody for something and they’d think you were crazy.” (Ellison

The short story “Battle Royal” by Ralph Ellison presents racial inequality as an issue throughout the story. The author addresses racism when the narrator is described as an “invisible man”. The author also refers to racial inequality as the narrator delivers a speech at a community gathering. Racial inequality has been an unresolved issue for many years. In 1947, racism corrupted the world and identities of many young people.

Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man thoroughly portrays the issues of the thirties still prevalent today. This was a time period characterized heavily by the efforts of World War II, segregation, and strive towards advancements. People of color faced harsh treatment from whites who ruled American society. They were and continue to be a big chunk of the gears that help the country advance and improve. Without their knowledge, skills, and hard work the nation could not have been as well renowned as it is today. Ellison takes the reader on a journey through the thirties from the eyes of a young man seeking his identity in the harsh world. We observe the many obstacles and difficult decisions he is forced to make. These matters are analyzed through a variety of theories in chapters five through ten including psychoanalytic criticism, new historicism, and marxism.