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. The main character is completely alienated from the world around him. He is a black man living in a white world, a man who was born in the South but is now living in the North, and his only form of companionship is his dying wife, Laura, whom he is desperate to save. He is unable to work since he has no birth certificate—no official identity. Without a job he is unable to make his mark in the world, and if his wife dies, not only would he lose his lover but also any evidence that he ever existed. As the story progresses he loses his own awareness of his identity—“somehow he had forgotten his own name.” The author emphasizes the main character’s mistreatment in life by white society during a vivid recollection of an event in his childhood when he was chased by a train filled with “white people laughing as he ran screaming,” a hallucination which was triggered by his exploration of the “old scars” on his body. This connection between alienation and oppression highlight Ellison’s central idea. The conflict in this story can be seen when the main character fights with the two men who have come onto the stage to get the bingo wheel controller away from him. This conflict is not only symbolic of his life, but also the struggle of African Americans, during the 1930’s and 1940’s, to gain control of their lives when they... ... middle of paper ... ...eyed as the main character is mocked, being stripped of his title as “King” and made a fool. Works Cited Barnhisel, Greg. "An overview of 'King of the Bingo Game'." Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 2 Aug. 2011. Doyle, Mary Ellen. "Need of Folk: The Alienated Protagonists of Ralph Ellison's Short Fiction." CLA Journal 19.2 (Dec. 1975): 165-172. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Carol T. Gaffke. Vol. 26. Detroit: Gale Research, 1997. Literature Resource Center. Web. 31 July. 2011. Saunders, Pearl I. "Symbolism in Ralph Ellison's 'King of the Bingo Game,'." CLA Journal 20 (Sept. 1976): 35-39. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Carol T. Gaffke. Vol. 26. Detroit: Gale Research, 1997. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 Aug. 2011.
Tradition is a central theme in Shirley Jackon's short story The Lottery. Images such as the black box and characters such as Old Man Warner, Mrs. Adams, and Mrs. Hutchinson display to the reader not only the tenacity with which the townspeople cling to the tradition of the lottery, but also the wavering support of it by others. In just a few pages, Jackson manages to examine the sometimes long forgotten purpose of rituals, as well as the inevitable questioning of the necessity for such customs.
In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the theme of the story is dramatically illustrated by Jackson’s unique tone. Once a year the villagers gather together in the central square for the lottery. The villagers await the arrival of Mr. Summers and the black box. Within the black box are folded slips of paper, one piece having a black dot on it. All the villagers then draw a piece of paper out of the box. Whoever gets the paper with the black dot wins. Tessie Hutchinson wins the lottery! Everyone then closes in on her and stones her to death. Tessie Hutchinson believes it is not fair because she was picked. The villagers do not know why the lottery continues to exist. All they know is that it is a tradition they are not willing to abandon. In “The Lottery,” Jackson portrays three main themes including tradition, treason, and violence.
"King of the Bingo Game" analyzes the exact separation felt by blacks in the United States. A young black man, the main charater of the story, who remains nameless throughout the story, cannot find work. The Bingo King, is alone in the world and his isolation is further stressed by the potential death of his wife, Laura, who is extremely ill and in serious need for medical care. Pressured by his wife's illness, he visits a movie theatre where he takes part in a Bingo game, hoping to win. As a winner of palying Bingo, he is then given a chance at the jackpot. In "King of the Bingo Game" The working-class blacks of the day were new to inner-city life. Ellison provides an analysis of this relationship with fate, and more specifically, a black
When initially reading Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” focusing on aspects of themes and ideas is difficult, as the apparently seamless shift from ordinary socialization to death is highly outrageous. However, after multiple readings, Jackson’s messages become more apparent, with her prominent theme tackling societal norms. Growing up Catholic, attending parochial school until sixth grade, and regularly attending church creates a tendency for me to follow tradition and rituals, without question. Yet, Jackson’s story directly challenges the ethics of this behavior as she criticizes how society functions, blindly maintaining the status quo simply because that is how it has “always been” (246), regardless of its morality or relevance in the modern world. Even
Tradition is something we all hold dear to ourselves, although; all it can do is get in the way of the regular life. In the short story “The Lottery”, a small town holds a drawing every year to decide who gets a brutally executed. This year it turned out to be a whiny, stuck up women named Tessie Hutchinson. Shirley Jackson, the author of “The Lottery”, demonstrates the theme of blindly following tradition isn’t always the right way to live your life through the use of multiple symbols.
Racism is the main reason the man is denied his outright victory in the game. Luck strikes when he least expected. When the Bingo game begins and he is “smiling” (Ellison 469) and seizing this opportunity to solve his problems. Unable to secure a job in the North, his participation in bingo gives him the hopes that win the lottery would give him money to save Laura,
The Lottery, written by Shirley Jackson, is a short story that was first published in 1948. In this case, I am referencing Backpack Literature. There are a couple of themes in this short story. The risk of indiscriminately following tradition is one and the haphazardness of murder is another. I am going to talk about how these themes relate to the story.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” Literature and Its Writers: A Compact Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 5th Ed. Ann Charters and Samuel Charters. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2010. Book.
Jackson wrote several pieces of literature throughout her life, she is most known for her short story “The Lottery.” The lottery takes place in a small town on June 27th. The lottery is an annual event handled by Mr. Summers and the postman, Mr. Graves. The night before the lottery, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves made slips of paper that are placed in an old black box that has been used for the lottery for a very long time. The children are the first to arrive for the lottery, then the men, followed by the women. As Mr. Summers calls the names of the families in the town, heads of the households, the men, come and draw slips of paper from the black box. During the lottery, Mrs. Adams mentions that the other towns are thinking of stopping their lottery, to which Old Man Warner responds it wil...
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” A Portable Anthology. Ed. Janet E. Gardner. Boston: New York: Bedford/St Martin’s, 2013. 242-249. Print.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” Literature: A Portable Anthology. Gardner, Janet E.; Lawn, Beverly; Ridl, Jack; Schakel, Pepter. 3rd Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. 242-249. Print.
In Shirley Jackson’s "The Lottery," what appears to be an ordinary day in a small town takes an evil turn when a woman is stoned to death after "winning" the town lottery. The lottery in this story reflects an old tradition of sacrificing a scapegoat in order to encourage the growth of crops. But this story is not about the past, for through the actions of the town, Jackson shows us many of the social ills that exist in our own lives.
Two thought provoking short stories, The Lottery by Richard Connell and The Most Dangerous Game by Shirley Jackson provide the authors’ outlooks on society and human behavior. At first view one might find it difficult to compare these literary works, written in different eras, side by side. However these seemingly unrelated stories share multiple interworking components. With further reading you can identify common aspects of both stories. Take for example the theme, literary devices, and figurative language. These elements help to distinguish the stories and compare them to each other.
“The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a disturbing social practice in a village. Besides, there were about three hundred citizens in the small village where the setting took place. The introduction of “the lottery” is about an event that takes place every year on 27th in the month of June, where the community members of this tradition organize a lottery. Everyone in the village including small children to adults is expected to participate. Besides, when this story was introduced at the very first in 1948 by Shirley Jackson, many people were upset. This is because this story was so strange to undertake in modern enlightened times.
Atack, Margaret., Short Story Criticism. Vol 6. Ed. Thomas Vottler.Detroit, MI: Gale Research, Co., 1990.