In the story of King of the Bingo Game, Ralph Ellison talks about twists of fate and the ability of people to control it. The image of a bingo wheel is a metaphor for a person’s life path, where there are ups and downs, and it is as unpredictable as the outcome of a game of bingo. The protagonist feels power and superiority over others when he holds ‘fate’ in his hands: “This is God! This is the truly truly God!” (Ellison 471). The author changes the narrative: from the traditional storytelling, the reader is immersed in surrealism with long transitions into the hero’s consciousness. He suddenly feels that the wheel has determined his life and the fate of his race. However, as soon as he lets it go, he finds himself at the exact ‘bottom’ where he was. The wheel of fate of the protagonist suddenly turned again.
Works Cited
Ellison, Ralph. King of the Bingo Game. Tomorrow. 1944.