“King of the Bingo Game”

• Genre: Fiction; short story; African American literature
• Originally Published: 1944
• Reading Level/Interest: Grades 9-12; college/adult
• Structure/Length: Approximately 14 pages; approximately 21 minutes on audio
• Protagonist/Central Conflict: The unnamed protagonist, a desperate African American man from the South living in the North during the 1940s, believes his fate depends on winning a movie theater bingo game. The story examines themes of fate, desperation, and the illusion of control in the face of social and racial discrimination.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Racial discrimination; poverty; despair; brief violence

Ralph Ellison, Author

• Bio: Born 1913; died 1994; African American writer and literary critic; born in Oklahoma City and educated at Tuskegee Institute; works explore themes of racial and social identity; debut novel Invisible Man is considered a classic of American literature; received numerous honors and awards for his contribution to literature
• Other Works: Invisible Man (1952); Shadow and Act (1964); Juneteenth (1999)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Guide:

• The Great Migration and Dislocation Between North and South
• Dostoevsky’s Underground Man and The Rejection of Social Norms
• Invisible Man and African Americans Coming of Age Through Existential Crisis

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Guide, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the historical and literary contexts regarding the effect of The Great Migration on the development of the Harlem Renaissance in early-20th-century American history, which impacts the development of Ellison’s characterization.