Modernism and King of the Bingo Game
Ralph Ellison’s King of the Bingo Game illustrates ideals of the time period referred to as Modernism. These include traits such as describing the inner workings of the mind or the dream world, searching for new perspectives, and having a pessimistic outlook on life.
Ellison demonstrates the concept of a dream-like world in his story when the protagonist is up on the stage, with the control in his hand. The character is intoxicated, which creates a hallucination-filled, surreal world. Also, Ellison portrays this character as having the wheel over-power him, and take control of him. He creates his own world, a dream world, one where he has the power, and is no longer oppressed; a world where he is like God. This gives him a new perspective on life. He can forget about all his worries that his life has brought him. He is now the one calling the shots, which is a different view of life for this character.
This story also portrays the pessimism felt by the people at this time. At this time in history, the world had just suffered the worst war in the history of man-kind up to that date. Also, the United States had not that long ago gone through the Civil War to free men from the oppression of slavery. However, some felt that the freedom the slaves were given had led to more oppression in the northern, industrial states that paid poorly for the jobs they held, in effect a new form of slavery. This era was the age of war. Not only was it an era of war, but also a time of great extremes. There were the very rich and wealthy people, and there were the very poor and poverty-stricken people, a middle class had not really been established at this point in time. The poor had little to hope for and their plight in life was beyond their control. A dream world was a way for them to escape the sorrows of their lives, perhaps the only way for many. Soon to come would be the biggest war in the history of man, World War II.
leading up to and surrounding President Abraham Lincoln’s death. The purpose of this book is to
Jackson in her story, “The Lottery”, describes how society and villagers preserve the tradition of lottery without even knowing its origin. Hawthorne, in his story, “Young Goodman Brown” describes the presence of corruption and evil in the society. Both stories have common ideas such as corruption in our society, continuation of barbarous and unethical old traditions, and failure of people in handling those barbarous actions. Both stories have a common theme of evil and darkness but they are presented in different manners. This paper discusses similarities and differences in “The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown” by analyzing different literary elements. Jackson, in her story, questions beliefs of individuals, their actions, and blind faith towards old barbaric traditions by using an evil theme and symbolism. Hawthorne adopted a different approach to show presence of evil in our society by showing the inner struggle of the lead character.
Does destiny exist? If it does, does it be applicable to everyone? Destiny and fortune might exist. However, these beliefs do belong to all African American people before the Civil Right. “King of the Bingo Game” - Ralph Ellison emphasizes a similar case in his story. In this story, an anonymous African American man believes in "fate and free will". He is determined to win a bingo game. But fate would not let him have his way. Fate appears to take the course from the beginning, as he is breaking. Faced with a predicament of brokenness and a sick spouse, he decides to try his luck at playing a bingo game. No matter what how lucky he is in the bingo game, the fact that he is a black man playing a white’s game automatically makes him become a loser.
Goodwin, Doris Kearns. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. Print.
Thomas DiLorenzo’s purpose in writing The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War is to portray the idea of a different side of one of America’s greatest presidents. Abraham Lincoln is indeed one of the most written about “American political figure[s]” (1). However, The Real Lincoln is devoted to revealing the true mindset and agenda of Abraham Lincoln during his time of presidency. DiLorenzo, in one single book, undermines the political choices and strategies of Abraham Lincoln. He challenges the decisions Lincoln made; specifically stating that Lincoln “could have ended slavery just as dozens of other countries in the world did” (4).
This single short quote from the first section of Lillian Smith’s Killers of the Dream is a perfect summation of the changing world many Southerners were facing as they approached the 20th Century. Gone were the days of plantation homes, housewives overseeing 50 black slaves, and many of the ideals that this lifestyle carried with it. As the Civil War ended and Reconstruction worked its way through the South, much was uprooted. This change was hard for this “landed aristocracy.” However, it was equally hard on the children.
Wilentz, Sean. "WHO LINCOLN WAS. (Cover story)." New Republic 240, no. 12/13 (July 15, 2009): 24-47. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed February 26, 2011).
Abraham Lincoln was elected as sixteenth president of the United States of America in 1861 and served until his assassination in 1865. He is viewed as a popular political figure and is known as the “Great Emancipator” for his role in freeing the slaves during the 1860s (Columbia University Press 2013, 1). He delivered the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 that declared “all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states are, and henceforth shall remain free” (Columbia University Press 2013, 1). Although the Proclamation made Lincoln seem like a hero, others would soon realize that the proclamation was a war tactic and in reality did not put an end to slavery. In The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War by Thomas J. DiLorenzo, the reader will discover facts about President Lincoln that are not told in the average history book. Within the chapters of DiLorenzo’s book, he explains Lincoln’s true view on slavery, reasons for his political success, and why Lincoln encouraged war between the North and the South.
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 American Dream is a dream that everyone imagines to be picture perfect. The American Dream means having freedom, equality and opportunity’s to achieve the dream that you conceptualize to be right by you. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck did not want to just illustrate the American dream as being easy, but he wanted to point out the American Dream as being difficult too. Steinbeck made a work of art by composing a great novel to make the reader understand that life can be difficult and at times dreams are hard to achieve. Of Mice and Men was written and based on the settings of the Great Depression (Anderson). The Great Depression was a very dire time that left multiple of people despondent and the unavailing to move on with their lives. The Great Depression created a world where everyone had to seek and survive for themselves. In the novel Steinbeck wanted to explore and point out how powerless people where during the time of the Great Depression. Steinbeck purposely incorporated his characters to depict the life struggle of what people go through during grim times. In the novel, Steinbeck illustrated a great set of characters Lennie, George, Candy and Crooks. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck discusses handicaps, hardships, and friendships of the characters.
...many realities that exist within America's society and that most do not fit the typical American dream. Even those people that achieve some measure of success, as Ralph did, are often plagued by personal problems that outweigh any measure of wealth or reputation. The lie of the American dream is that it promises to fix humanity's problems with material gain – it promises happiness from things that are not capable of giving it. And so, followers are all left unfulfilled by the great American dream, left with a reality that is much different than what was so easily guaranteed. The reality that everyone experiences, whether it is the suburban soccer mom or the tired immigrant, is that the dream is mostly unachievable. The reality we think exists is only a myth – a true mythological reality.
A dream is a deep ambition and desire for something; everybody tries to reach their dreams no matter how far away they may seem. The characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s stories strive for nothing less than “The Great American Dream”. This is the need to be the best of the best, top of the social ladder, and to be happier and more successful than anyone has been before. Fitzgerald writes about this American Dream that every character has but can never achieve; the dream is kept unattainable due to obstacles, the disadvantages of being low on the social ladder, and also the restrictions of having a high social status.
It is widely known that Abraham Lincoln, since his childhood, was never a fan of the south. Additionally, his father was a devout Christian, which played a major role in the development of Lincoln’s moral and ethical beliefs, which manifested themselves more so later on his life and would play a major part in Lincoln’s agenda during the Civil War. The idea that Lincoln may or may not have overstepped his powers during the process of preserving the unity of the United States will be looked at closely in the following paragraphs. This critical analysis will look at various sources with differing views in order to establish a solid conclusion as to why Lincoln was justified in the actions he took as President during the Civil War.
Of Mice and Men is one of John Steinbeck’s major novellas. It tells of George Milton and his mentally-handicapped friend, Lennie Small. George, a short, shrewd operator is the foil to Lennie: a humongous, infantile oaf whose last name “Small” embodies nothing but utter irony, for he is not by any means small. Similar to the majority of Steinbeck’s books, Of Mice and Men’s setting is in the Salinas Valley, California— however, this one takes place in the 1930s. The novel revolves around the idea of the American dream and the hurdles the characters face in their quest to achieve it. The novella takes place during the great depression. During that horrid period, each individual has their own idea of the American dream. Steinbeck touches on several themes related to the dream such as the actual dream itself, loneliness, powerlessness, and the future’s unpredictability. Steinbeck adequately utilizes these themes to depict the unfeasibility of the American dream.
The American Dream seems almost non-existent to those who haven’t already achieved it. Every character in the novel has moments of feeling happy and endures a moment where they believe that they are about to achieve their dreams. Naturally everyone dreams of being a better person, having better things and in 1920’s America, the scheme of getting rich is quick. However, each character had their dreams crushed in the novel mainly because of social and economic situations and their dream of happiness becomes a ‘dead dream’ leading them back to their ‘shallow lives’ or no life at all.