SOURCE: "Ralph Ellison: 'King of the Bingo Game' (1944)," in The Black American Short Story in the 20th Century: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Peter Bruck, B. R. Grüner Publishing Co., 1977, pp. 111-27.

In the essay below, Real analyzes the structure and social context of "King of the Bingo Game " in terms of the protagonist's quest for self-identity.

It is not uncommon to regard short stories as precursors of more comprehensive fictional works or even merely as by-products of a novelist's career. This view seems to be confirmed by some of Ralph Ellison's pieces of short fiction. His first story, "Slick Gonna Learn," is an excerpt from an unpublished novel, the famous "Battle Royal," first chapter of Ellison's novel Invisible Man, goes back to an earlier short story of that name, and his stories "Flying Home" and "King of the Bingo Game" are said to anticipate...