Diane Long Hoeveler is the author of several books and numerous articles and reviews. In the following essay, Hoeveler discusses the game imagery in "King of the Bingo Game," describing how certain symbols represent the futility and repression many African Americans feel.

Game imagery in Black literature utilizes two major motifs: language as game and the image of gaming itself as an expression of the difficulties that face Blacks struggling toward authentic identity in an alien and alienating culture....

The focus of this paper, however, is on the second major motif: the image of game playing and the theories surrounding games as an expression of both the futility and the special challenges posed to Black culture in contemporary America. Central to this motif is the notion that Blacks are the victims not only of an unfair and discriminatory social situation, but also they are, like all human...