The Inevitable Fate In King Of The Bingo Game By Ralph Ellison

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Inevitable Fate Many literary texts, movies, and novels deal with the theme of fate or destiny. Many films/literary texts change a person's or situation's future near the end of the movie or text when a person or thing purposely changes a specific event. Audiences of these films or readers of these novels may notice a pattern where there is always another result to change the character's or protagonist's fate after they change an event or specific event in the plot. However, in the King of The Bingo Game by Ralph Ellison, the protagonist chooses their destiny, and there is no way for the protagonist to change their fate. Evidence of the protagonist's actions in the King of The Bingo Game and direct quotes from the short literary text shows that the protagonist cannot change the outcomes of his consequence. …show more content…

For instance, when the protagonist notices a woman eating roasted peanuts and a group of people sharing a drink, he mentions that if he wanted the things people were eating and drinking, all he had to do was ask. However, the protagonist says, “Ask somebody for something, and they'd think you were crazy” (Ellison, pg 469). This quote implies that there would possibly be no way to go back in time to prevent the protagonist's unknown consequences from happening if he followed through on his comment about asking people for food and drinks. Nevertheless, the subtle hint of the protagonist’s hypothetical effect gives the readers an indication that the protagonist needs to be aware of the choices the protagonist