You are right in identifying the way that both of these
texts include characters or a specific group of people that are oppressed and degrated.
Clearly, in "The Garden Party," this group takes the form of the working class that are
ignored and looked down upon, even when one of them dies. Note how Mrs. Sheridan
responds to Laura's naivety as suggesting that they cancel the
party:
"You
are being very absurd, Laura," she said coldly. "People like that don't expect
sacrifices from us. And it's not very sympathetic to spoil everybody's enjoyment as
you're doing now."
Mrs.
Sheridan's tone and words make it clear that the position of the working class is below
them, and that they are not supposed to make "sacrifices" for such people. The grief and
individual tragedy of the Scott family must not be allowed to interfere with the planned
festivities of the Sheridan family.
In "King of the Bingo
Game," the theme of racism is obviously at the forefront of the reader's consciousness.
The way in which the Bingo King is shown to be doubly alienated, both by whites and by
blacks, highlights this theme. The Bingo King's country ways are mocked and ridiculed,
by both the emcee and the audience, that laugh at him. In an ironic twist, the Bingo
King is shown to get his revenge against the audience through his defiance of Fate as he
stands on the stage and refuses to stop the wheel from turning. Note his thoughts that
highlight the oppressed position that he and blacks
occupy:
All
the Negroes down there were just ashamed because he was black like them. Most of the
time he was ashamed at what Negroes did himself. Well, let them be ashamed for something
this time. Like him.
Clearly,
the violence with which the story ends indicates the position that a black man occupies
in the world of this novel.
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