The main character of the story is a poor Black young man from the working class. He does not have a job because he does not have a birth certificate, and his family does not have any money for a doctor. The protagonist comes from the South of the country, where people got used to helping each other. He likes going to the movie because after the film there is an opportunity to play a bingo game.
The first paragraphs introduce the conflict between the Northern and Southern parts of the country, between black and white people, between the rich and the poor. The protagonist wants to win money to pay for the doctor for Laura, his sister or a close friend. He is hungry, but he cannot ask for some food, because in the South it is not acceptable. White people make laugh at him, which reflects the real conflict between Black and White people in the U.S. of that time.
During the bingo game, the main character is getting drunk because someone has given some whiskey to him and is thrilled because of the chance to win. He is so anxious and excited about an opportunity to save Laura by winning the prize that he cannot take his thumb from the button. He gets a sudden insight that the bingo wheel is God, and that all his life was a bingo game where he got unfortunate numbers. He feels that he has discovered the secret of winning the bingo game and wants to share it with others, but they laugh at him.
The character is overwhelmed so much that he does not even realize that the police have arrived to get him off the scene. He feels that he controls the wheel and that he understands the principle of winning the bingo prize. He imagines that the longer he pushes the button with a sincere belief that he will win, the more chances he has. He also feels that he can finally control something in his life.
The author does not give any name to the character because it could be any Black person of that time. It also might demonstrate that almost every Black person at that time did not have many opportunities to earn a lot of money and to live a decent life. It reflects the central conflict between poor black people and white people. The main character does not even have a birth certificate; he is a “nobody” for the society ruled by white people.
Another reason for this is that the character himself forgets his name. On the one hand, it shows that he is an insignificant person from the bottom of society. On the other hand, he also realizes that the people who laugh at him are the same as him. They are poor, and they dream of winning money in order to pay a hamburger or pay the rent.