Comparing Horror In The Cask Of Amontillado And The Lottery

Figurative language is a strategy that authors have used over the years to give the reader different perspectives on the piece that they are reading about. In her short Story, “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson writes about a small town that has a tradition known as the lottery. The way that the lottery works, is that there is black box with pieces of paper in it. The pieces of paper have the family names of every family in town. The last name standing then has to go into an elimination round with the people within the family. Each family member draws out of the black box, and the family member that pulls the slip of paper with the black dot gets stoned to death. In her short story, Jackson utilizes symbolism in the form of Old Man Warren, the black box and the pile of stones to demonstrate how tradition can be blinding without even knowing it.

The short stories “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe and “House Taken Over” by Julio Cortazar are two well known works of literature that encompass unique literary styles. Poe utilizes Gothic literature in his story, a style of writing that incorporates elements of darkness, gloom, drama, and intense descriptions. On the other hand, Cortazar uses Magical Realism and its realistic characters, setting, and fantastic and unusual events to tell his tale. Despite the two being completely different genres, they share many similar traits, specifically relating to fear.

Jackson does not reveal the unethical and violent nature of the lottery until the very end, where the reader loses their earlier presumptions about an innocent lottery. Therefore, foreshadowing and suspense becomes a very large force in the story until the ending, and Jackson gives many hints to the reader. At the beginning of the story, children are found stuffing their pockets full and making towering piles of stones. Readers may brush this off as ordinary play of children, but in fact, it has a cruel purpose near the story’s end. Another area of foreshadowing is when Mr. Summers, the lottery’s organizer, asks the Watson boy to draw for him and his mother. Mr. Watson is not mentioned, like the other male head of households who pick for their families, so it can be assumed that Mr. Watson lost his life during the previous years’ lottery. All of this shows the juxtaposition between the seemingly everyday activities of the town and the cruel nature of what actually happens that day.

In every time period there is always a writers that dominates a certain genre. These individuals are masters in their fields and can evoke the deepest feeling in their readers. There are many of these writers in every generation for every genre. In the field of horror two writers should spring to everyone's mind. Edgar Allen Poe and Stephen King. Both writers have made their marks in literature for exploring the darker sides of imagination producing writings that can leave readers shaken from freight. Although both authors are from different time periods they have similarities in writing that shows their skills.

Shirley Jackson also utilizes literary devices to good effect in “The Lottery,” especially that of symbolism. By keeping the setting devoid of any identifying details, Jackson frees the reader to imagine that it could be any place. The only constraints that the author places on her readers’ creativity are that the town is decidedly rural, perhaps narrowing the critique to the cultural scene most frequently associated with small town America. Other symbols include the box from which the lottery slips are drawn (an old and black object which heralds death), stoning as a method of execution (a particularly old and excruciating way to kill someone), and ritual itself (a series of often ill contemplated actions for which one needs no particular reason to follow). All of these, with their marked reference to age, clearly refer to tradition.

Within the first few lines of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" we are faced with such adjectives as clear, sunny, fresh and warmth. She goes on to paint a picture of small children just out of school for the summer, as the townspeople gather for the annual Lottery. This leads us to believe that the rest of the story is as cheery as the summer day initially described. We as the readers are virtually unaware of the horrible senseless events that lie ahead. Through the use of symbolism Shirley Jackson reveals the underlying decay of ethics that results from an empty ritual followed by narrow-minded people.

     In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” irony is an underlying theme used throughout the story. The setting is introduced as a “clear and sunny” day, but ends with the brutal death of a housewife (715). The two people who essentially run the town, Mr. Graves and Mr. Summers, also have ironic names. In addition, the characters and the narrator make ironic statements throughout the story.

Horror is the genre that keeps the reader on their toes for nights upon end. It keeps them thinking. Thinking about how cruel and disturbing someone, or something, could possibly be. Thinking about what in the world happens to a character after the story drops off in a cliffhanger. Thinking about the probability that the events in the narrative could transpire in real life. Thinking about how likely it is for those things to happen to the reader. Refusing to look out their window in fear of seeing the glimpse of a murderous face, and listening to every sound with acute accuracy, praying that the noise is not one of a stranger creeping up the stairs. Scary accounts make the reader live in fear whenever the

In the short story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson the change in tone shifts over time starting with a gleeful and sunny beginning turning to a ghastly and horrifying story towards the resolution. The author shifts her tone in order to make a more dramatic ending that will stick with the reader, the ending transforms the short story from realism to symbolism so that the readers can further use this story in a real world context.

The horror genre of books has tons of great authors who have written amazing books. Stephen King and R.L Stine are well known in the horror genre even though both of them target different audience. When R.L Stine was little he preferred staying inside writing stories then going outside and play with other kids. After R. L Stine graduate from the University he moves to New York to perused his career as an author. Stephen King became popular after publishing.Stephen King and RL Stine are two other that passion for the horror genre, they began writing at a young age but they target different audience

In her story “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson manages to catch the readers’ attention and ultimately shock them with an unexpected ending; all of which help her emphasize her critique toward the dark side of human nature and the evil that resides, sometimes, in those who we less expect it from. Jackson uses symbolism throughout the story that helps her set the mood and also makes the readers wonder and analyze the senseless violence and cruelty in their own lives.

Through her use of setting, which on the surface appears to be light-hearted and commonplace, Jackson masks and emphasizes the shock and horror of the story’s ending. Jackson first depicts a light and merry setting when she describes the day of the lottery. “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green.” By detailing the day in a bubbly way, Jackson veils the idea that nothing bad

According to Helen E. Nebeker, most acknowledge the energy of The Lottery, admitting that the psychological stun of the ritual murder in a modern, rural small-town cannot be easily overlooked. Virgil Scott, for instance, says, “the story leaves me uneasy because of the author's use of incidental symbolism: the black box, the forgotten tuneless chant, the ritual salute to assure the entire recreation of the procedure of the lottery forget to serve the story as they may have.” At that point, they indicate fundamental weakness by acknowledging that Jackson has preferred to give no answer to her story, but it leaves the meaning to our imagination, allowing a good deal of flexibility in our interpretation, while yet demanding that everything in the story has been obtained to assure us how we are to 'take' the ending events in the story. Maybe the critical conflict depicted above comes from failure to see that The Lottery really intertwines two stories and subjects into a fictional vehicle. The obvious, easily discovered story shows up in the facts, wherein members of a small town meet to decide who will be the next victim of the annual savagery. The symbolic hints which develop into a second, sub rosa story becomes apparent as early as the fourth word of the story when the date of June 27th alerts us to the season of the summertime with all its connotation of ancient ritual. From the symbolic development of the black box, the story shifts quickly to climax.

Shirley Jackson 's 'The Lottery ', is a story that is filled with symbolism. The author uses symbolism to help her represent human nature as tainted, no matter how pure one thinks of himself or herself, or how pure their environment may seem to be. The story is very effective in raising many questions about the pointless nature of humanity regarding tradition and violence. 'The Lottery ' clearly expresses Jackson 's feelings concerning mankind?s evil nature hiding behind traditions and rituals. She shows how coldness and lack of compassion in people can exhibit in situations regarding tradition and values. Jackson presents the theme of this short story with a major use of symbolism. Symbolism shows throughout the setting of 'The Lottery, ' the objects, the peoples actions, and even in the time and the names of the lucky contestants.

These internal, psychological depictions added a new dimension to the genre of horror by revealing darker aspects of the human psyche. They evoked a new kind of fear because The Cask of Amontillado is very realistic and plausible since it reveals a dark yet natural aspect of the human psyche: the thirst for revenge. The fact that he addresses darker elements of human nature made them all the more horrific. This also reveals a dark aspect of human nature which goes back to his intention of art and literature being the prime medium of portraying the nature of people. Narration and diction combined with psychological horror and arabesque strongly aided him in developing gothic