Comparing 'The Most Dangerous Game' and 'The Lottery'

The purpose of this paper will be the comparing and contrasting of two short stories previously read and interpreted by the writer. The two stories chosen were “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell. These two stories seem to have nothing in common, as they have two separate meanings in two separate eras. However, the moral of each story draws similarity, the author’s paints a picture to keep the audience open minded therefore connecting them in distinct ways.

Attempting to control the fate of others can lead to multiple problems. The short story “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson centers around a town that has an annual tradition where everybody in the town draws a piece of paper from a box, and the person with the black dot on the paper will be stoned to death. The main character, Tessie Hutchinson, is picked for the Lottery this year, and issues arise from that. This story uses irony and imagery to show how fate plays a big role in this town. The story “Ruthless” by William de Mille is about a man named Judson Webb who finds out that somebody has stolen his belongings so, instead of telling the police, he takes the law into his hands. Judson adds poison to a bottle of whiskey and leaves

In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game,” author Richard Connell expertly exploits foreshadowing and vivid imagery to emphasize danger and suspense. Many authors attempt to do this, but only a small few succeed. Everyone who has stayed up past their bedtime reading a book will tell you, they stayed awake because the book they were reading was filled with suspense. It is suspense that separates the great stories from the good stories. And “The Most Dangerous Game” is definately a great one. By using foreshadowing and utilizing his characters five senses, Connell keeps readers at the edge of their seats, eagerly waiting to find out what comes next.

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is very similar to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games is a seventy-four-year-old lottery that selects twenty-four kids, as young as thirteen, and sends them into a rink to fight to the death. The Lottery is about a lottery that has been going on for more than seventy years, where the village selects one person to stone to death. The two stories may have different plot lines, but they have similar themes, including tradition, a dystopian society, and protagonists standing up for justice. Both of these stories are very akin and hold a very harsh lesson.

Richard Connell and Shirley Jackson explore the perpetuation and condoning of human evils through storytelling in their short stories; “The Most Dangerous Game” and “The Lottery”. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a short story about a rural town, approximately 300 and it’s strange tradition. This “tradition” pertains to the people of the town all partaking in a “Lottery”. This Lottery’s objective is to draw a black marked note. He who draws the final marked note is sentenced to a ruthless, brutal and painful death by stoning. In Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” a big game hunter by the name of “Sanger Rainsford” falls overboard and is left stranded on a ship-trap island. Rainford finds himself in a gigantic house. In the home,

In “The Lottery”, author Shirley Jackson portrays the importance of violence and inhumanity that is being shown throughout the community and how the townspeople play a major roll in it. Shirley Jackson believes that violence is huge within this community and she also believes that the community isn’t aware of their actions. Every year on June 27th, the community gathers at the town's square to attend the lottery. The folks who run this lottery are Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves (The Postmaster). Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves will randomly announce names from the lottery box. If the name announced was on the paper the family member selected, then the audience would throw stones at them until they were dead.

The Theme of the game rely around the justification of murder. Killing just because. Even thou man is superior over best and he has been given power since the beginning of time it does not give him the authority to take one’s life.

Much like The Lottery, The Dangerous Game starts off as a seemingly normal story and takes a turn for the

Introduction and overview of the short stories, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell.

Is winning the lottery meant to be fortunate and cherishing? Most would have said of course! However, sadly it is not the reality in this case scenario. In the movies “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and The Hunger Games by Gary Ross having your name being drawn is most likely one of the worst things that could happen in their small town or district. These two movies do have comparisons and differences. Both of these movies have sacrifice and tradition, on the other hand they have two extremely different protagonists known as Katniss and Tessie; which make their stories more on a distinctive perspective. “The Lottery” and The Hunger Games are similar in regards to sacrificing and traditional beliefs, although they differ by the main characters

The first similarity I am going over is the theme fear. The people if both stories feared being picked to either win the lottery, or be placed in the games. The people in The Lottery knew that if they were drawn that they would be stoned to death. The people in The Hunger Games knew that if they were picked they had a great chance of death. When death is a close option you are most likely going to have fear.

In both stories, the innocent characters were fighting death at the hands of someone who found the idea of killing another human being to be a game. In “The Lottery” the game of death consumed an innocent life solely because a few individuals founded a tradition; and in “The Most Dangerous Game” the game of death consumed an innocent life solely because one person thought it was merely entertaining. Both authors portrayed the antagonist as friendly, warm and welcoming. In the Lottery, the antagonists were the families whom participated in the drawing of a name that lead to the stoning of another family member (which may or may not be their own family member). In “The Most Dangerous Game” the antagonist was a well-off general who opened his luxurious home to guests who have gone astray from their original destination. Death is the main theme of both short stories and both authors portrayed this dark and dreary idea as a game the characters are playing.

In the beginning of the story Rainsfordś perspective is that he is the hunter and he feels no moral obligation to the animals that he hunts. ¨Be a realist. The world is made up of two classes-the hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are the hunters.¨ Rainsford states this to his friend Whitney before he falls off the boat and reaches Ship-Trap

Being an animal hunter has some big responsibilities, but rainsford was not +worried or so he thought. After days and weeks of hunting for animals, he decided that he wanted to be a serial killer. As we all know, serial killers end up in prison for a long time. Obviously, Rainsford was not worried about the consequences. Whittney tried convincing Rainsford that it was not a good idea to start killing people, so Rainsford acted like he took Whitney’s advise. Therefore, while rainsford was trying to change his ways, he had to overcome his fears of

When specific traditions within a civilization are blindly followed, the consequences may be dire and the society as a whole can be negatively impacted. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson both highlight the consequences that come along with condoning the traditions that were introduced into a culture. By using arbitrary rules, inequitable odds, and blindly following traditions in these pieces of literary work create an environment for a hostile social ritual and ceremony. The societies displayed in these pieces of literature share a tradition of cruel and murderous behavior which jeopardizes the livelihood of the people who reside in these areas, specifically the youth. Although both of the traditions