Literary elements are used countless time in all types of literature from science fiction novels to old stories our grandmothers would tell us when we were little. These elements are vital in storytelling and have always been apart of stories ever since the english language was created. “Monkey's paw” by W. W. Jacobs and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson are both excellent examples of the two elements of foreshadowing and irony.
Being stoned to death by 300 of your friends and family is possibly the worst way anyone would ever want to be killed. In the short story “The Lottery” written by an author Shirley Jackson, she mentions about a small village consisting of 300 residents who most reluctantly participate in an annual lottery drawing. I know, who in their right mind would hesitate to be a part of an event that gives you a possibility of winning a prize, which makes you wonder what the prize is. At the end of the story the protagonist, Mrs. Hutchinson, who also happens to be the winner of the lottery is stoned to death. I argue that Jackson wrote this story to inform us how living in a small community isn’t always a great thing because in a small population people start gossiping about one another, which can lead to issues and could turn into hatred.
Shirley Jackson’s twisted story, “The Lottery,” takes place in a small town with a measly population of about 300 people. In the story, Tessie Hutchinson, a well-known civilian in the town is one of the 300 people with their lives at risk when the annual Lottery is held. The lottery is a system of selecting a family, then selecting a member of that family to be killed. In this town, and probably everywhere else in the world, no one wants to be the one to die. The reason why the lottery is held is unknown, as the text has not explicitly stated a reason. A possible lesson that “The Lottery” promotes is that selfishness is human nature. Selfishness by itself can be so overpowering that it
How do our relationships with others define who we are? Others affect us greatly. The people who surround us everyday have a great impact on our own life. Friends and family are the people who create you, and are part of the reason of who you are today. For example, when there’s a new trend, or when someone says a mean comment, you might change something about you at one point or another. Who affects your life?
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.
Progress is only possible with a change in attitude. In A Teacher’s Rewards, a previous student, Raybe believes he ended up in jail because he is mistreated by his former teacher Miss Scofield. Then, he returns to visit Miss Scofield in order to settle the score. In The Lottery, the town prepares for its annual lottery. However, the winner of the lottery is stoned to death as a sacrifice. In A Teacher’s Rewards by Robert Phillips and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, the authors illustrate that one's flawed perception causes individuals to blindly follow outdated views that cause harm to themselves and to society as a whole.
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,
Although two different stories, with multiple differences in conflict and setting, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell bear multiple similarities as well. Both stories demonstrate how humans are portrayed as evil vs. good. Each story depicts a protagonist exhibiting conflict with another human or humans. One ends on a dark gloomy path for the protagonist while the other results in a victory for the protagonist.
that farming is a way of life that is handed down from generation to generation,
“The Lottery by Shirley” Jackson and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell shed light upon the human nature and its indifference to suffering until they become the suffer. The stories tell realistically what happens when a society decides to become the jury and judge on the value of human life. Both stories have haunting comparisons that deal with immorality. They give similarities for what is considered acceptable and everyday life in the characters society. The authors use vivid and detailed points of view to give the stories reality roots. These two stories are more unique with the differences being about man versus man in the survival for human life and the other a woman against her whole village’s belief. The Most Dangerous Game has the character Rainsford speaking about the animals he hunts. The dreary feel of the crew and the murk of the night add suspense to what is held beyond the fog. The conversation between Rainsford and The General Zaroff is a precursor for an intriguing climax. “The Lottery” begins its story with a simple town setting and villagers coming together for a lottery. It picks up momentum once you realize what is actually at stake in this lottery. The lottery consists of a ritualistic killing to preserve fruitfulness of the village. Every year there is the ritual of the choosing and the stoning
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell are both stories about humans hunting humans. Jackson’s approach to this is by staging a lottery to choose a citizen to be sacrificed, whereas “The Most Dangerous Game” has a man who hunts humans on his private island. While both Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” show that humans have little to no empathy until they’re the ones suffering through dramatic events, Jackson’s characterization of Mrs. Hutchinson and surprise ending demonstrate mankind’s tendencies toward self-involvement much more effectively.
Many comparisons can be drawn between stories of literary fiction. Literary elements such as plot, characterization, theme, and point of view are all aspects that can be used to compare stories. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” have many similar aspects between them. Both of these stories illustrate the degradation of traditional societal rules and the care for human life, and the deceiving appearance of characters. Their plots share a common theme of the darkness of human nature, and the twisted morals of some people.Both "The Lottery" and "The Most Dangerous Game" deceive the reader with their portrayal of the characters. Through the use of direct and indirect characterization, both stories begin
Human civilizations have always been accustomed to creating and accepting various traditions and rituals that provide a sense of predictability and comfort. These traditions are largely blindly followed with practically no opposition with fear of being singled out. Furthermore, gender roles and expectations have been a part of many traditions spanning many cultures throughout the course of history. The first and major theme that this work showcases is that traditions are adhered to by means of customs and rituals. The second encompassing theme will discuss gender roles and how it affects behaviors. Lastly, the third theme will outline how persecution is indiscriminate and unremorseful.
Footsteps trail behind; blood runs from an open wound, no stopping now. Run. In The Hunger Games, directed by Gary Ross, Katniss volunteers for her sister during the reaping. The reaping is an event held by the capital where they choose two people from each twelve districts to fight in a life or death match called the hunger games. In The Lottery, written by Shirley Jackson, there is an event held called the lottery. Each head of household, usually the husband, chooses a slip of paper out of a black box. The family chosen then does the same thing with each individual person of the family and the person who ‘wins’ gets stoned to death by everyone else in the town. The Lottery and The Hunger Games have differences in the characters and society, but they have similarities like the theme.
The narration and point of view in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” are essential components of what has made the story controversial and cause it to stay relevant since its release in 1948. The passage where the Hutchinson family is drawing papers to see which member will be stoned, on pages 234 and 235, exemplifies the power of this kind of narration perfectly. In this section, almost all of the aspects of narration and point of view are demonstrated, including the grammatical person of the narrator and their characteristics: whether they are part of the story world, their reliability, level of knowledge, and the ethical issues that arise from how the story is told.