Sacrifice As children, many people become accustomed to utilizing the words “good” and “bad” in daily speech. Whether it is to describe how one is feeling or the nature of a decision made, the practice of binary labeling becomes a habit. In the novel The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coehlo and the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, the villagers must choose between what they perceive as good and what is not. The issue presented in both pieces of literature is whether the good of the many is worth the sacrifice of one individual, bringing to light the question of what really is “good”. The Devil and Miss Prym is a novel that takes place in the small, remote village of Viscos. A stranger enters into the town and presents the people with the opportunity to obtain riches through the gold he has buried there. The twist, however, is that they must commit murder in order to get the gold, therefore proving his theory that humankind is evil. When faced with this proposal, the villagers determine that the sacrifice of one in order to benefit society is the right decision. Chantal Prym, the youngest of the villagers, is the messenger the stranger had originally chosen to share his proposition with the villagers. After struggling with determining what is good, she, herself, come to the conclusion that no one can be trusted and therefore the villager’s decision to murder Berta, the village’s wise old lady, is wrong. On the other hand, the villagers in The Lottery come to
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.
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s “Harrison Bergeron” both paint fairly morbid pictures of what extreme conformity can do in society. The two stories have vastly different settings and employ dissimilar approaches to the subject of conformity. Despite this, they both suggest that the need to conform, which is encouraged by American society, is dangerous and can lead to the loss of freedoms and loss of life. The two also insinuate that standing up to authority for purely selfish reasons is pointless.
Discerning good from evil is a particularly common theme in the present society, considering that it basically stands as a storyline for a series of books, motion pictures, video games, and similar concepts. Moreover, most of these products set clear definitions of the difference between good and evil by focusing on portraying evil as being associated with stereotypes. Similarly, good is associated with ideas such as honesty, the color white, or beauty, considering that these are stereotypes generally associated with the forces of good. Even with this, such stereotypes have made it difficult for people to have a complex understanding of the concept of morality.
Good versus Evil is an important concept. Evil sometimes overcomes our good but never exceeds good. The difference between evil and good is that good is an ability to have empathy and compassion towards other people. Evil is people who are selfish, self-absorbed and don’t have empathy towards others. Literature plays a vital role in developing concepts of good and evil and effectively portrays the morals of its time period. In the novels Dracula and The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the authors explore the human nature of good and evil in men from different perspectives of Dracula, Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll.
What defines a “good” or “bad” person? The answer is complicated because we all have different perspectives on what we believe to be right and wrong. We as individuals have our own set of ethics by which we try to use when making decisions. However, when a person encounters a difficult dilemma, that choice can impact and even alter a person’s life. “Good People” by David Foster Wallace is an informative and insightful story of a young, unwed, Christian couple that are facing the conflicts of an unplanned pregnancy. Although outwardly this story seems to focus on “to abort” or “not to abort,” the underlying theme focuses on the internal conflicts the young man faces when weighing out the consequences of a decision. David Foster Wallace uses symbolism and an omniscient third person point of view in “Good People” to illustrate the internal battle one faces when dealing with the moral and religious dilemmas such as an unplanned pregnancy.
A third-person narration story is a separation or indirect involvement of a narrator with the action of a story, and this type of narration can influence the content and the theme of a story. A third-person storyteller can sometimes be all-seeing, also known as omniscient, or they can be limited meaning to adhere firmly to the viewpoint of a specific character or characters. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s “Harrison Bergeron” are two good examples of third-person point of view stories. These two stories give the authors the liberty to influence their content and theme across to readers using third-person narration without being biased.
There are a lot of good in the world, but there may also be a lot of evil that exists. This story written by Rudolfo Anaya discusses about a young man and an elderly lady attempting to end the battle amongst good and evil that is happening through their town during World War II. In the novel Bless Me, Ultima Anaya uses characters to explore the true meanings of good and evil by comparing those that believe and those who don’t believe, death of Lupito and Narciso, and including characters that are both good and bad.
Danielle Paige’s fantasy story, “Dorothy Must Die,” takes place in the land called Oz, which is known for people that have a good or a wicked side. When facing someone of which is wicked but is doing a good deed, most people do not realize that in this world there is no difference in the two. During the journey of a girl from Kansas, she discovers along the way that someone of which used to be good, is now filling the land with her wickedness. One theme that this story proposes is whether it’s wicked but good, or good but wicked. One another can change into the other because they’re no fine lines between the two.
American author Matthew Scully once said, "sometimes tradition and habit are just that, excuses to leave things be, even when they are unjust and unworthy.". There are always traditions passed down from generation to generation, without the knowledge of how they began or how they originated. Some traditions are harmless and enhance the community; other traditions are outdated and cruel that need to be modernized or discarded. Shirley Jackson uses symbolism such as the stoning of people, the lottery itself, and the black box in "The Lottery" to highlight how people blindly follow traditions.
THEME: The line between good and evil is sometimes unclear, and as a result, people often think that they are doing the right thing when it is actually the wrong action, and vice versa.
Ted Bailey of the University of Miskolc, interpreted Shirley Jackson’s, “The Lottery” in his work "Sacred Violence in Shirley Jackson's ‘The Lottery’". In this work, Bailey reasons that “The Lottery” is a story which encompasses violence through tradition, an agricultural fertility ritual, and scapegoating. In the first instance, Bailey places emphasis on tradition in “The Lottery”. For example, one of the main characters, Old Man Warner stands for the voice of an older generation who does not believe in new and innovative traditions. The placing of stones in Little Davy’s hand so that he also has to play a part in the lottery can be seen as a component of prolonging the lottery for future generations. Not only are the young taught the rules
Buddha once stated, “it is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.” In “The Possibility of Evil,” Miss Strangeworth, a seemingly innocent elderly woman, sends cruel letters in order to rid her town of evil. When other townspeople discover her as the author of the letters, they destroy her prized roses. Shirley Jackson’s “The Possibility of Evil” not only reveals the deceitfulness of people, but also emphasizes the underlying evil of all humans and shows that evil remains insurmountable until fully accepted.
In this comparison essay I have used of the short stories, written by two 2 very well known authors. Shirley Jackson writer of “The Lottery”, and Edgar Allan Poe writer of “The tell tale heart”. Both stories deals with 2 horrifying murder. Why would any human want to kill another human being for ridiculous reason? Reasons that will shock anyone in today's society. I will show similarities and differences in the title of the stories, POV/ narrator, and the setting in which the killing takes place and plots of the story.
Choice and free will are necessary to maintain humanity, both individually and communally; without them, man is no longer human but a “clockwork orange”, a mechanical toy, as demonstrated in Anthony Burgess’ novel, “A Clockwork Orange”. The choice between good and evil is a decision every man must make throughout his life in order to guide his actions and control his future. Forcing someone to be good is not as important as the act of someone choosing to be good. This element of choice, no matter what the outcome, displays man’s power as an individual.
The conflict between good and evil is universal to the human condition. It is a theme common to both history and literature. In 1866 Joseph Roux wrote, “Evil often triumphs, but never conquers”. In “Mercy Among the Children” by David Richards, the Henderson family suffers many injustices, and is exposed to “evil” in many forms. Roux’s statement can be analyzed through the examination of the characters, including the Henderson’s themselves and those who most deeply affect them.