Elyse Croyts
Mrs. Lund
English 102
15 November 2015

Comparing and Contrasting “the Most Dangerous Game” and “the Lottery”.

We live in a world of selfishness. A world where people cheat on one another. The world presents as self-centered, self-absorbed and immoral culture where no one values human life or anything except themselves. In The Most Dangerous Game and The Lottery, the author’s show how we as humans devalue the lives of others, how one person can turn on another in a blink of an eye and the evident differences of their settings reveals the universal nature of the darkness of mankind.
These two stories are similar in that fact that these characters seem not to value the lives of others. In the Lottery, the townspeople were so focused on themselves. As a result, they were not able to think critically about their choices. "There's Don and Eva," Mrs. Hutchinson yelled. "Make them take their chance” (Jackson). This section is showing how Tess Hutchison is willing to sacrifice members of her family for her to avoid the lottery. As the readers, we learn that the lottery is a tradition in the town and how the community values tradition over the lives of their neighbors. While in the Most Dangerous Game, we learn about a man named General Zaroff, who has created a game where he hunts humans because he felt unchallenged hunting animal prey. He sees humans as animals instead of his peers.
The devaluation of human life can occur readily when our needs are placed ahead of others. In the Lottery, the townspeople seem to have a conviction that because a member drew from the lottery they have the right to murder that member of their community. Tess states, “It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her”(Jackson). This section shows how Tess was not comfortable with the fact that the lottery became personal, and she would have been fine if she was one of the attackers instead of the victim. This situation also shows how the community’s tradition went against her in a blink of an eye. In the Most Dangerous Game, General Zaroff appears to be a confident man and seems to do no wrong until he says something that causes all his dignity to seem pointless. General Zaroff says “I hunt the scum of the earth-sailors from tramp ships-lascars, blacks, Chinese, whites, mongrels..”(Connell).After this statement, Rainsford realizes that Zaroff is planning on killing humans.

Even though these stories are similar in their evil characters, they are also different in some ways. One of the ways these fictional tales are different are the settings. The author of the Lottery portrays a realistic village with everyday people dwelling in it. The lottery takes place on a mid-summers day on June 27th in a small town square. Summer time was chosen because it’s a time of the year when life’s boundaries are few and life seems more carefree. Critics have stated that in summer sun rising to its highest point around noon was a popular time of pre- historic ceremonies. They say that the lottery relates to these historic times. The townspeople seem to be affected by the setting because they all appear to have an attitude of not caring about others. While Cornell, author of the Most Dangerous Game, creates a sad island that shows only gloom towards the main character. Cornell sets the scene on a Caribbean island known as Ship-Trap. Ship-Trap Island is full of non-passible trees surrounded by a rocky beach shore. The setting creates a sense that this island is not a place where ever after’s occur. Zaroff seems to be influenced by the setting of the story by deciding to kill his only companion. While Rainsford is affected by the setting because he is trapped on an island and is eventually left with killing general Zaroff. If these settings of these stories were different the characters would not have been as malicious towards one another. It would have changed the whole aspects of the stories.
In The Most Dangerous Game and The Lottery, the author displays the wickedness between the characters and the unique differences in their settings. Our world is full of people who gossip, lie and cheat against one another. Devaluing lives of others can become easily permissible when surrounded by a selfish world. This does not change the fact that everyone deserves respect. This respect and love for others can be expressed through Christ’s love for his children. As, Christians our calling is to treat individuals with Gods love.

Works Cited
Connell, Richard “The Most Dangerous Game.” Filiquarian Publishing, 1997. Macromedia flashplayer. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
Jackson, Shirley “The Lottery.” N.p, 1948. Middlebury education. Web. 15 Nov. 2015