Contrast and Comparison between, the Lottery and the Rocking-Horse Winner
ENGL 102-B38

“The Lottery” and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” are both fictional short stories that share similarities about family traditions and customs. We are shown how both families have been living their lives the same way knowing that their traditional way of living brings nothing positive to their lives. But no one in either story will stand up for change in order to improve the lives of their families.

In “The Rocking-Horse Winner” we are show how a family that has become custom to living life above and beyond their means. The story tells of a woman who started with great advantages, no luck, but still felt superior to everyone around her. They never had enough money to support the life styles they had misrepresented and had to maintain. The story leaves the reader in suspense with the main character named Paul who rides his rocking horse speaking as well as speaking to the rocking horse. In “The Lottery” the reader can see that tradition is taking place, it tells of the black box, and the town folk’s yearly meeting at the town square. While the story does not show the individual life style of a family, it does communicate the customs of the entire town. The actions of the town people and the actions of one particular woman named Tessie Hutchinson leaves the reader wondering what the lottery actually is.

Paul from “The Rocking-Horse Winner” is shown as a strange boy that spoke to his rocking horse and neither his mother nor his sisters would disturb him. There are several examples that display Paul ridding his rocking horse and no one dare disturb him. “When the two little girls were playing dolls in the nursery, he would sit on his big rocking-horse, charging madly into space, with a frenzy that made the little girls peer at him uneasily (Page 237)”. Paul wanted to help his family financially and he used his rocking horse in order to pick winning horses at the race track. Paul would ride his rocking horse regardless if he was too big for it, not knowing the damage it was causing Paul rode his rocking horse until he died. However in “The Lottery” the town folk or the main characters are not portrayed as strange. Instead the people from this particular town are revealed as normal town folks taking place in a year traditional ceremony. The children are first shown and are acting like regular kids, running around chasing each other and strangely enough making piles of rocks. The adults of the town are also described as normal town folk heading to a yearly tradition and custom known as the lottery. The lottery was compared to other functions the town held for examples square dances, teenage clubs and also the Halloween programs. While some of the town’s people spoke about other towns changing tradition involving the lottery, most people from the town did not want change and accepted the lottery as tradition.

Although the plots of both stories involving tradition and their way of life, seem to resemble themselves, there are contrast between the characters. In the “Rocking-Horse Winner”, Paul is shown in the end as thoughtful and caring. Paul was show to the reader as a thoughtful and caring son, who’s only intention was to help his mother and his family’s financial hard ship. Paul was extremely concerned about being able to find luck and provide luck for his mother, who was shown to be very unlucky at the beginning of the story. The town folk in “The Lottery” are shown as selfish once the lottery begins. Although the town folk are not willing to change traditions and customs involving the lottery, they are hesitant to win the lottery. No one in the town is described as excited to be part of the lottery or for that matter win the lottery, they were just following tradition. At the end of the story the winner of the lottery is revealed and the town folk begin to stone the winner as the story ends.

In “The Lottery” and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” the writer’s share a plot involving tradition and a way of life. In “The Lottery” the town folk are shown as following tradition knowing it would involve the death of an innocent person. Some of the town folk realized the other towns around them have already given up the tradition of the lottery. But for them tradition was sacred and the lottery had run its course until the following year. While in “The Rocking-Horse Winner” Paul was just trying to help his mother continue to have her way of living, he knew having more money would allow for this to happen. Paul’s mother lived above her means, and even after Paul had given her five thousand pounds it wasn’t enough. In the end Paul died trying to help his mother live as traditional as she had all his life. In conclusion both stories involved tradition, a way of life and in the end it all ended with the death of a character.

References:
D.H. Lawrence. “The Rocking-Horse Winner”. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia.
7th Compact Ed. New York. Pearson, 2013.234-245. Print.