Aristotle’s Poetics Reflected In “The Lottery” And The Bourne Identity

“The Lottery” reflects Aristotle’s Poetics in many ways, such as, the arrangement of incidents. In establishing the plot, Jackson lays out the tragedy clearly by first having the most eager group of the community, the children, gathering then followed by the other townsfolk. One action is as the children arrive they began to pile stones that we later discover to be most crucial in the ending action, the stoning of Tessie. Following are incidents setting the stage for the drawing itself as the box is placed on the stool and Mr. Graves assumes his usual spot and the families continue to gather.

Aristotle describes the plot as a painting with beautiful colors, laid on confusedly. The readers are brought into “The Lottery” with some confusion. The scene opens pleasantly on the morning of June 27th a clear and sunny day with children playing in the square. Jackson cleverly lures the readers into a relaxed state before shocking them in the end with a stoning assumingly to death.

As the chalk outline of the portrait is shown by Tessie’s character when she first arrives good-naturedly with good odds of surviving the day. When Bill draws the slip of paper with the black dot that seals one of her family members fate Tessie quickly revels her moral purpose as an unsavory character by her action of trying to include as many family members as possible on the second drawing to increase her chances of survival.

The Bourne Identity also reflects Aristotle’s Poetics in many ways. The incidents that Bourne survives through concurrently build both his character and the plot. The opening scene, in which the fishermen find Bourne, begins the painting by introducing intrigue to the palette. A young man found floating, shot in the back and without knowledge of his identity. He makes his way to a bank which holds various identities and he chooses to take all the contents of the safe deposit box less the gun. It’s as if Bourne is choosing a better quality of life without even knowing what his life was before. The tragedy of Bourne’s actions shows that he is attempting a nobler way.

Bourne’s character builds from the beginning through to the end. It’s a great reversal of character. A once world assassin who finds himself unable to perform because children surround his target has a breakthrough from the brainwash. He hesitates and is shot because of it. Through actions to discover who he is and then separate himself from Treadstone he ultimately finds the better quality of life with Marie in the bike shop at the end of the story.

References
Aristotle. (350 BC). Poetics. (S. H. Butcher, Trans.) Retrieved from http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/Aristotle/Poetics-Body.html
Jackson, S. (n.d.). Library Shirley Jackson. Retrieved from American Literature: http://www.americanliterature.com/Jackson/SS/TheLottery.html
Liman, D. (Director). (2002). The Bourne Identity [Motion Picture].