...people’s hands while at the same time getting pushed and shoved by crazy amounts of people on the same hunt. We call a tradition; a belief or behavior passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance that has origin from the past. Black Friday is the one tradition that I thought was the worst until reading “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson. Jackson uses irony to suggest an underlying evil, hypocrisy, and weakness of human kind. Jackson shows many important lessons about human nature in this short story including barbaric traditions in a supposedly civilized village, the community’s hypocrisy, and how violence and cruelty take place. "The Lottery" tells the story of an annual tradition in a small village, where the people are close and tradition is paramount. The Lottery is a yearly event in which one person in the town is randomly chosen, by a drawing, to be violently stoned by friends and family. The villagers don’t really know much about the lottery’s origin but try to preserve the tradition nevertheless; they believed that someone had to be sacrificed to insure a good crop. "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon," said Old Man Warner. The villagers allow an outdated tradition to run...
Words: 1082 - Pages: 5
...record. Désirée’s Baby by Kate Chopin and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson provide evidence for the explicit and implicit viewpoints of looking beneath the surface of a person, a culture, or a society. The question explicitly states it is important to look at what happens beneath the surface of a person. This point can be supported by Chopin’s story in Desiree’s Baby Armand’s love was described “Monsieur Valmondé grew practical and wanted things well considered that is, the girls obscure origin. Armand looked into her...
Words: 580 - Pages: 3
... Comparison and Contrast between “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Lottery” “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the two writers uses symbolism, characterization, and conflict to illustrate the hidden dark side of mankind in normal people. The characters in the stories struggle with the conflict between good and evil. To stress the theme of both stories, symbols are applied as a tool for the development of the story. Hawthorne applies objects and names to intensify the theme and Jackson uses names to bring out his theme. Young Goodman Brown sees the conflict with evil and society. The protagonists of this story deals with Satan on a personal level. He lets the evil take over his faith and beliefs, and also realizes some important people in his life can portrait evil. As he says, “My faith is gone!” cried he, after one stupefied moment. “There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name (Hawthorne, 1835). He loses faith in the many people he once looked up to, after witnessing his wife and townspeople perform a sacrifice in the dead of night. The experience distorts his view of good in people, and leaves him feeling uneasy and abandoned. In the Lottery, they also had the conflict of good and evil in society. In an annual lottery, together, friends and family would draw a piece of paper for the black box until one of...
Words: 646 - Pages: 3
...Almost every human experiences internal battles between egotistical and benevolent thoughts. The rest of society has a hard time perceiving such conflicts until they becomes externalized. When the feelings or views come to surface, in many cases, the self-seeking, narcissistic side displays through more frequently. Often, if an individual relishes in the particular behavior, then he or she can, in some ways, become detached from a humble and moral life. Because Tessie Hutchinson in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” possesses selfish and hypocritical qualities and Mathilde Loisel in Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” exhibits a selfish and manipulative personality, they both live an uncomfortable life. To begin, Tessie Hutchinson displays an incredible...
Words: 1250 - Pages: 5
...stand there and watch something bad happening. To be a specta-tor and take a distance to the wrong thing what is happening. Just standing there as a spectator, without taking any action without doing anything and being just as responsible as the per-son/persons committing the bad thing. In the two short stories: ‘The Lottery’ and ‘The Ones Who Walks Away From Omelas’, we see spectators who doesn’t take any action, and just look away from all the bad thing happening in their town. When you compare the two stories and look and the atmosphere, characters, and the theme you will see the similarities and the difference be-tween the two short stories. Both short stories begin with a harmonious setting and atmosphere. They both begin with descrip-tion of a beautiful summer day. “The flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” - The Lottery, p. 25 l. 4-5. “Old moss-grown gardens and under avenues of trees,” - The Ones Who Walks Away From Omelas, p.35 l. 5. The setting and the atmosphere is very peacefully in both stories, and you get the impression that the life in the town in both stories are in harmony. But then the atmosphere changes in the lottery it happens when we are introduced to the black box the people from the town are all scared of what is going to happen, and whose name will be drawn from the black box. In the end all the children are excited about stoning the person who was drawn from the black box. In Omelas we first experience an atmosphere change...
Words: 1149 - Pages: 5
...Not what it appears In life everyone comes across things that are not really what they seem. “ The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson is a great example of this. As the people get ready for the yearly lottery, it's a beautiful day, kids are playing around, and people gather as the lottery organizer comes. Everything is fine and dandy… or is it? In “ The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson misleads the reader into thinking this is a normal lottery, yet she uses comparison, descriptive details, and repetition to foreshadow that the lottery is not what it seems. First of all Shirley Jackson uses comparison in the first page, fifth paragraph, “ the present box had been made with the pieces of the box that had preceded it,” one effect from this craft move, is...
Words: 527 - Pages: 3
...The world today has faced many trials and tribulations. It is quite similar to the two short stories ‘Young Goodman Brown” and “The Lottery.” In these stories, characters are faced with situations beyond their own imagination and to makes things worse is how they are tested. They will encounter people and other things that are unjust. These stories bring a lot of comparisons such as the setting of the stories, but mostly there are contrasts such as the symbolism within the stories and the meaning each author put behind their stories. In comparing the two short stories “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Lottery,” it is easily noticed that both of these stories takes place well within the community setting. Each story has the involvement of the people who lives within the town. Details in the story showcase how the communities makes the characters feel accepted one way or another to a certain extinct. Within these communities, each has their own traditions, laws, and perimeters that justify the reasoning behind what they do. In turn it kind of makes these communities have a sense of uniqueness to them and that is why individuals are pulled in and want to be part of these communities. In addition, both of these stories showcase a sense of a happy ambience and exuberance. In “The Lottery,” the author, Shirley Jackson illustrates a perfect day by stating “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with a fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely...
Words: 1037 - Pages: 5
...The Lottery vs the Destructors Thesis In Shirley Jackson’s, “The Lottery”, and Graham Greene’s “The Destructors”, the author creates a story filled with symbolism, irony, grim reality, and a ritualized tradition that masks evil, which ultimately showcases how people blindly follow tradition. Outline I. Introduction II. Setting B. Time Period III. Plot A. What messages are seen in both stories IV. Characters A. Main Characters B. Traits of Characters V. Tone of Stories VI. Conclusion Comparison and Contrast of The Lottery and The Destructors W. Goode English102 Liberty University Comparison and Contrast of The Lottery and The Destructors The Lottery and The Destructors are two remarkable representatives of the world literature. The authors of these two literary pieces are Shirley Jackson, and Graham Greene, in accordance, who hide the true meaning of their stories behind ironic depictions and comic pictures. Although The Lottery, as well as The Destructors transports the reader into a particularly different from each other fictional world, characters in these short stories equally undergo influence of their surroundings or society. Shirley Jackson and Graham Greene portrayed a clear picture as to how society might easily and sorely impacted the people that live in it. Thus, heroes of The Lottery and The Destructors remain under the influence of what has taken place around them, and their attitude towards everyday life is...
Words: 1055 - Pages: 5
...a world that is full of self-centered people that are only looking out for themselves and what benefits them. Besides that, they have no true value of other humans life as long as it is not effecting their own. Of course it is wrong, but it seems that as time continues it just gets worse and worse. Will it ever stop? Probably not and that is what’s scary. The two stories “The Lottery” and “The Most Dangerous Game” both exemplify characteristics of selfishness, violence and cruelty throughout different scenarios. Both stories are ones which could happen in today’s world, they may not be the most common situations, but they are very much possible. Comparing and contrasting these two stories, it becomes quite interesting how these are things that could very easily be real life because people like these characters do exist. The news is a reminder everyday and even in the Bible, there are so many instances where these acts are frowned upon. To not kill is even one of the Ten Commandments. Life is by far the most precious gift that we have been given from God, when he asks for so little in return. “The Lottery” and “The Most Dangerous Game” show how low and deceiving humans can truly be. They show us that people are capable of very hateful things and you never know when they may turn their back on you. That is why a good relationship with God...
Words: 1473 - Pages: 6
...contrast of the two novels. Outcome: - losing a human -losing a home Conclusion: In the conclusion, I would sum everything up. Conflict: -Tension -Brutality -outcome of both novels Compare and contrast essay’s are when you emphasize similarities and differences between two sources. These essay’s give readers clear understanding of specific information that may have not been noticeable while reading the text.(Baack) These essay’s can also reveal the theme, irony, and curtain characterizations that our found in a novel. In this case, conflict will be the focus while comparing and contrasting two novels. Reading the short stories “The Destructors” by Graham Greene and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, it was sure that the two stories had their similarities and differences involving the conflicts that took place in the novels. While both “The...
Words: 987 - Pages: 4
...Andy Cheng Thor Polokoshko English 1127 Feb 24 2016 What Does Gender Have to Do With Anything? The story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, evidently claims that men have more authority in society over women, in the sense that men are the ones working to provide for the family. In comparison to the men, the women are were distinguished as weak individuals who cannot hold on to their children. Also women are symbolized as worn out, which was represented by the clothes they wear. Additionally, men receive more respect from others such as their children in comparison to women as well as more control over their children as they listen to men without any hesitation. Throughout the short story, Jackson portrays men as the typical gender norm of being serious and assertive. This is perceived when the men are characterized as masculine individuals who only talk about work, and divert their attention on the event: The Lottery. The men in “The Lottery” have taken their role in society much more seriously than women, considering that men do all the hard work to provide for their family and take on events such as “The Lottery” with more importance. This is evident when the men are strictly talking about “planting and rain, tractors and taxes” (Jackson, 255), while the women “exchanged bits of gossip” (Jackson, 255). The different conversations between the two genders shows the readers that the men are the sole providers for the family since majority of their discussions are...
Words: 980 - Pages: 4
...Tradeoff Weights Tradeoff weights refer weights of various trade attributes that are developed by using different methods or techniques such as direct method, swing weight method, equivalence lottery method, and hierarchical weight method. Advantages and Disadvantages of Methods There are various advantages and disadvantages of using various methods like indifference trade-off method, swing weight method, direct weight method etc. for developing or calculating tradeoff weights. In the context of benefits, swing weight method is quick and easy to operate that can help the decision maker to make appropriate decision by developing effective tradeoff weights (Bekiaris & Nakanishi, 2004). In addition, all these methods are useful in a project for a decision maker in spatial decision problems. The main advantage of tradeoff analysis methods is the ability to provide different relative weights to each of the alternative or attributes. By using these methods, it is possible to derive weights from a ranking of limited alternatives and easy to achieve an agreement between decision makers. On the other hand, historical weights are still valid in decision and risk analysis that can be helpful to effectively develop tradeoff weights (Guinto, 2008). At the same time, there are some disadvantages of using these methods for developing tradeoff weights. Some of them are as follow: There is no assurance that swing weight method provides accurate eliciting weights. Some of these...
Words: 984 - Pages: 4
...McIntosh Fiction Essay The first of the two stories I chose to compare and contrast is titled “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and the second story is titled “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence. I will compare each of their themes, characters, and plot developments in which they are both similar and different. One of the strongest comparison would be that both stories deal with the subject of luck in one sense or another. The Lottery being considered a game of chance in which luck plays an important factor in being the chosen winner but Luck in the Lottery has a different twist of fate because the winner of the Lottery is actually the loser and the chosen loser in the Lottery is actually stoned to death. In the Rocking-Horse Winner, luck is portrayed vacantly by a woman who was actually unlucky when it came to ordinary circumstances in life, an example of this would be the phrase that often echoed through the home, “There must be more money” and the woman’s statement that she wasn’t lucky because she had married an unlucky husband. Further on in the story luck shifts into a different mode towards the male child of the woman in regards to his Rocking Horse being an actual winner in a Horse Race. Luck in the Lottery has a twist of fate though because the winner of the Lottery was actually the loser and the one that was chosen in the Lottery was actually stoned to death. There seems to be a contrast in both stories in regards to being unlucky and the only...
Words: 777 - Pages: 4
...characteristics which are technologically advanced by utilizing different approaches like the direct, swing weighting, and equivalence lottery methods. The word is tradeoff weights, so what is the meaning of weights. A weight can be identified as a measure of relative importance of a standard as evaluated by the individual making the decision. The assigning of weights can be explained as a system for collecting data on human inferences concerning the relative value of a set of standards (Yoe, 2013). The primary advantage of using the trade-off methodology is the ability to reduce the role of probabilities maintaining full cogency when utilized in the expected utility scale. Consequently, the evocation of utilities, to be utilized in the anticipated utility scale, becomes feasible even if probabilities are unclear or unknown (Roelofsma & Schut, 2013). Direct method is the most useful out of all the methods of weighting tradeoffs though, without sufficient information, it could prove difficult to establish a comparison by defining rating. As part of this method, direct trade-offs are compared between multiple sets and alternatives to make a comparison. In regards to ideal outcome, selection criterion can choose trade-off weight by scheming standards of every alternative. Conversely, accurate rating system is helpful as well when it comes to making comparison by the estimation of weights for every attribute based on a prearranged weighing (Drobne & Lisec, 2009). The swing weighting...
Words: 802 - Pages: 4
...In the story, the lottery seems to be an event which is practiced and celebrated in the community. A lottery is more of a game of chances where the luckiest person is rewarded. This game of lottery does not symbolize a competition but rather it is more of a death plot. Moreover, the winner of the lottery is being killed despite the fact that he has won. In any competition, the winner is supposed to be congratulated. This should be by being given gifts or other good prizes. However, in the story, the winner of the lottery is rewarded by being stoned to death. This does not seem to be a reward. It is more of a punishment than a reward. On the other hand, Mrs. Hutchinson should have also criticized the barbaric culture earlier if she was truly...
Words: 326 - Pages: 2