“The lottery”

ENGL 202: Literature and Composition

Spring 2013
Turbian Style

Thesis: Death is the main theme of both short stories and both authors portrayed this dark and dreary idea as a game the characters are playing.

Outline: “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson vs. “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell I. Introduction: a. Traditional acts and survival instincts is the key to win or lose the game of death b. Will one allow society or your own reasoning decided if one survives the game of death c. The battle of death is the game that no one knows the result of until the end II. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson a. Jackson portrayed death as a fun family oriented game b. All people of the village, children, men and women gather on a beautiful summer day to stone one innocent person as a tradition c. The bystander effect plays a role in the death of the villagers d. The villager loses the battle of death because society blindly practices traditions, good and bad, unquestionably III. “The Most Dangerous Game” a. In “The Most Dangerous Game” Connell portrayed death as a Hunter’s game. b. The General is the hunter and Rainsford is the Prey. Man vs. Man c. The game of death is put to the test for three days d. Man wins he battle against death using animal instinct and human reasoning IV. Conclusion e. “In the Lottery” the villager lost her battle of death due to others but in “In The Most Dangerous Game” the hunter won his battle of death based on his own survival skills f. The dark and dreary game of death is a battle that one has to choose to win or lose g. Death by the hand of others can cease

Death is the main theme of the short stories. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the characters were in a battle against death that was concluded from the luck of a draw. In “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell the main character was in a battle against death that was known as a hunter’s game. In both stories, the innocent characters were fighting death at the hands of someone who found the idea of killing another human being to be a game. In “The Lottery” the game of death consumed an innocent life solely because a few individuals founded a tradition; and in “The Most Dangerous Game” the game of death consumed an innocent life solely because one person thought it was merely entertaining. Both authors portrayed the antagonist as friendly, warm and welcoming. In the Lottery, the antagonists were the families whom participated in the drawing of a name that lead to the stoning of another family member (which may or may not be their own family member). In “The Most Dangerous Game” the antagonist was a well-off general who opened his luxurious home to guests who have gone astray from their original destination. Death is the main theme of both short stories and both authors portrayed this dark and dreary idea as a game the characters are playing. In “The Lottery”, Jackson portrayed death as a fun family oriented game. Jackson included children, family, friends and most importantly the tradition of playing “the lottery” to portray to the audience the commonality of the “game”. This game, known as “The Lottery” was an event that each family member of a small village participated in every year during the summer time. The families gathered together in the square around mid-morning getting prepared for the game by the gathering of stones, while they talked, laughed and shared gossip. Jackson made it clear that no one knew the origin of the story however the villagers longed to keep this unknown tradition alive. Jackson themes relates to the purpose of the story by the exploitation of the persecution of innocent people that society allows to go on. In “The Lottery”, society allowed for an innocent person to die every year in the honor of a tradition. A tradition that may have been broken if someone would of taken a stand. Instead, the villagers blindly allowed for this tradition to continue and consume the lives of an innocent person year after year. The by-standers effect, which refers to individuals who don’t offer any assistance to the victim because there are other bystanders, is very evident in this short story. The blameless person whom is selected to die on the day of the lottery is the person who drew the white paper out of the black box that was marked with a dot. This person is the victim of the random persecution that could be put to a halt if one of the by standers, or in this case, the villagers would stand up and put an end to this cruel and brutal tradition that claimed the lives of many people of the small village. The people of the village morals and ethics are put to the test and like the weak minded individuals they are, the game continues and more people die.
In “The Most Dangerous Game” Connell portrayed death as a Hunter’s game. In this short story, General Zaroff challenged Pitting Rainsford, a big game hunter, to a gaming of hunting. General Zaroff is the hunter and Pitting Rainsford is the prey. If the General finds Rainsford by the end third day he would sentence him to death, however if the General does not find Rainsford by the end of the third day he would be sentence to death. The General puts Rainsford to the ultimate test, he tested his survival skills and it would determine if Rainsford used reasoning or instincts or both to survive. Connell used reasoning versus instinct as the role of the hunter and prey to suggest that the two are not as different from each other as many have thought.
Many have thought that humans are allowed to use their reasoning skills as a method of survival versus instincts. This idea was based on the fact that humans are intellectually higher than animals. Humans are allowed to use reasoning skills whereas animals use beastly instincts. Reasoning skills allow one to think and make rationally decisions whereas instincts allow one to satisfy personal needs only. Because of this humans are allowed to function in society. This allows for humans to think and rationalize their decisions prior to them being made. However, Connell added a twist to this concept when he allowed the General to be more animal like, he killed for enjoyment- satisfaction of personal need; and he allowed Rainsford to be more human like, he used his reasoning and rational thinking to survive. Connell analyzed emotions and responses when he portrayed Rainsford as a man whom fear for his life, but did not allow that to stop him from making rationally decisions which ultimately kept him alive. This proves that man act on instinct and use reasoning to survive.
In conclusion, “The Lottery” and “The Most Dangerous Game” themes are based on death. Death is the ultimate sentence of the characters in the stories. Death comes by surprise, which is like the results of any game that is being played. One does not know the outcome; one has to play to the end to find out who lost the game of death. However the message that is relayed by the authors is slightly different. In “The Lottery Game” by Shirley Jackson society allowed for many innocent people to die because of a tradition that no one knew the origin of. Society blindly agreed with the tradition that was passed down from generation to generation and claimed the lives of the innocent. This relays the message that moral and ethics are questionable for everyone. Is there anyone who would take a stand for what is right? In “The Most Dangerous game” by Richard Connell, human’s reasoning versus animal instinct was put to the ultimate test. Does the human race survive only on reasoning only? Or did animal instinct play a role? In fact, according to Connell, humans are allowed to function in society and control their emotions and responses because of their reasoning skills, but it is their instincts that allow them to act quickly and their reasoning skills that allow them to survive.
Works Cited “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson: Literature by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia 2005
“The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell provided by Dr. Yaw Adu-Gyamfi