“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “First They Came” by Martin Niemoller share a similar theme that relates to some world problems.. “The Lottery” is a short story about a small town where a lottery is held, and wining is technically losing. “First They Came” is a short poem where the author is trapped in a concentration camp where he is unable to stand up for a group and therefore no one will stand up for him, he is regretful of this decision. Both stories share the concept of “Standing up for what’s right may not always be the easiest path.” Although they share the same message, they convey it in different ways. It can be compared and contrasted but in the end, they show the same central idea.
In general, as the story of “The Lottery” develops, you will see that wining is not a good thing, and this conveys the idea of the theme, “Standing up for what’s right may not always be the easiest path,” differently than “Then They Came.” In the story, the main character, Tessie, tries to stand up for herself, but ended up getting herself killed. This shows that even when you’re standing up for what is fair, they can’t be supported in a just way. To add on, the whole town disagreed and turned on
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In both stories there is no technical “win.” As both main characters either stand up or not stand up, both of them ending up having a loss of a life, rather than a gain. Throughout the stories, no one supports each other during the main events or executions. This just shows even if you were to stand up, no one would have your back as no one would support their peers. Besides the current theme, justice and indifference is also shown in both stories. As the narrators both chose to stand out, both didn’t gain anything from it and shows once more “Standing up for what’s right may not always be the easiest
They both include someone sticking with majority even if they believe it is wrong because their peers are doing the same. During “First They Came,” Martin Niemoller stood with the Nazis while other groups were being killed, then he was too late when he realized it was wrong and no one was left to stand up for him when he was in concentration camps. Likewise, “The Lottery” features the villagers conducting an outdated lottery very little people agree with, especially when someone
The stories, “The Things they Carried” by Tim O’Brien and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, have some similar characteristics and others are different. Keeping a tradition, however, in “The Things they Carried” the main character actually wakes up and changes how he is and becomes more realistic. Unlike “The lottery” where everyone is participating in a murder but not noticing what they are actually doing; to them it is a tradition. The settings are quite the opposite in these stories and also how the characters act. The theme of these stories are the same, however there are other elements that are different in these stories, such as their settings and characters.
Compare and Contrast! Well, you use it on a daily right? The stories “The Lottery” and “The Landlady” are two stories that you can compare and contrast. Some examples of comparisons are that both of the stories use violence, and that they both end with a plot twist no one was expecting. One example of a contrast in both of these stories is that they use their imagery differently. How are these stories alike and how are they different?
The Theme Comparisons between The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and “The Ones Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula K .
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman are two very meaningful and fascinating stories. These stories share similarities in symbols and themes but they do not share the same plot which makes it different from one another. Furthermore, “The lottery” was held in New England village where 300 people were living in that village. This event took place every once a year. Besides, the story begins where on one beautiful morning, everyone in that village gathered to celebrate the lottery. The surroundings were such that children were gathering stones while adults were chatting with each other. It was compulsory for every head of family or house to draw a slip of paper out of the box. In addition to that, the family that draws the slip in the black do will have to re draw in order to see who will win the lottery. Therefore, the winner of the lottery will be stoned to death. This is very shocking because in today’s lottery events, the winner will be awarded cash.
Typically, when someone thinks of a lottery they think of something positive and exciting but contrary to this idea in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, the connotation has an entirely different meaning. As the story begins, readers lean towards the belief that the town in which Jackson depicts is filled with happiness and joy. “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (Jackson 247) We soon realize that this notion is far from the truth. As the townspeople gather in the square for the annual lottery, which sole purpose is to stone someone to death by randomly pulling a paper out of a black box with a black dot on it, it is learned
Written by Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery” is a short story about a town that hosts an annual lottery that decides which person is stoned by the rest of the town. Jackson slowly and subtly builds the suspense throughout the story, only resolving the mystery surrounding the lottery at the very last moment, as the townspeople surround Tessie with their stones. The symbolism utilized helps demonstrate the overall significance of the story, such as the lottery itself. The lottery shows the way people desperately cling to old traditions, regardless of how damaging they may be. In addition, it can show how callous many will act while staring at a gruesome situation, until they become the victims.
Though there are some noticeable differences between Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Ursula Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”, however the similarities in the two stories are clear. The themes of both short stories are centered on tradition and the sacrifice of one individual for the good all. In the “The Lottery” someone is stoned to death in order for the village to be prosper. While in the “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” the cities happiness solely depends on the suffering of a child whom has done nothing wrong. The point that both authors are trying to convey to the audience is; at what point do we as a society begin to question a way of doing things, question a tradition that has no real truth or reason behind
"The Lottery" is a short story that shows just how disturbing the human mind can be at times. As the story proceeds it builds the reader up till the end where what you thought was going to happen did not turn out that way. But is that not how our lives are portrayed? Do we not build ourselves up to society believing what they say and do until the matter is put into our hands? Mrs. Hutchinson was a follower of society just like we are. Everyday was the same routine and every year she played the lottery just like all of the other town people. But this year would be a very different year for Mrs. Hutchinson because her chance at the lottery was about to happen. Now as a reader in this day, we would think of the lottery to be a great prize to receive but not during the days of these town people.
The theme in “The Lottery” is violence and cruelty. Violence and cruelty is a major theme because there is a lot of violence and cruelty in the world. The Lottery has been read as addressing such issues as the public's fascination with salacious and scandalizing journalism, McCarthyism, and the complicity of the general public in the victimization of minority groups, epitomized by the Holocaust of World War II. The Holocaust was very cruel and violent cause other people didn’t like certain people so they just kill them and their children and still now we have violence and cruelty with wars and people that hate each other.
In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the theme of the story is dramatically illustrated by Jackson’s unique tone. Once a year the villagers gather together in the central square for the lottery. The villagers await the arrival of Mr. Summers and the black box. Within the black box are folded slips of paper, one piece having a black dot on it. All the villagers then draw a piece of paper out of the box. Whoever gets the paper with the black dot wins. Tessie Hutchinson wins the lottery! Everyone then closes in on her and stones her to death. Tessie Hutchinson believes it is not fair because she was picked. The villagers do not know why the lottery continues to exist. All they know is that it is a tradition they are not willing to abandon. In “The Lottery,” Jackson portrays three main themes including tradition, treason, and violence.
Shirley Jackson describes the characters in “The Lottery” in a way that readers can relate to each of them in some way, yet she makes one character stand out from the start of the story. Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson arrives late, having “clean forgot what day it was” (411). While the town does not make a fuss over Tessie’s tardiness, several people make remarks, “in voices loud enough to be heard across the crowd” (411). Jackson makes the choice to have Tessie stand out from the crowd initially. This choice first shows Tessie’s motivation. Tessie was so
In the stories of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins, both authors deliver the dangers of blindly following tradition that can lead to death, fear and no advancement in society. In “The Lottery” their tradition is to kill a person that is randomly chosen by using a lottery. To compare, in “The Hunger Games” children are also picked out of a lottery from each district and if they are chosen, they need to fight against each other to death. Both stories share a tradition of cruel and murderous behavior but they have a slight difference in tradition.
The plot as a whole in “The Lottery” is filled with ironic twists. The whole idea of a lottery is to win something, and the reader is led to believe that the winner will receive some prize, when in actuality they will be stoned to death by the rest of the villagers. The villagers act very nonchalant upon arriving at the lottery; which makes it seem as if it is just another uneventful day in a small town. Considering the seriousness of the consequences of the lottery, the villagers do not make a big deal about it. Under the same note it is ironic that many of the original traditions of the lottery, such as the recital and the salute, had long been forgotten. All that the villagers seemed to remember was the ruthless killing of a random person. It also seems strange that they let the equipment for the lottery, the black box, get into such a poor condition.
The author of “The Lottery” wrote this story “to shock the story’s readers with a graphic demonstration of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives” (Jackson 211). This story reflects human behavior in society to show how although rules, laws or traditions do not make sense, people follow them. Throughout the story the three main symbols of how people blindly follow senseless traditions were the lottery itself, the color black, and the hesitation that people had towards the prize.