Preview

Comparison and Contrast of the Lottery and the Ones Who Walk Away from

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1227 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Comparison and Contrast of the Lottery and the Ones Who Walk Away from
Comparison and Contrast of The Lottery and The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

The differences between "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson and "The Ones
Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin seem relatively minor when compared to the striking similarities they contain in setting, symbols, and theme. Each of the stories begin with a description of a beautiful summer day.
"The flowers were blooming profusely and the grass was richly green"(para 1) in
"The Lottery" is quite comparable to "old moss-grown gardens and under avenues of trees"(para 1) in "...Omelas." These descriptions (along with several others) provide positive connotations and allow the reader to relax into what seems to be a comfortable setting in either story. Both stories also contain a gathering of townspeople. In "...Omelas there is music, dance, and special attire incorporated in the gathering, whereas in "The Lottery," the women show up "wearing faded house dresses and sweaters." Although Le Guin's environment seems more festive, all the folks in both stories are coming together for what seems to be enjoyable, even celebratory occasions. However, I believe the major similarity lies in the fact that these many pleasant details create a facade within each story. The reader is then left ill-prepared when the shocking, brutally violent, ritualistic traditions are exposed. Children are an important focus in both stories. Jackson makes it easy for us to imagine their "boisterous play"(para 2), and Le Guin writes "their high calls rising like swallows' crossing flights over the music and the singing"(para1). I see these children being used to symbolize perceived states of happiness in both stories. I also believe they are vital necessities in each story because they are taught and expected to carry traditions into the future.
For instance, in "The Lottery," "someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles"(para 76), he is then able to participate in the stoning of his own

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    The word lottery and winner usually are associated with gain and fun, leading to a positive outcome and a happy ending. However, the authors of these two stories have given us quite the opposite of the ending of these stories, their themes are contrasting, with one of the story’s theme being a quest for love and the other theme is the lack of…

    • 1610 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    1.The dark ending was not a typically lottery but throughout the story methods of foreshadowing was used by the author, Shirley Jackson. Characters throughout the story fear the lottery nervously but the dark suspicions are confirmed when “Tessie Hutchinson shouted to Mr. Summers. "You didn't give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair!"”(Jackson 5). Tessie instead of being excited for winning the lottery is extremely against winning which confirms that the lottery is nothing to be excited about. Jackson begins the story picturing the town as a the children were playing around as if nothing horrible was about to happen.…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Most Dangerous Game, by Richard Connell and The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson portray the common theme that people remain indifferent to cruelty until they are the recipients of it. Both stories show that when the darker side of human nature centers on itself, evil prevails showing how man is innately evil and that convictions and morals can be compromised by circumstance. Both authors show that through both societal standards and learned behavior, many injustices and cruelties can be accepted as normal behavior.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Harrison Bergeron and The Lottery both have a sort of calm tone throughout the stories. The Lottery starts off with a warm, welcoming tone, then evolves to a more detached The serious tone of the stories lead you away from thinking that the two societies are anything but normal. While each story ends jarringly the tones are oddly deadpan; both of the stories end with the characters brushing off the death of a loved one. A cold, chilling, or creepy tone would have taken away from the surprise ending.…

    • 132 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    These two stories contain many similarities. The characters and connections are evidently alike; however, the stories each contain their own message and styles making them…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Through her ability to display the grim reality of a small idealized town, Shirley Jackson unmasks the evil of tradition in “The Lottery.” She repeats that mindless rituals are unacceptable practices. Jackson begins her writing with, “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” (715). This first sentence gives us clues that there is not an extreme amount of emotion; it hints that the style reflects the attitudes of the villagers. The townspeople picture the lottery as normal and have no more emotion towards it than they do the flowers or the warm sunny day. The children begin collecting rocks as they are playing, and the adults…

    • 201 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What themes and techniques link the two texts? Refer to the opening scenes of both. (50/50)…

    • 1259 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Omelas Vs Lottery

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages

    To begin comparing the two short essays, “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson in 1948 and “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” written by Ursela Le Guinn in 1973, was exactly like taking today’s communities and aspects of life in 2015, and realizing there are no differences between all three decades of time.…

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Authors use many different tools to portray and create some fictional world inside the readers mind such as plot, point of view, characterization, symbolism, etc... “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Lottery” are two very melancholy stories each in their own way. Edgar Allen Poe and Shirley Jackson both use excellent techniques to create the peculiar atmosphere and mood of their stories.…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The man in the water makes what would normally be seen as a normal disaster, if such a thing is…

    • 340 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Stolen Party Thesis

    • 1390 Words
    • 6 Pages

    2. The characters of both the stories had gone through certain experiences which they had encountered or undergone in the course of time.…

    • 1390 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Perspective causes people to see things from a new light. In The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, perspective hides the reality of the brutal murder that the town commits annually. Mr. Summers, the man who runs the lottery, is blinded by the thought that his ancestors did the lottery too. She projects how the people of the town don’t care about what the lottery is doing to them. The refusal of the townspeople to abandon tradition and question the lottery ritual suggests the negative consequences of blindly following tradition due to perspective.…

    • 232 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The story begins, “clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day” (Jackson 1). The author sets the bright, joyful mood for the lottery, an annual tradition held in the village. “The children assembled first,” (1) gathering to play together. Jackson describes the children “selecting the smoothest and roundest stones” (1) for what the reader might think could be any children’s game. The excited nature of the children encourages the reader to read with ease and happiness, although, further on in the story, the author completely changes the perspective of the reader. When the reader is introduced to the “prize” of the lottery, the reason the children were collecting…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Ethics of Lottery

    • 2165 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The following is an ethical criticism of lottery advertising. It will be argued that such campaigns often promote with misleading information, they epitomize government hypocrisy with respect to the ‘purpose’ of lottery, and lastly, they internationally target the poor and vulnerable community to stimulate volume sales. The concept of lottery advertising will also be applied to an ethical framework to support what is argued.…

    • 2165 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The setting of a story is monumental when developing a clear image for the audience. First, both stories take place in a past time setting. Furthermore, neither setting of either story takes place in modern ages. In the story “The Lottery” it discusses “a village, where there were only three hundred people”. In past rural areas within the country, there were many villages in which not many people resided in. Furthermore, everyone knew everybody. In contrast, cities and metropolitan areas have grown significantly making it candidly apparent to identify the difference between a rural, past tense setting and a booming modern, fast paced setting. In “The Lottery” the setting was set in an astonishing manner that encouraged readers to continue reading the story. “The morning of June 27th, clear and sunny, with fresh warmth of a…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays