The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Essay

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“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, …show more content…
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
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