What Are The Similarities Between The Lottery And The Story Of An Hour

Superior Essays
Bad news can hit someone like a ton of bricks, or make someone feel so numb. It can send shivers down your spine and put tears in your eyes. Bad news can flip your world upside down, and those who surround you when you are told, or those you seek after hearing of the bad news are often people whom you love and trust. Those people you look to after receiving bad news are the people who you are looking to find some sort of comfort in. Just like in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin setting, symbolism, and dialogue are all important factors used by the narrator in order to correctly portray each character and the setting. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson as well as “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin …show more content…
Mallard is not well and has a heart condition. (Chopin 2015) After the reader is hit with that bullet of bad news we then learn that Mrs. Mallard’s husband was on the list of men killed in the railroad disaster. We are told that her sister, Josephine would be the one to tell her “in broken sentences” and “Veiled hints” because of Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition. When Mrs. Mallard receives the news that her husband has passed instead of being numb to the news she immediately starts sobbing and runs to her room. Mrs. Mallard can see the “tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life.” And “the delicious breath of rain was in the air” (Chopin 205) those two quotes seem to symbolize a new beginning for Mrs. Mallard, foreshadowing her reaction of being relived that he husband is dead. She whispered, “Free, Free, Free!!” under her breath (Chopin 206) resembling her new freedom of being a widow. Just like in “The Lottery” when Mrs. Hutchinson came late to the lottery and was nonchalant, acting as though she didn’t have a care in the world, she even told Mr. Summers, the organizer of the lottery, “Wouldn’t have me leave m’dishes in the sink, now, would you, Joe?” (Jackson 418) as though her being late to the lottery was some sort of joke, she didn’t care to be there or even show any respect. Once she drew the unlucky paper with the black smudge, symbolizing that she was the one to be stoned to death, her attitude sure did change. Mrs. Hutchinson was screaming, “This isn’t fair!” She went from a carefree attitude and arriving to the lottery late to screaming the lottery wasn’t fair. Her lack of respect and dignity for the traditional event perhaps had caused her win the lottery. Even Mrs. Hutchinson’s husband showed to whole crowd the slip of paper with the black mark indicating Mrs. Hutchinson had won the lottery. (Jackson

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Freedom is the option of have the right to make your own choices. Having such freedom to be able to choose on our own is a right that many do not have because of situational circumstances. In the short story “A Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin the reader sees a woman morns for her husband’s death. In the poem “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell a nameless man ask a nameless women to be with him even though a woman cannot be with a man before she was married during that time period. A play Oedipus the King by Sophocles explains how a Greek King must choose between facing his faith and his choice of free will.…

    • 1193 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the short story by author Kate Chopin, “the Story of an Hour”, the main character shows her true feelings about her marriage after a false report about her husband’s death. Many readers of the audience point that Mrs. Mallard died from the joy of her husband’s arrival but an important aspect that is often overlooked is the ironic juxtaposition set up by the author to truly show her feelings. Mrs. Mallard was not in shock of joy but she was in shock of utter disappointment that ultimately lead to her death. Through the discrete details of their marriage, the author writes the message of marriage and love during this era in the American society. Through the actions of the main character, it is clear that her cause of death was because of…

    • 1345 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is discovered that the Hutchinson family is the one who draws the paper, following this, every member in the family has to draw once again, and this time the mother, Tessie is the one who draws the paper with the marking. Immediately after she begins to beg for a redrawing claiming that it was done unfairly, the reader still doesn’t know what exactly the lottery is, but judging by the reaction of Tessie it is safe to say that this is not something to be joyous about. After the lottery has ended the villagers all take up stones and start to stone the unlucky victim of the lottery ceremony. Throughout her short story The Lottery, Shirley Jackson uses different allegories to display how religions can brainwash people. She llustrates how often people overlook their morals and awful or illogical deeds because of their ritualistic habits and within the story she uses historical context to do portray this…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Story Of An Hour Theme

    • 2262 Words
    • 9 Pages

    How we see the theme, Life and Death and Innocence and Experience Some life come or leave this world in everyday. But have we ever think of life and death? I did not think of it until I read two pieces of story, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “Death Knock” by Woody Allen. This two pieces gives me some ideas about life and death, which helps me have a deeply reflection on it.…

    • 2262 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” has a sad beginning, an understandable middle, but an odd ending. I was upset for Mrs. Mallard in the beginning when she learned of her husband’s death. At first, I just assumed that when Mrs. Mallard “wept at once,” she was just acting like a normal distraught wife. She had heard that her husband had died, and I thought her being upset was acceptable. I did not think anything about it until you get further along in the story.…

    • 216 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the nineteenth century, the time in which Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” takes place, women are considered inferior to men. Mrs. Louise Mallard, the protagonist, lives in a generation where women are expected to live in the shadows of their husbands. And while Mr. Brentley Mallard is alive, Mrs. Mallard fulfills her designated role in society. However, the supposed death of her husband changes her and makes Mrs. Mallard reflect on her true role in the world. Louise Mallard, in wake of her husband’s death, begins to imagine a life where she is no longer constrained by her husband- a life where she is free from the social restrictions society places on nineteenth century women.…

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chopin uses irony throughout this story. Mrs. Mallard’s sister becomes worried when Mrs. Mallard goes up into the room to grieve. This is ironic because Mrs. Mallard’s sister believes she is truly grieving and tells her, “you will make yourself ill” (pg. 279). In reality, Mrs. Mallard is celebrating her new found freedom from her unhappy marriage.…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, opens a window into the life of a woman, Mrs. Mallard who suffers from a heart disease and receives news that her husband has died. According to the story, she reacted differently than other people would’ve done, but that is where irony is presented. She decided to isolate herself and during her isolation she realized how free and joyful she was feeling, but the real feelings in her heart were loneliness ,emptiness, and fear because of the loss. Mrs. Mallard did not die of joy, she died because she was full of fear,confusion, and loneliness. Chopin decides to put this dramatic scene of Mrs. Mallard in a room of her house, where the couple spent plenty time together.…

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D. H. Lawrence is a story about a young boy named Paul who attempts to win his mother’s affection by becoming lucky, thereby securing the money his mother so desperately wants. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a story about townspeople who blindly conform to tradition and carry out a rather savage practice in an unexpected manner. Both stories use setting to convey a message. In “The Rocking-Horse Winner”, the setting becomes almost another character that is used to drive the plot forward and to explain the reason behind the action of the main characters. By contrast, the setting of “The Lottery” lulls the reader into a false sense of tranquility before shocking the reader with the final plot twist.…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Both “The Lottery”, and “One Friday Morning” are great and developed stories. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson shows suspense, and a great use of imagery. But overall, “One Friday Morning” by Langston Hughes is the best choice and should be chosen for the 1940’s unit because of the character development, and the breathtaking symbolism. The first reason why “One Friday Morning” should be a part of the 1940’s unit is because of the character development in Nancy Lee.…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The short stories The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and The Rocking Horse – Winner by D.H. Lawrence have a dark side. Attempting to control the outcome in their lives the character’s irrational behavior demonstrate the loss of winning.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mallard’s feelings toward her husband’s death. Mrs. Mallard’s initial emotional response is of extreme grief and shock. She sits in a chair alone in a quiet room, after she leaves the living room she feels both spiritually and un-spiritually drained. Chopin creates a scene of spring and new life through the window that Mrs. Mallard is sitting in front of that is essential in her transformation from grief to happiness. By creating these images instead of using dialogue between characters, it allows the readers to uncover the development of Mrs. Mallard’s emotional transition.…

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Similarly as a winged creature secured away a pen longs to fly, so does a man restricted to a part and controlled in a home. In the short story, "Story of an Hour," by Kate Chopin, the lady is caught in a cold marriage and a constrictive house. Comparable topics are likewise found in "The Revolt of 'Mother '," a story composed by Mary Wilkins Freeman. Despite the fact that both stories share the topics of imprisonment and limitation, physically and inwardly, the ladies in the stories have diverse responses to their circumstances. One battles the confinements without holding back, procuring her opportunity, while alternate adopts an inactive strategy and is just liberated through the passing of her significant other.…

    • 1583 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Character Analysis of Mrs. Mallard By analyzing The Story of an Hour, Chopin employs several techniques in her writing to effectively characterize the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard. One can perceive Mrs. Mallard in a variety of perspectives due to the deliberate planning of characterization that allow the reader to identify with her, employing different writing techniques in the plot to create symbolic meanings that indirectly give the reader a sense of who she is becoming, and by incorporating the notion of liminality. These elements help to “shape” Mrs. Mallard’s personality and allow the reader to comprehend Chopin’s reasoning for portraying Mrs. Mallard in that specific manner. Chopin’s thoughtful formation of Mrs. Mallard help the reader…

    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Chopin shocks the readers Mrs. Mallard 's elated reaction when she whispers that she is “free” (283). The readers are shocked again at the conclusion when she dies upon the return of her husband Mr. Mallard. At the end of the story, the reader gets to read about the heart disease that echoes the heart trouble that is discusses at the start, which intensifies the twist ending that brings the story to a satisfying end. When Chopin was writing this story, she left no room for flashbacks, background information, or even excessive speculation. By doing this, she has succeeded in making every part of the story important through employing an almost poetic writing…

    • 1403 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays