The Rocking Horse Winner And The Lottery Comparison Essay

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Greed, successfulness, and love are all words we as a society are familiar with. How would our perspective of these words change, knowing possessing each could, in fact bring more heartache than bliss? “The Rocking -Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence, and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson; have similar and conflicting themes/purposes that one may connect with on a personal level. In today’s society, these stories deliver the tone that proves being victorious is ideal, however, unsuccessfulness can be superior.
Greed is shown to be an emotion that aids in the overall theme of Lawrence’s story. The revealing of the problem is proven with this passage from the beginning of the story, “And so the house came to be haunted by the unspoken phrase: There
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But the boy died in the night (Lawrence n. pag.).” Lawrence provides a tone of suspense and an ongoing struggle. The plot is dragged on, so to speak, and we as he reader are left in suspense until the unfortunate outcome, unlike Jackson’s story. Jackson starts off with a pleasant, happy feeling, utilizing phrases such as, “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 n. pag.).” This creates an illusion that the story is leading toward a friendly, enjoyable theme throughout. Soon changed Jackson shows darkness with the use of a little “black box”, which symbolizes the towns lottery. Towns people seem upbeat and positive, conversing with one another happily, sharing gossip, and joking. Expressions used such as, quickly and hurry points the story in the direction that the townsfolk are eager to get the lottery moving. It is son realized that the lottery is a mechanism used to control the population of society. Murder is considered, okay, because it is a tradition that has been followed for many generations. Unlike Lawrence’s story, Jackson uses a tone straight to the point and obvious early on. Once the villager is chosen from a single

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