The two short stories “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner share some similarities and also have some differences. “The Lottery” is about a mysterious and ultimately shocking event that happens annually in an unknown town. “A Rose for Emily” is about a recently deceased woman named Emily who has not had the best life, with a plot twist at the end.
A few similarities between the two stories include the mood, the concept of tradition, the presence of death, and the use of foreshadowing. Both have a creepy, sort of Welcome to Nightvale-ish feel to them, especially “The Lottery”. They also have eerie endings that were foreshadowed throughout the story; in “A Rose for Emily”, the foul stench in Emily’s house, as well as her purchase of the …show more content…
In “The Lottery”, the most obvious clue was given in the second paragraph, when it mentions the children gathering stones and placing them in a pile. The two endings both result in deaths – in “A Rose for Emily”, it was the death of Miss Emily as well as that of Homer Barron, and in “The Lottery”, it was the death of Mrs. Dunbar. The mood of both stories was foreboding. Everything seemed to be fine, until it wasn’t. “The Lottery” starts off in a manner that is much too cheerful and ordinary and therefore susceptible to being a bit suspicious to the reader. The same is to be said of “A Rose for Emily”, though instead of being too cheerful, this story starts off as a bit dreary. However, the creepiness escalates as the story goes on and then it’s apparent that something weird is going to happen. In both short stories, tradition is mentioned heavily. “The Lottery” shows this through the town’s continued use of the old black box and the partaking of the annual ritual. It is something that isn’t even questioned because of the fact that it has
A few similarities between the two stories include the mood, the concept of tradition, the presence of death, and the use of foreshadowing. Both have a creepy, sort of Welcome to Nightvale-ish feel to them, especially “The Lottery”. They also have eerie endings that were foreshadowed throughout the story; in “A Rose for Emily”, the foul stench in Emily’s house, as well as her purchase of the …show more content…
In “The Lottery”, the most obvious clue was given in the second paragraph, when it mentions the children gathering stones and placing them in a pile. The two endings both result in deaths – in “A Rose for Emily”, it was the death of Miss Emily as well as that of Homer Barron, and in “The Lottery”, it was the death of Mrs. Dunbar. The mood of both stories was foreboding. Everything seemed to be fine, until it wasn’t. “The Lottery” starts off in a manner that is much too cheerful and ordinary and therefore susceptible to being a bit suspicious to the reader. The same is to be said of “A Rose for Emily”, though instead of being too cheerful, this story starts off as a bit dreary. However, the creepiness escalates as the story goes on and then it’s apparent that something weird is going to happen. In both short stories, tradition is mentioned heavily. “The Lottery” shows this through the town’s continued use of the old black box and the partaking of the annual ritual. It is something that isn’t even questioned because of the fact that it has