The Lottery, By Tim O Brien

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson was a book about sacrifice for the greater good. The emotionally disconnected village would select one person during the lottery to be sacrificed. This story was both intriguing and complex, the story was rich with deeper context and brought up issues that are relevant to modern society. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brian was a story centered in the middle of the Vietnam war, following Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and his platoon readers discover that sometimes the mind can be just as dangerous and destructive as the war the characters are serving in. Readers learn in this story about everything that the men need to carry, from items that are physical, to the mental baggage that is forced upon all of the soldiers. …show more content…
In this part of the story, the platoon was using a mine detector to help aid them when traveling through the jungle. This shows how they constantly under the threat of death in the jungle. The men do not even know how well the mine detector works, but bring it anyway because they like the thought that for once they might be safe. This shows the constant threat of danger because even the ground isn’t safe in the jungle, the men are essentially risking their lives every time they take a step. “Fired their weapons blindly and cringed and sobbed and begged for the noise to stop and went wild and made stupid promises to themselves and to God and to their mothers and fathers, hoping not to die” -(pg1168). This shows the desperation of the men while they are in a firefight. The threat of death surrounds them in the jungle. They will never be able to escape it. When confronted with it, they will do anything that is necessary to keep their lives. “Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of the cleared space by now and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in …show more content…
“While Kiowa explained how lavender died, Lieutenant Cross found himself trembling. He tried not to cry” -(pg1167). This was when Kiowa was explaining the death and Cross started to become sad because he had felt like it was his fault for the death and it was causing him great distress. Guilt was perceived in a way that seemed human. Cross was being torn apart inside, the guilt was overwhelming and powerful. At times it seemed almost too hard for the Lieutenant to handle. “Oldman Warner was saying come on, come on everyone” -(pg379). After a winner was drawn the Old Man and crowd stalked in to begin the sacrifice. The old man cannot wait to start this. He has no guilt for what he is doing and for what he has done. He seems void of emotions, not