The power of fiction to transport a reader into a different time, place or quest carries the human imagination like a magic carpet to worlds unknown. “Human beings love stories. We put them everywhere-not only in books, films, and plays, but also in songs, news articles, cartoons, and video games.” (Kennedy, Gioia 2013) Not only is fiction used to expand the imagination, but fiction can also be used as a vehicle of expression for the human heart to communicate emotions, principles and problems that we often encounter as created beings. For example, “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by DH Lewrence and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson both show that success and happiness in life boils down to winning or losing. (Kennedy X.J. & Gioia D., 2013) “The Rocking-Horse Winner” begins and ends with the idea of having “luck” as a means of attaining wealth. (Kennedy & Gioia, 2013) Paul’s pursuit of wealth throughout the story draws the reader in as his porpose is to make a better life for his family, in that context the story shares a sense of nobility. It seems to cause the reader to root for Paul’s success because his motive seems honorable. “The Lottery” on the other hand has an heir of mystery as the story unfolds around a community of families who live under a system of dread as people are chosen at random to suffer death by stoning. The story comes to a screeching halt as the reader discovers the fate of the unlucky person. Both works of fiction draw the reader into the lives of the characters as they face the delimma of life and death based upon the outcome of chance. (Kennedy X.J. & Gioia D., 2013) In both stories life is about winning or losing, gambling is a part of everyday family life and community, each story focuses on a mysterious object that will determine the future, winners pay a price. In the “Rocking Horse Winner”, young Paul is captivated with a desperation to find a way to discover future winners of the horse races as he rides his rocking horse until the winning horse is revealed to him. His bets are hedged on the accuracy of the revelation as his uncle places the bets according to Paul’s advice, although He knew that sometimes the revelations were not reliable, “We’re all right when we’re sure,” said Paul. It’s when we are not quite sure that we go down.” (Kennedy X.J. & Gioia D., 2013, pg. 239) Paul views the rocking horse as an object of revelation and eventually
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Being lucky is portrayed as a blessing where one encounters properity. Winning equals excitement as Paul finds success in mostly picking winners which then brings wealth to the family. However, in “The Lottery” the story begins in a very differenct setting, “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.” While both works focus on luck, “The Lottery” had a more direct impact on the individual as slips of paper are drawn from a black box to determine who lives or dies. Not winning equals excitement and relief as participants realize they did not draw the paper with the black spot. Every member of the community is expected to participate because the lottery is a way of life. (Kennedy X.J. & Gioia D.,
Being lucky is portrayed as a blessing where one encounters properity. Winning equals excitement as Paul finds success in mostly picking winners which then brings wealth to the family. However, in “The Lottery” the story begins in a very differenct setting, “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.” While both works focus on luck, “The Lottery” had a more direct impact on the individual as slips of paper are drawn from a black box to determine who lives or dies. Not winning equals excitement and relief as participants realize they did not draw the paper with the black spot. Every member of the community is expected to participate because the lottery is a way of life. (Kennedy X.J. & Gioia D.,