What Are The Similarities Between The Lottery And Lord Of The Flies

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Humanity plays a vital role in both the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding. In both, man’s inherent darkness demonstrates that when one tries to face a situation that requires more than one’s strenuous efforts, it eventually would get too far and the lack of human compassion towards others denotes social isolation. In both pieces of literature, humanity is a demonstration of how humans react in a society with extreme control compared to a society with no rules or regulations. Even though both societies are in the extremes, the result appears the same which is isolation. Comparatively, the darkness of man conveys the fact that when one faces a situation where there is an extreme, it …show more content…
In both pieces of literature, when traumatic events occur and one must react to them, darkness appears to overshadow one’s way of decision-making. This form of evil is simple to apprehend in any man as humanity takes over and finally results in the wrong decision. Moreover, all the villagers at the end of the short story The Lottery, get ready right away to start an attack and thrash Mrs. Hutchinson with rocks without any hesitation (even her family has their own rocks as well as the school children who don’t know what the lottery is). For instance, as the villagers crowd Tessie, she “…was in the centre of a cleared space… and then they were upon her” (Jackson 138). Likewise, in Lord of the Flies, shamelessly Jack’s tribe murders a mother pig while nursing her piglets. This incident of how the mother pig “… squealed and bucked and the air was full of sweat and noise and blood and terror” (Golding 135) is atrocious which symbolizes the tribe’s level of inhumanity. Above all, loss of innocence indicates their thanklessness for what they originally have; this island keeps them alive but they fail to properly appreciate that because of their own selfish desires. Abruptly, humankind is questionable (the question of how is it possible for humans to act this way; then there is no difference between a man and an animal) and when darkness …show more content…
Consequently, all the villagers attend the lottery, except for a man who had broken his leg in The Lottery. The man’s name is “’Clyde Dunbar…’” (Jackson 133) and since he is unable to attend, his “wife draws for him” (133). In addition, Jack’s tribe in Lord of the Flies, also known as the savages, laugh at the killing of the pig after Jack shows his bloody hands. William Golding accurately describes that Jack held “… out his hands… giggled… [and] the boys laughed at his reeking palms” (Golding 135). Thereby, the overall significance of both points is that human feelings at certain times is in control by the leader or laws which results to fake feelings. When one knows that they can not accomplish anything without another person’s control, they would eventually have to decide whether they would want to stay in that person’s group but in some cases, one might not even have the choice if another overrules them by power. Correspondingly, in The Lottery, when Mrs. Hutchinson came at the beginning of the lottery, all the villagers were in joy but as soon as they begin to realize their own state (which is the matter of who in the end is essentially sacrificed), they become nervous and silence fell upon the crowd. For instance, the awkwardness in the lottery is recognizable after the “…soft laughter ran through the crowd as the people stirred back into position after Mrs.

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