Comparison of Lord Of The Flies by William Golding ,The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, The White Circle by John Bell Clayton and The Vigilante by John St

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, "The Lottery", by Shirley Jackson, "The White Circle", by John Bell Clayton and "The Vigilante" by John Steinbeck all share the theme of mans inherent evil. Lord of the Flies takes place on an island in the Pacific ocean during an atomic war, and there is no adult supervision. "The Lottery" takes place in a small farming community in the present day. "The White Circle" is set in the turn of the century Virginia on a Large farm. "The Vigilante" takes place down south in a town with strong racist beliefs. Jack from Lord of the Flies is an insecure boy who leads a group of savages through injustice and violence. The Townspeople in "The Lottery" are focused as a group to keep up the traditions of their town, that include an annual stoning of a random person(Tess). Tucker, a normal boy in "The White Circle" is driven into violence after consistent torment from his neighbor Anvil. Mike in "The Vigilante" is a mild mannered southern white with racist beliefs that are carried out on a black man. Ralph who is against Jack in Lord of the Flies is being over-run by Jacks violence and bloodlust, until an officer rescues the group to find out that the boys aren’t playing and have reached the end of their innocence. The towns people gather annually to choose through a lottery the victim of a violent stoning for the harvest, when a prominent citizen Tess is chosen she tries to over turn the verdict, she is killed. Tucker is the son of a wealthy farmer and is under constant torment by his neighbor Anvil, he cracks and attempts to kill Anvil in a brutal attack with hay forks, Anvil avoids death and realizes Tuckers deep rooted evil. Mike along with the men of his village decide to take the law into their own hands against a black man, they beat and kill him then hang him from a tree. Mike realizes later how satisfied he is from this act. These violent plots all have a very important

effect on the theme of these four stories. The four stories illustrate mans inherent evil through characters, setting and actions.

The characters Jack of Lord of the Flies, the Townspeople in "The Lottery", Tucker from "The White Circle", and Mike from "The Vigilante" show the inherent evil of man when they ...

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...he Vigilante" first dehumanized the black man and then beat him which was very cruel. ("he got up, and then somebody else socked him and he went over and hit his head on the cement floor."P.137). The manner in which the characters commit the violent actions helps show the evil of man.

In the end of each story the main character(s) who has shown the trait of evil has either succeeded in their goal or realized the error of their ways. In the end of Lord of the Flies Jack is broken down to tears as he realizes the mistakes he has made. At the end of "The Lottery" the Townspeople have once again saved the harvest from some unknown force by slaughtering a member of the community. In the end of "The White Circle" Tucker doesn’t kill Anvil but learns an important lesson about perspective. Finally in the last scene of "The Vigilante" Mike realizes just how much he liked killing the black man. The theme of mans inherent evil is carried out

throughout society today where people commit acts such as the lynching of blacks due to a deep hate or the killing of a loved one, where at the time seems to be the only answer.