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Culture in the hunger games
Conformity in the hunger games
Usefulness of traditions in the lottery
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Recommended: Culture in the hunger games
While both The Lottery and The Hunger Games have shared content ideas. The Lottery is more associated with the idea of ritual while The Hunger Games is more associated with Punishment. These two stories value tradition so much and those who oppose do not challenge it because of social conformity, human hypocrisy and rituals. These three topics are very essential to understand why the presence of false tradition is very much real in both stories The Lottery and The Hunger Games.
Social conformity is an action in relations with prevailing social standards, attitudes and practises. This is very much presented in both stories. In The Hunger Games, the games itself were introduced to all district with the exception of the wealthy in the capitol for an attempted and failed rebellion that the poorer districts launched against the capitol. The games are that each district draws up one male and one female ‘tribute’ to fight in a gladiator style fighting arena. This concept of submission was brought up by the capitol to show the other districts who their overlord was. Also that they are to follow the actions of the other citizens. This idea of social conformity is also present in The Lottery as everyone must submit their names in the lottery and that they have the attitude of that is how the tradition has been for the years before and things are not about to change. Social conformity is how many objectives are done in the real world and there are those who stand and watch or those who speak out against the wrong for the right.
Both stories demonstrate human hypocrisy towards violence and tradition. Tessie Hutchinson from The Lottery changes her emotion completely after she won the lottery thinking that she can beat the odds and be exempt f...
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...f higher or lower social status. In both texts, the societies of both books follow a tradition blindly and consequently have to face death either for enjoyment of rich folks or just as a tradition that is enforced by those who feel it must be done.
In conclusion, both stories are similar in themes but the Lottery is more of a false tradition and the Hunger Game is more of a false tradition and the Hunger Game is a punishment. These two stories value traditions and rituals so much and those who do not agree with it, do not challenge it because of social conformity, Human hypocrisy toward violence tradition and rituals. It is felt that in the stories, the people perform these traditions because they feel that they have too and have obedience towards the rules that were once put in place by man and enforced by fear as a society and the ones the started the tradition.
The short stories “The Lottery” by Shirley Johnson and “Just lather, that’s all” by Hernando Tellez both portray similar situations even though they are two entirely different stories. The two stories both illustrate human feelings and behaviors mostly in reference to fear, violence, unfairness and pride. These two stories, even though they have some things in common, still have some differences and represent some ideas in different fashions. The similarities and differences between these stories have been critically reviewed and will be discussed in the essay.
In “The Lottery” the author uses many different types of themes to inspire the reader to feel certain emotions. Themes such as the perils of blindly sticking to outdated traditions. Traditions such as sacrificial murder in which some ancient societies believed that “Life brings death, and death recycles life” (Griffin); this shows how some readers could accept the actions depicted in this story. Yet another way of looking at it and finding a way to accept it is that it’s been said that capital punishment today is a form of ritualistic killing. But other readers may just see it as cold blooded murder in which they may be appalled that some societies could still do this in 1948 when this story was written.
Even the title of both stories mean the same thing as winning the lottery means the person is going to be killed is as bad as the name Charles which is used as a complement to every unacceptable behavior in the latter story. Violence is present in the lottery as Tessie is stoned to death by the villagers while the main character Charles in “Charles” is infamous for his violent activities. Tessie trying to speak against the tradition of selecting the candidate for the lottery and Laurie breaking the rules of the school can both be considered a symbol of rebellion behavior existing in the societies of both of the stories; furthermore, such behavior is thought unacceptable and is condemned by other characters in both of the story. However, violence is acceptable in the Lottery as nobody speaks against the gruesome or inhumane stoning of an innocent person but in Charles, violence is not accepted as Charles is frequently punished for such activities. Narrator in Charles is involved in the Charles while the narrator in “The lottery” seems aloof from the storyline. There is no any hint of surprise or shock to the tone of the narrator even when the story turns from generic realism to nightmarish
“The Lottery” is a short story about an event that takes place every year in a small village of New England. When the author speaks of “the lottery” he is referencing the lottery of death; this is when the stoning of a village member must give up his or her life. The villagers gather at a designated area and perform a customary ritual which has been practiced for many years. The Lottery is a short story about a tradition that the villagers are fully loyal to and represents a behavior or idea that has been passed down from generation to generation, accepting and following a rule no matter how cruel or illogical it is. Friends and family become insignificant the moment it is time to stone the unlucky victim.
In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the theme of the story is dramatically illustrated by Jackson’s unique tone. Once a year the villagers gather together in the central square for the lottery. The villagers await the arrival of Mr. Summers and the black box. Within the black box are folded slips of paper, one piece having a black dot on it. All the villagers then draw a piece of paper out of the box. Whoever gets the paper with the black dot wins. Tessie Hutchinson wins the lottery! Everyone then closes in on her and stones her to death. Tessie Hutchinson believes it is not fair because she was picked. The villagers do not know why the lottery continues to exist. All they know is that it is a tradition they are not willing to abandon. In “The Lottery,” Jackson portrays three main themes including tradition, treason, and violence.
Though there are some noticeable differences between Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Ursula Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”, however the similarities in the two stories are clear. The themes of both short stories are centered on tradition and the sacrifice of one individual for the good all. In the “The Lottery” someone is stoned to death in order for the village to be prosper. While in the “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” the cities happiness solely depends on the suffering of a child whom has done nothing wrong. The point that both authors are trying to convey to the audience is; at what point do we as a society begin to question a way of doing things, question a tradition that has no real truth or reason behind
Tradition is huge in small towns and families and allows for unity through shared values, stories, and goals from one generation to the next. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” carries that theme of tradition. The story follows a small town that performs the tradition of holding an annual lottery in which the winner gets stoned to death. It (tradition) is valued amongst human societies around the world, but the refusal of the villagers in “The Lottery” to let go of a terrifying long-lasting tradition suggests the negative consequences of blindly following these traditions such as violence and hypocrisy.
Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery” is a short story about the annual gathering of the villagers to conduct an ancient ritual. The ritual ends in the stoning of one of the residents of this small village. This murder functions under the guise of a sacrament that, at one time, served the purpose of ensuring a bountiful harvest. This original meaning, however, is lost over the years and generations of villagers. The loss of meaning has changed the nature and overall purpose of the lottery. This ritual is no longer a humble sacrifice that serves the purpose of securing the harvest but instead is a ceremony of violence and murder only existing for the pleasure found in this violence.
The theme in “The Lottery” is violence and cruelty. Violence and cruelty is a major theme because there is a lot of violence and cruelty in the world. The Lottery has been read as addressing such issues as the public's fascination with salacious and scandalizing journalism, McCarthyism, and the complicity of the general public in the victimization of minority groups, epitomized by the Holocaust of World War II. The Holocaust was very cruel and violent cause other people didn’t like certain people so they just kill them and their children and still now we have violence and cruelty with wars and people that hate each other.
The short story “ The Lottery ” the author Shirley Jackson uses symbolism and imagery to develop a theme the brings forth the evil and inhumane nature of tradition and the danger of when it’s carried out with ignorance.
When involved with a near death experience humans will use any and all survival instincts, they know in order to prevent their death with all their might. The closer to death someone may come would mean the more they 'll strive to stay alive because ultimately no one wants to die, even if that means killing another person in order to do so. Although many people would deny this claim, I find this to be very true in my opinion because if you 're put into a situation where it’s either you have to die versus someone else dying; you obviously wouldn 't want to be the person who dies. Death is a very scary thing that can happen to a person and although everyone will ultimately meet their demise, it 's even harder to have someone
Out of all the short stories that were assigned, it can be seen that they have all one thing in common. They all show the realms of violence each of them different. The story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a story where violence is shown in the most barbarous way possible. But with it, the author wants us to understand that violence is abhorrent and “The Lottery” shows that violent behavior can even corrupt the most innocent minds.
In the stories of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins, both authors deliver the dangers of blindly following tradition that can lead to death, fear and no advancement in society. In “The Lottery” their tradition is to kill a person that is randomly chosen by using a lottery. To compare, in “The Hunger Games” children are also picked out of a lottery from each district and if they are chosen, they need to fight against each other to death. Both stories share a tradition of cruel and murderous behavior but they have a slight difference in tradition.
In "The Lottery" Shirley Jackson fills her story with many literary elements to mask the evil. The story demonstrates how it is in human nature to blindly follow traditions. Even if the people have no idea why they follow.
“The Lottery” is a story which shows the complexity and capability of human behavior. Something immoral, like stoning a person to death once a year, is a normal occurrence. The main character, Tessie Hutchinson, is the victim of the lottery. Tessie is a character with a number of seemingly good characteristics, yet her surrounding culture rejects these characteristics. The majority of the people in the village has opposite attitudes and beliefs in comparison to Tessie’s. These attitudes and beliefs reflect her personal desires which quickly struggle against the culture’s expectations. Tessie is unlike the other villagers; she is initially indifferent to the lottery indicating her desires are unrelated to the lottery. Upon winning the lottery, Tessie changes and her personal desires to survive and reject the lottery emerge in her selfishness and outspoken personality. These struggles against the village’s expectations are shown through the culture’s emphasis on tradition and small town ties.