The theme of good vs evil manifests itself in human nature. What is considered to be evil usually varies for different people. The one similarity is that evil harms others. Parallel to this idea is the one common conception of goodness and that it betters others’ lives. Short stories often prove this. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the evil is the town’s people killing one person and the goodness is their kind side that hesitates to do so. In this example the evil unfortunately wins. Contradicting this story is Sherman Alexie’s “A Good Story” where the protagonist defends his people from the frightful stereotypes they possess. John Newton refers to it as “A residual politics of recovered authenticity… (Newton).” The story’s purpose is …show more content…
to banish the dark image of Indian people, or recover their authenticity. It is just a form of good vs evil. In many short stories that form is the same, with people pitting their views against each other. Sometimes it is hard to decide which side is good. Is this where morals come into play?One story in particular deals with morals as a main theme. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the lottery shows that individual morals aren’t always strong enough to speak out against a large group of people.
Watching an innocent person die without doing anything to prevent it is not evil. It just shows lack of strength. Not many people stand up for what they think is right if a bunch of others oppose them. This is the case in “The Lottery” where any thoughts of morality about their twisted tradition are suppressed by the majority. Nebeker says, “The awful doubleness of the human spirit--a doubleness that expresses itself in blended good neighborliness and cruelty… (Nebeker)”. One can clearly see this double nature in the towns people. They start the lottery joking with each other, but turn into savages once a victim is chosen. This second, primitive attitude was the point where any morals were discarded or forgotten. It was done out of fear. Many people may have thought the lottery was wrong, but believed their piers would disagree. This is where the theme of good vs evil shows itself. The point where moral thoughts battle fear. There will always be doubt when going against the grain. Most people don’t even overcome the feeling, and “The Lottery” proves this when morals are put to the extreme test. However, is it sometimes the right choice to stay quiet? In another story the characters disprove this by voicing their opinions on a certain
emotion. In Raymond Carver’s “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”, the characters prove that love is an emotion that is perceived uniquely by all. Emotions tend to be one dimensional. If one is happy it is because something good happened, and if one is sad it is because something bad happened. Love is different. There isn’t a single reason for which one loves. This creates different views on the emotion, and also different relationships. Christof Decker notes how these differences are looked down at by the characters in Carver’s story. “… Carver’s protagonists usually come to realize that the evil they are trying to hide from resurfaces in the midst of their most intimate relationships (Decker)”. The “evil” is the biggest aspect of Terri’s old marriage that makes it unique. She strongly believes her ex husband and her had a relationship. Terri really understands his perception of love because it was close to hers. Mel however, just sees the man’s abuse of his wife as anger and hatred. Terri’s view on love is different than her current husband’s which allows her to accept her old relationship. However, her idea of love is one where violence and harm are acceptable. It fights her husband’s arguably better view on the emotion. Having said this, one wonders if a couple needs to have a similar outlook on love to successfully be together. If so, then does a couple’s view on love keep them together? Many stories are about characters that defend their point of view on an idea. In Sherman Alexie’s “A Good Story” the story defends Native American life from the sad nature it is usually attributed with. Stereotypes exist for a reason. There is always some truth from which they are based off. However, this doesn’t mean they are always fair. Native Americans are usually known as an unhappy people that drink often and heavily. In the story, Junior and his mom talk about this stereotype. Junior defends Indian life in an irritated way. He does this by telling a happy story about Indians, much like Alexie himself does with his writing.“All that Alexie’s poems reclaim is the Native American’s own alienated image--the Indian view by the white Other in the headlights’ (or the cinema’s) spectacularizing glare”. Just like Alexie, Junior tells the story to fend off critics of Native Americans. In “A Good Story”, that critic is the mom. Her son fights her as a force of good to stop. She represents the evil that Junior must banish by telling his story. The mom really seems to only see the sad parts of her son’s stories. This is her outlook on her people’s way of life also. It begs the question, is Junior also sad about Native American culture? Maybe Junior is actually two-faced about with his stance on his people’s lives. In Ann Beattie’s “Janus,” the bowl is a symbol of Andrea’s two-faced nature. To be truly two-faced, one must be that way in many key aspects of their life. Everyone tells a lie at some point. However, not many people have an affair and trick clients like Andrea. Wilson says, “To have that woman (Andrea) turned on herself like that is typical of Beattie, who offers a choice between self-turnings and love (Wilson)”. The self-turnings are the protagonist making second choices that betray her initial ones, a Janus. The bowl is used to help Andrea sell houses. It entices clients who only see the pretty, perfect characteristics. Much like what they experience with their real estate agent. The biggest example of this however, is her affair. It is from her adultery that the bowl originates from and becomes a symbol. The bowl is often protected by Andrea. She will not let her husband put his keys in it but she lets him observe it. She doesn’t want her two faced nature damaged. It would be damaging her evil side which she seeks to protect from her husband. The man in the story that represents good. It is interesting that she lets him see it. It makes one wonder if her husband knows she is a Janus. If he does, would Andrea care? Does she enjoy being a Janus? She seems to really be in love with the object that symbolizes her two-faced nature. Voice plays a key role in the theme of good vs evil. Everyone’s voice is different. This leads to different opinions or ideas on topics. In short stories, it usually shows itself in the form of two opposing characters or groups. On “The Lottery” Helen Nebeker says, “More than developing a theme which ‘“deals with ‘scapegoating’, the human tendency to punish ‘innocent’ and often accidentally chosen victims for our sins”’ (Nebeker).” The scapegoating that happens in the story is championed by some and ridiculed by others. This is largely a result of the different morals that exist in the towns-people. These lead to variances in voice as well. Disparity in voice is what causes most conflicts. Often times one side is seen as the good side, and the other as evil. This assigns the different voices to one of the two forces. The process happens in all four of the short stories that were analyzed. Voice is also telling of one’s identity and in fact shapes it. The towns-people in “The Lottery” that believe in the ritual are obviously very traditional or set in their ways. When they hear about other towns stopping the lottery, they mock them and shoo the idea away. They do this because it is an attack on their identity. An attack on who they are. It is the good to their evil. However if identity is who someone is, doesn’t dictate that person’s voice as well?
Since the beginning of time, fairy tales, stories and legends have shared a common theme where good and evil are played against each other. In the story of “Beowulf”, translated by, “Burton Raffel”, there is a hero who plays as a good character, and there is also a demon who rules the dark side. The hero Beowulf, agrees to take a journey to conquer the evil monster Grendel. But when Beowulf is trying to defeat the beast, Grendel fights back, causing integrity and generosity to vanish. The common theme in various tales like in Beowulf is, good vs. evil.
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.
Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery', is a story that is filled with symbolism. The author uses symbolism to help her represent human nature as tainted, no matter how pure one thinks of himself or herself, or how pure their environment may seem to be. The story is very effective in raising many questions about the pointless nature of humanity regarding tradition and violence. 'The Lottery' clearly expresses Jackson's feelings concerning mankind?s evil nature hiding behind traditions and rituals. She shows how coldness and lack of compassion in people can exhibit in situations regarding tradition and values. Jackson presents the theme of this short story with a major use of symbolism. Symbolism shows throughout the setting of 'The Lottery,' the objects, the peoples actions, and even in the time and the names of the lucky contestants.
This story contains an almost equal balance of good and evil, though it also raises questions of what is truly good. It blurs the line between good and selfish or thoughtless. Characters’ actions sometimes appear impure, but in the long run, are good.
"The Lottery," a short story written by Shirley Jackson, is a tale about a disturbing social practice. The setting takes place in a small village consisting of about three hundred denizens. On June twenty-seventh of every year, the members of this traditional community hold a village-wide lottery in which everyone is expected to participate. Throughout the story, the reader gets an odd feeling regarding the residents and their annual practice. Not until the end does he or she gets to know what the lottery is about. Thus, from the beginning of the story until almost the end, there is an overwhelming sense that something terrible is about to happen due to the Jackson's effective use of foreshadowing through the depiction of characters and setting. Effective foreshadowing builds anticipation for the climax and ultimately the main theme of the story - the pointless nature of humanity regarding tradition and cruelty.
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.
Throughout the course of humanity, people have sought ways to promote a society where moral unification and motivation are present. It is essential for a community to coincide with such values; therefore, tradition and folklore are transcended though generations as customs which people follow mostly without question. In Shirley Jackson’s short story, The Lottery, such traditions are exploited through a futile box along with a brutal ritual which symbolizes the way a society might mindlessly abide by them and feel powerless to divert from such illogical acts. The storyline contains a constant tone which depicts normalcy to present normalcy itself as seen by the villagers, yet whispers eerie to the reader by setting up hints and indications of what is really occurring.
In Shirley Jackson’s "The Lottery," what appears to be an ordinary day in a small town takes an evil turn when a woman is stoned to death after "winning" the town lottery. The lottery in this story reflects an old tradition of sacrificing a scapegoat in order to encourage the growth of crops. But this story is not about the past, for through the actions of the town, Jackson shows us many of the social ills that exist in our own lives.
Many people struggle with the idea of what it means to be a “good” person and what it means to be a “bad” person. We all want to be good, but it's not easy. Everyone has their own opinion about certain issues, and they depend on their values, judgment, and beliefs to see them through their difficulties. In the short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find," Flannery O’ Connor illustrates her argument of good and evil through a grandmother who struggles with her own sense of goodness, and the Misfit who represents evil. In the story a character who views herself as good comes to realize that this goodness that she believes she has cannot protect against the works of evil.
Often in literature, authors write about the theme of the conflict between good and evil. These statements are expressed in all themes in literature, and when they are broken down to their simplest forms, they are about a conflict between good and evil. Conventionally in conflicts, there are two sides that fight over one thing. One side is considered to be good, while the other side is considered to be evil. This is considered to be in every conflict when scrutinized. This verbalization is not valid because a conflict does not have to be about good and evil. A conflict can be internal, where the struggle takes place in the main character’s psyche. As once said “All conflict in literature is in its simplest form a struggle between good and evil". Throughout the course of literary history, this quotation has been proven true. In the novella Animal Farm by George Orwell, this conflict can be seen through the underlying themes of good vs. evil between the characters of Snowball and Napoleon. Likewise, in the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, we see the conflict through that Holde...
Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" uses the third-person dramatic point of view to tell a story about an un-named village that celebrates a wicked, annual event. The narrator in the story gives many small details of the lottery taking place, but leaves the most crucial and chilling detail until the end: the winner of the lottery is stoned to death by the other villagers. The use of the third-person point of view, with just a few cases of third-person omniscient thrown in, is an effective way of telling this ironic tale, both because the narrator's reporter-like blandness parallels the villagers' apparent apathy to the lottery, and because it helps build to the surprise ending by giving away bits of information to the reader through the actions and discussions of the villagers without giving away the final twist.
Robert Louis Stevenson’s theme of “Good vs. Evil'; is prominent in the novel Treasure Island. This story begins by introducing the protagonist of the novel Jim Hawkins. Jim works at an inn, which his mother owns. An old buccaneer is staying there by the name of Billy Bones who possesses a mysterious sea chest, which
Black, white, summer, grave: all of these words have something in common. Each word used by an author creates a tone. In “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson used tone and symbolism to create a representative story that portrayed struggles that occurred near the time of conception of the story. She used symbolistic words to create a more intricate, underlying story than what was publicized. Throughout the story, character names and objects, symbolic actions, and the countless other details supporting the overall theme of conformity and tradition create a fascinating, but gruesome, experience.
The concept of Violence holds many meanings , but it won't be taken serious in till the subject of violence is death. The Lottery a short story by Shirley Jackson explains the process a small village goes through for a annual killing. Shirley Jackson author of the story embraces the violence a village commits to in order to keep social stability. The violence previewed in the lottery is in many ways similar to the violence that occurs today . For example The Taliban an Islamic militant group which operates in Afghanistan and west of Pakistan made a government which stands for , the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Was formed in 1994 during the Soviet war in Afghanistan in order to help Afghan resistance against Soviet Union occupation towards
As children, we hear many stories about the interactions between good and evil. Since each story or fable have different characters, the description of evil and good are different from one another. The good character will have different characteristic compared to evil one.