Similarities Between The Lottery And Young Goodman Brown

Using “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne an analysis of othering and outsiders within disparate societies has been provided. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the protagonist is more justified in the stand they take than the protagonist in Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Mrs. Hutchinson is more justified in her stand because she is basing her stand on a real-life event that impacts the lives of the whole community while Young Goodman Brown shuns and judges everyone for a reality that he does not know is real to begin with. Both protagonists take stands against their perceived injustices: Mrs. Hutchinson by speaking up against the lottery and Young Goodman Brown by shutting himself

off from everyone he knows. Mrs. Hutchinson is justified in her stand because she is trying to stop a gruesome tradition, while Young Goodman Brown is not justified because he stands is based on a dream he deemed real.

In “The Lottery”, the unjust circumstance that Mrs. Hutchinson faces is a gruesome tradition that takes human lives, she takes a stand by protesting the tradition and giving hope for a world without it. On the day that the lottery took place, Mrs. Hutchinson “forgot what day it was,”, she was so concerned with everything but the lottery that she forgets it even took place. When she finally made it to the lottery no one noticed her absence because everyone was so concerned with their odds at winning the lottery. Mrs. Delacroix was the only one that noticed Mrs. Hutchinson’s absence when she showed up, ‘You’re in time, though. They’re still talking away up there.’ In “The Lottery”, after the lottery was drawn, a lot changed. Unbeknownst to Mrs. Hutchinson, she would be the unlucky winner of the lottery and would reveal to everyone in the village that she was the winner. On the contrary, in “Young Goodman Brown” Young Goodman Brown faces the circumstance of existentialist questioning that results in him isolating himself from his counterparts in the

community. In Young Goodman Brown’s “dream of evil omen” everyone in the village was devil worshipers that hid their identity during the day. Young Goodman Brown did not confront anyone to verify if what he saw was real or not he just assumed and made the decision based on that. He saw his spiritual advisor, Goody Cloyse, in the woods as a witch and he then see her again in the village teaching a child about religion which resulted in him condemning her. Goodman ‘snatched away the child as from the fiend himself’. Goodman thought better of himself than he did those around him, which is a sin. When Goodman was in church, the congregation were singing a holy psalm but “he could not listen because an anthem of sin rushed loudly upon his ear”. Goodman felt as if he was the only one pure and submissive to the religion that he practiced. When he saw that other people were practicing their religion or doing any religious activity, he would shun or denounce their attempts.
Mrs., Hutchinson held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her and screamed, ‘It isn’t fair’. At that time, it was too late, the villagers had already accepted the consequences that the winner had to face. If the protest had been an earlier moment, Mrs. Hutchinson might have had a different response from the villagers but due to the impromptu outburst, a lot could not have been done. Mrs. Hutchinson is seen pleading and trying to evoke sympathy from the community around her. It was a selfish act on Mrs. Hutchinson’s part, but anyone would have made the choice she did if placed in the same situation. The winner had won, and their fate had already sealed. The village has become numb to the extremity of the lottery, that they were robots to the lottery. Silent and controlled as they throw the first rock at Mrs. Hutchinson who desperately pleaded for her life. The person in front of the crowd that threw the rock was Steve Adams, who was making an argument against the tradition earlier in story. He brought up the fact “that in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery’. In other villages, people were coming to the realization that the lottery is not appropriate anymore. In the past the lottery was rumored to took place so ‘the corn could be heavy soon’. In the olden times it was believed that there had to be a sacrifice for the crops to grow and feed the people. Due to recent events, it was revealed to people that the lottery had no effect on the crops, but some villages still believed because it a continuous event. In Mrs. Hutchinson’s sake it was justified to take a stand if he life was going to be taken for a meaningless tradition. In “Young Goodman Brown”, Young Goodman Brown, all the people in Young Goodman Brown’s village are not what they seemed, they were practically devil worshippers and he takes a stand by shutting them out. Mrs. Hutchinson realizes she is an outsider when she wins the traditional lottery and realizes what that means for her while Young Goodman Brown realizes he is an outsider in his society when he sees everyone from his village in the woods worshipping the devil. Both protagonists take stands against their perceived injustices: Mrs. Hutchinson by speaking up against the lottery and Young Goodman Brown by shutting himself off from everyone he knows.
Based on the circumstance of her protest, it can be said that Mrs.

Hutchinson was incredibly selfish. Before Mrs. Hutchinson was selected as the winner of the lottery she did not care about the lottery and its effect on people. The lottery was so horrendous and gruesome that the residents of the community started to numb its effects on them and someone had to take a stand against it. Almost everyone was opposed to the surficial components of the lottery, but no one bothered to speak up since it was expected for everyone to support the tradition. Mrs. Hutchinson is more justified in her stand because she is basing her stand on an event that impacts her life as well as the lives within the community while Young Goodman Brown shuns and judges everyone for a reality that he does not know to be real. Mrs. Hutchinson is selfish, but in that given circumstance, anyone would want to save their own lives if it was being jeopardized especially in the moment; for Young Goodman Brown, the woods were rumored as a dream yet he outcasts everyone from his life. The concept of the lottery is so bad that even if her protest is selfish, someone must make a

protest.
In conclusion, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson had a protagonist that was more justified in the stand they take than the protagonist is in Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Mrs. Hutchinson realized that she was an outsider when she won the traditional lottery and realized what that meant for her while Young Goodman Brown realized that he was an outsider in his society when he saw everyone from his village in the woods worshipping the devil as he fought against him. Both protagonists took stands against their perceived injustices: Mrs. Hutchinson by speaking up against the lottery and Young Goodman Brown by shutting himself off from everyone he knew. Mrs. Hutchinson was more justified in her stand because she was trying to stop a gruesome tradition, while Young Goodman Brown was not justified because he stands was based on a dream he deemed real. Although both protagonist can be deemed selfish for the circumstances that led to taking their stands, their stands were meaningful ultimately.