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Compassion in Killing Compassion is key in many societal and personal parts of life and is crucial for any relationship, even with oneself. However when the circumstances changes, and one finds themselves in a situation where one has to kill or be killed. It will becomes increasingly difficult, to practice any act of kindness on allies or enemies. These scenario are prevalent in both The Hunger Games directed by Gary Ross and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, the characters have to face in impossible situations. Our protagonists from the Hunger Games in Katniss Everdeen a girl from district twelve and the our protagonist for the The Lottery is Tessie Hutchinson a mother who lives in the community the lottery takes place in. While at first …show more content…
glance The Lottery and The Hunger Games are murderous spectacles, it appeared as if though only one person was able to spread compassion out to others, in reality compassion was there with all of them during these intense situations. Compassion comes in many forms in the Lottery; the was small moments of and large ones.
One of the smaller moments was when “ someone gave little Davey Hutchinson a few pebbles.”(567) , someone out of all the people in the town gave him pebbles.For the purpose to ease him into the killing of his mother and to make Davey understand the cruelty that is the lottery. It is hard to understand the lottery when one is young, so some spared him the explanation and handed him the pebbles. With children the tradition that is the lottery seems to harsh, but the other children go along with it. So the idea that The Lottery is devoid emotion seems to affect children more since they do not understand the tradition …show more content…
yet. Another moment of compassion was from Mrs. Delcroix,” Mrs. Delacroix selected a so large she had to pick it up with both hands..” (567). Mrs Delacroix chose a large stone assumably in hope to knock Tessie out from the rest of the stoning, and so that Tessie can spared from the pain and degradation of begging for her life. It shows that she cares even the act of tradition cannot stop her from caring for her friend. Then with the Hunger Games, a battle royal of children killing each other for the government. However with Katniss she shows most of the compassion out of all the characters. “I volunteer… I volunteer as tribute.”(Ross); the first act of compassion came from Katniss when she volunteered as tribute in place of her sister Primrose.The reason Katniss did this was to spare her sister from participating in the Hunger Games. Katniss knew she stood a better chance in the hunger games than her sister and has experience with hunting so it would give her an advantage. Also that Katniss knew how survive in the wilderness and had survival skills that would be useful in the hunger games. Then another moment of compassion was for Katniss from Rue. “How long was I asleep? asked Katniss ‘A couple of days, I changed your leaves twice.”(Ross) Rue helped Katniss when she got stung by the tracker jackers and watched over Katniss as she healed. Rue knew what leaves in the forest were able to heal the bite marks, Katniss had received from the tracker jackers. Rue also changed the leaves so as to keep Katniss wounds clean and to heal faster. Rue then kept vigilant over Katniss as she unconscious from her injuries and did so for a couple days and nights. When Rue unfortunately falls victim to another tribute and is killed; Katniss compassion shines through. As Rue laid in Katniss’s arms as she drawing her last few breathes she asks, “Can you sing?”Katniss complies and sings to her.(Ross) Katniss’s heart broke as her little friend lay dying in her arms and yet she sang to her before she died. Then when Rue draws her finale breathe; Katniss closes her eyes. Then Katniss gentle lays her down and surrounds Rue’s body with flowers and places a bouquet in Rue’s hands. Then Katniss placed a kiss on Rue’s forehead; then did the three finger salute for the people of district 11. As the movie progresses Katniss struggles with loss of Rue and then to find Peeta injured and in need of medicine.
Katniss plunges back into the games to receive the medicine but is brought down by Clove. When it appears the end to be near for Katniss, she is saved by Thresh from Clove. “ Just this time twelve, for Rue.” say Thresh after he has killed Clove (Ross). It is apparent Thresh showed no mercy when killing Clove, and showed mercy for Katniss. Reasons being Katniss showed compassion to Rue who was from the same district as Thresh. Also for the memorial Katniss did for Rue when Rue died. Thresh saving Katniss from Clove was a kindness for
Rue. With end of the Hunger Games near, for both Katniss and Peeta. The only obstacle left is to face Cato, a relentless killer from District two. When faced with Cato and a pack of vicious dogs at their backs on top of the cornucopia. Katniss and Peeta were able to bring down Cato and push him to the pack of dogs. As Cato is being mauled from the dogs; Katniss loads her bow with another and shoots it at Cato. Even with the darkest of enemies being in pain before her Katniss shows her compassion, so to spare Cato suffering she kills him. Then at the end when Peeta And Katniss running out of time to kill the the final competitors. The game masters have decided to revoke the rule of two winner and instead want them to kill each other. Peeta says to Katniss,” Go ahead, one us should go home…” (Ross). Peeta knew he was not capable of killing Katniss and decided to offer himself to die instead. Peeta knew he was never going to able to win against the other tributes and now having to kill Katniss was too much. Peeta refused to kill any of the tributes, fearing it would change him into another person, When both of theses stories come to a close, they show the characters as they face troubles and show compassion to the end. With the character showing compassion it gives a worthy purpose to show emotion and strength in their situations. Through the characters the understanding of compassion can be shown. They gave out their compassion to their friend or their enemy. Which made them stronger as they go through their stories and continue to show their compassion.
In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the reader is introduced to a utopian community who practice the tradition of a lottery every year. At first glance, it seems like a nice day and the kids are just collecting rocks while waiting for their parents to arrive. All of the citizens show some excitement over the upcoming the lottery. The text states,
In the short story “The Lottery”, the children remain ignorant of the actual detrimental consequences that ensue from the lottery due to the use of indoctrination teachings from higher authorities. This is first indicated when the children assemble around the town square with Bobby Martin’s pockets “already stuffed… full of stones, and the other boys soon follow[ing] his example, select[ing] the smoothest and roundest stones.” (1) The children are clearly aware of the social hierarchy within the town as they all follow Bobby Martin’s actions rather than pursue their own beliefs and values. This habitual action is a result of the indoctrination teachings that have been inculcated within every child. Because everyone else has accepted the long
“The Lottery” is a satire that is meant to shock and provoke readers with the prospect that societal contentment and tradition can evoke the emersion of illogical and harmful actions. The author, Shirley Jackson, understands that the proper use of symbolism and character archetypes is followed by a more impactful story. “The Lottery” opens with children who are out of school for summer break “[on a clear and sunny… day.” (Jackson, 1948, p. 221). Such an innocuous, familiar scene, might elicit from the reader nostalgic, whimsical memories of childhood play. Appropriately, the children in this story represent the innocent, susceptible future generation of the town. They do not seem to fully fathom the severity of the lottery or the abhorrent nature of the violence associated with the town’s traditions. For this reason, the reader most likely develops an expectation that this story will be a pleasant and optimistic one that takes place on a beautiful sunny day and involves the laughter and tomfoolery of young happy kids.
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.
Traditions are usually passed on from parent to child at an early age. In the opening lines of "The Lottery," Shirley Jackson reveals the tradition of the lottery and how all of the villagers conform to the ritual of a human sacrifice. “The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o’clock…” (Jackson 373) shows how the citizens of the village are used to the tradition of always gathering for the lottery. The children in “The Lottery” were stuffing their pockets with stones before all of the parents had arrived, " Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones" (373). This illustrates that the children were taught what to do in the event of the lottery and by being prepared it shows t...
The plot as a whole in “The Lottery” is filled with ironic twists. The whole idea of a lottery is to win something, and the reader is led to believe that the winner will receive some prize, when in actuality they will be stoned to death by the rest of the villagers. The villagers act very nonchalant upon arriving at the lottery; which makes it seem as if it is just another uneventful day in a small town. Considering the seriousness of the consequences of the lottery, the villagers do not make a big deal about it. Under the same note it is ironic that many of the original traditions of the lottery, such as the recital and the salute, had long been forgotten. All that the villagers seemed to remember was the ruthless killing of a random person. It also seems strange that they let the equipment for the lottery, the black box, get into such a poor condition.
In conclusion, the short story, “The Lottery” demonstrates peer pressure as a result of blindly following tradition. This is shown three times throughout the story when the boys collect stones at the beginning, in the middle when Mr. Hutchinson turns on his wife, and at the end when Davy Hutchinson is holding a
Typically, when someone thinks of a lottery they think of something positive and exciting but contrary to this idea in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, the connotation has an entirely different meaning. As the story begins, readers lean towards the belief that the town in which Jackson depicts is filled with happiness and joy. “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (Jackson 247) We soon realize that this notion is far from the truth. As the townspeople gather in the square for the annual lottery, which sole purpose is to stone someone to death by randomly pulling a paper out of a black box with a black dot on it, it is learned
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.
Symbolism is used heavily in “The Lottery”. One of the first symbols revealed in the short story is the Black Box, used by the townspeople as the raffle box. “The black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner . . .was born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (Jackson). The Black Box stands as a symbol for the lottery itself and tradition of all types. Although it may be difficult to “upset” or change parts of traditions that have been practiced for ages, it is necessary to do so to grow as people. “Another symbol in the story is the black box. Although it is old and shabby, the villagers are unwilling or unable to replace it, just as they are unwilling to stop participating in the lottery” (Wilson). The...
By reading “The Lottery”, the violent behavior can be seen when the lottery is about to begin. For instance, the little boy “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones” getting ready to throw them at the person who had drawn the piece of paper(Jackson, 1). Not only does the author put violence in the hand of one child, but she puts violence in the hands of many more children. As an illustration, since Bobby Martin had stuffed stones in his pockets “the other boys soon followed his example” with no hesitation(Jackson, 1). The children seem very calm about
“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.
"The Lottery" begins with a description of a bright and serene setting. The morning the event took place "was clear and sunny, with a fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green" (Jackson 315). Just out for their summer break, the children are the first to gather in the town square. The young boys were active in their play and begin to gather stones in their pockets. Three boys, Bobby Martin, Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix make a pile of smooth, round stones and "[guard] it against the raids of other boys" (316). Meanwhile, the little girls of the town had nothing to do with such youthful labor. They "stood aside, talking among themselves, looking over their shoulders at the boys"(316). Society expects females at a young age to "remain outside of the work force and dependent on their working husbands when they grow up" (Kosenko 32). The young boys were collecting stones for the savage murder to take place in the town square, while the girls stood aside and let the boys assemble the supplies needed for the day's event.
The way the characters present themselves in the beginning of the story puts an optimistic view on the lottery. After all, lotteries are generally associated with an increase of wealth and prosperity. The outcome of the scenario seems promising. The town’s people gather with zeal. One character, Mrs. Hutchinson, rushes to make it to the lottery on time. This reassures the reader that the lottery is a must-see event. Another character, Old Man Warner, states that the other towns were crazy for giving up the lottery. With this being said, obviously something good was to come out of the contest. The reader does not suspect the tragedy that lies in the end of the story.
The book The Hunger Games, portrays a society where people are treated unfairly based on factors that they cannot control. The people are born into one of 13 districts. There lives vary drastically based on where they are born. Someone born in the Capitol has a completely different life than someone born in district 12. A person born in the Capitol lives a wealthy life and is always treated with respect. On the other hand someone born in district 12 has a life of constant back breaking work. They live in poverty and struggle to survive.