What Are The Similarities Between The Lottery And The Rocking Horse Winner Greed

The desire to obtain additional wealth and worldly possessions is a nature that is sinful and demonstrates greed. It is a necessity to take care of the needs of one's family, but it is purely selfish to want more. Greed is not a modern sin, it has been around since the beginning of mankind. God provided Adam and Eve with every element that they needed to prosper, but they desired the one thing that was deemed off-limits; the fruit from the tree (Genesis 1, English Standard Version). This greed served no greater purpose, but instead began the fall of mankind. The townspeople in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and Hester in "The Rocking Horse Winner", by D.H. Lawrence, are prime examples of people who are not content with the blessings that they

are given and would do anything to have more. Jackson and Lawrence expound their antagonist characters through irony as well as the use of characterization. The price that is paid for their voracity is extreme and executed in vain.
The titles of both short stories are ironic, as they are meant to deceive the reader. The title "The Lottery" encourages the reader to believe that someone will be winning a monetary prize of some nature but being picked in this lottery is not something that will be celebrated by the winner. Similarly, "The Rocking- Horse Winner" is deceptive in its title as well. The title indicates that the story will be about a child and his toy, but it is a unique message about greed and sacrifice. In contrast, "The Lottery" picks one winner to murder in tribute to their gluttony and in "The Rocking-Horse Winner" the son gives his all and finally his life due to his mother's greed. Relatedly, both stories require a major sacrifice for no real purpose. Just as the title is deceptive, the atmosphere and description at the beginning of "The Lottery" is as well. The townspeople are blissful and act in an unconcerned way to what they are preparing to do as "They greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip…" (Jackson, 1948, para. 3). The distortion of the people being so keen to exchange formalities while they are getting ready to commit murder sets the tone that this will be a friendly storyline. In "The Rocking-Horse Winner" it is ironic that the mother is described as a striking woman who on the outside appears to love her children, but personal expressions into her psyche reveal an emotionless woman (Lawrence, 1933). Hester puts on airs for the people around her to preserve her reputation, but "when her children were present, she always felt the center of her heart go hard" (Lawrence, 1933, para. 1).
The second form of irony in Jackson and Lawrence's short stories is the pure evilness of the townspeople and Hester.

The significance of this is important as it displays just how careless the characters are in each story pertaining to the life of another human being. In "The Lottery" the townspeople's love of their precious crops is more important than the life of a friend, acquaintance, or family member. Old Man Warner is a character that proves the coldness of the townspeople. He has survived the lottery for many ages and still stands firm in this tradition to produce crops (Jackson, 1948). Warner casually explains, "Used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' First thing you know we'd all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns" (Jackson, 1948, para. 28). The irony of this statement is that he cannot prove or say what would happen if they did not participate in the lottery anymore. Other places have quit participating in the lottery, but the story does not express that these towns are doing terrible (Jackson, 1948). Correspondingly in "The Rocking-Horse Winner", Hester has no remorse for the suffering she causes. Her unhappiness and remarks do not go unnoticed within the home. Paul tries endlessly to make Hester happy by winning money, but it is never enough (Lawrence, 1933). She is never satisfied with the amount of money or possessions that she has (Lawrence, 1933). For her birthday, she is secretive about the monetary gift her son sent to her even though he asked her if she had received anything special in the mail (Lawrence,

1933).
In addition to the irony of Jackson and Lawrence's short stories, characterization of the people in the stories proves just how greed causes a human to act insensitive to the well-being of another person. In "The Lottery", Tessie greets everyone when she is late in a casual manner (Jackson, 1948). It is not until her family is the unfortunate winner of the lottery that she becomes distressed (Jackson, 1948). Tessie knows all too well exactly what the day holds, but her mannerisms are just as everyone else's until she is the sacrificed victim. Although in the end, Tessie turns out to be the protagonist of the story, she could have easily been the antagonist such as the townspeople if the circumstances would have been different. The entire town sees nothing wrong with this sadistic ritual that is not proven to guarantee them crops. Additionally, Hester in "The Rocking-Horse Winner" treats her children in a casual manner as one would treat a stranger they are just meeting. She does not portray a maternal female. She is described to "laugh bitterly" when Paul tells her he is lucky (Lawrence, 1933, para. 19). Hester's inability to get past her love of money and greed puts a strain on her relationship with her family (Lawrence, 1933). She is unable to love her children how they deserve to be loved and Paul notices this lack of emotion from his mother (Lawrence, 1933).
A second characterization of "The Lottery" and "The Rocking-Horse Winner" is the eagerness of the characters in the stories. In "The Lottery" everyone is in a rush to get the stoning started and over with (Jackson, 1948). The townspeople do not seem as if they are rushing because they are upset that they must participate, but instead because they really believe this cause will have an effect (crops growing). Unlike the townspeople, Tessie is not eager to begin the stoning. She tries to explain to her community that they are not being fair (Jackson, 1948). Likewise, in "The Rocking-Horse Winner" Paul is determined to have enough money to make the home "stop whispering" and Hester happy, but neither ever happens (Lawrence, 1933, para. 5). Although the home does not really whisper the long-term effects of how Hester acts is felt throughout the home. The house is not a home that is built on love. In contrast to "The Lottery" both the protagonist and the antagonist in "The Rocking-Horse Winner" are eager. Readers can tell from the beginning of Lawrence's narrative that Paul is the protagonist and his mother is the antagonist. Paul is overly zealous in his attempts to please his mother. Hester's eagerness is the opposite of her son's, she is only determined to obtain more money and have the best things that money can buy. As hard as Paul rides his horse determined to find the key to his mother's happiness, he is unsuccessful (Lawrence, 1933). The home still whispers, and Hester is still unhappy even as Paul dies (Lawrence, 1933).
The irony and characterization in "The Lottery" and "The Rocking-Horse Winner" work simultaneously together in both stories to prove that greed whether for money or worldly possessions is a downfall in God's children. It causes people to act in ways that are destructive to themselves as well as others. It also proves that these mannerisms and actions are not beneficial to anyone in the short or long run when the person does not see an error in their ways.