Archetypes In The Lottery - 1164 Words

In various stories, the authors often use literary devices to express feeling and thought and to distinguish their stories from others. At times, similar patterns can be found once critically examined instead of simply being read. In two stories, The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho and â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson, the main idea is the sacrifice of one person in a village and how other villagers are affected by it. In The Devil and Miss Prym, barmaid Chantal Prym meets â€Å"stranger† Carlos when he visits the village searching for answers. In â€Å"The Lottery†, the villagers have an annual drawing to rid of one of their own as tradition. While comparing and contrasting both stories, one can begin to see apparent types of conflict,†¦show more content†¦Thus, it was Chantal and Berta against society. In â€Å"The Lottery†, the families just went along with the tradition of drawing a piece of paper from a box and then stoning who ever drew the slip with the black spot. It was not exactly clear as to why the families kept the tradition because they did not seem to care for how it was carried out as stated, â€Å"there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory[] tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year; some people believed that the official of the lottery used to stand just so when he said or sang it, others believed that he was supposed to walk among the people, but years and years ago this p[a]rt of the ritual had been allowed to lapse. There had been, also, a ritual salute, which the official of the lottery had had to use in addressing each person who came up to draw from the box, but this also had changed with time . . . ,† (Jackson 2). The families just went along with this and had no intent to change it. Perhaps individually they did not believe it was fair, but they never did anything because that was how their society was. These two patterns of conflict helped shape the effect of the stories. A major archetype that was apparent in both stories was the mentioned idea of Good versus Evil. The symbol was represented by the Chantal’s and Carlos’sShow MoreRelatedAnalysis OfThe Devil And Miss Prym And The Lottery1027 Words   |  5 PagesDevil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho and â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson are stories that talk about the sacrifice of one person in a village and how other villagers play a part in it. In The Devil and Miss Prym, barmaid Chantal Prym meets â€Å"stranger† Carlos when he visits the village looking for answers. In â€Å"The Lottery†, the villagers have an annual drawing to get rid of one of their own as tradition. Both stories have apparent types of conflict, archetypes, a certain philosophy. Coelho had two differentRead MoreThe Devil And Miss Prym By Paulo Coehlo And The Short Story The Lottery1426 Words   |  6 Pagesthe words â€Å"good† and â€Å"bad† in daily speech. Whether it is to describe how one is feeling or the nature of a decision made, the practice of binary labeling becomes a habit. In the novel The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coehlo and the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, the villagers must choose between what they perceive as good and what is not. The issue presented in both pieces of literature is whether the good of the many is worth the sacrifice of one individual, bringing to light the questionRead MoreSummary Of The Devil And Miss Prym And Shirley Jacksons The Lottery1182 Words   |  5 PagesPaulo Coelho, writer of The Devil and Miss Prym and Shirley Jackson, writer of â€Å"The Lottery†, both reiterate the idea that a democratic government can be very dangerous if wrong propositions are voted upon by a public. L ikewise in both stories, wrong decisions are made by society, and bring conflict and chaos to a village. 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Jackson plays on culturalRead MoreThe Lottery by Shirley Jackson Essay1712 Words   |  7 Pagesinfluential to most, are also controversial to some. Her most controversial story, published in 1948 in The New Yorker, is The Lottery. The purpose for the writing of the story varies depending upon the reader, but some might say that it expresses Shirley Jacksons abysmal opinion of her fellow creatures (Coulthard 228). Whatever the purpose may be, The Lottery remains one of the most famous stories to date. Despite the controversy, readers also n otice the symbols and underlying themesRead More Anne Sexton1732 Words   |  7 Pagesfollows this pattern. First, the speaker tells four stories: one of a plumber who wins the lottery, one of a nursemaid who marries her boss’s son, a milkman who makes a fortune in real estate, and a charwoman who becomes rich after a bus she was on crashes, and she collects on insurance. The progression of these stories themselves lay cynicism into the form of the poem. The speaker starts with a story about a lottery winner, which is something lucky and could be taken as the universe helping a man strugglingRead MoreSatire/Irony in ‘the Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson2034 Words   |  9 PagesSatire/Irony in ‘The Lottery’: The Lucky Ticket The use of Satire/Irony within literature establishes situations where the unlikelihood of the occurrence of an event will happen. Jackson’s manipulation of his story, The Lottery, provides an unexpected twist to what one may seem to be a normal subject. Northrop Frye’s The Singing School, suggests that all stories are told in either one of four ways: Comedy, Romance, Tragedy or Satire/Irony (Frye 18). The use of Irony and its conventional associationsRead MoreLuisaldo Mendiola. Professor Price. Engl 1302 Nt6. Research2132 Words   |  9 PagesLuisaldo Mendiola Professor Price ENGL 1302 NT6 Research Essay April 21, 2017 Tradition and the Sheep A Critical Analysis of Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† Traditions are common part of culture and religion in the world today; almost everyone has a tradition that they follow. The traditions you practice can be new and only just have started with your generation or the generation before yours. The traditions could also have been old, spanning many generations before your generation and your parents’