“the Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson and “the Rocking-Horse Winner”

Thesis: Although “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence compare in tone, these stories contrast in conflict.

1. Introduction

1. “The Lottery” is a short story which is set a rural town in America. Every year at the same time during the summer the citizens of this town hold a ritual where and individual is to be stoned so that there will be a good harvest for the rest of the town. The conflict of this story is not evident in the beginning, but as the story progresses you begin to see the conflict.
2. The opening to “The Rocking-Horse Winner” reveals the conflict. As the story progresses we see the characters who are greedy, and with being greedy show a lack of love.
3. Although “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence compare in tone, these stories contrast in conflict.

1. Comparison
2. The opening scene of the “The Lottery” paints the picture of a joyful holiday retreat type of place “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (Jackson, 2018). Even though this story begins with a very light tone as the story progresses it eventually become dark.
3. The opening scene of “The Rocking-Horse Winner” however starts light but in a dark undertone “There was a woman who was beautiful, who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck. She married for love, and the lover turned to dust” (Lawrence, 2018) This story starts light with dark undertones, moves to the lighter side but as the story draws to a conclusion reverts back to dark.
4. Contrast

1. The main conflict that Bill Hutchinson was not given ample amount of time to select the paper he wanted “ Suddenly, Tessie Hutchinson shouted to Mr. Summers. ‘You didn’t give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair.’” (Jackson, 2018) This turns into having to redraw papers which eventually happens to be Tessie Hutchinson. The townspeople to include her own family began to heave stones upon her and her cries for unfairness went unheard, “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right” Mrs. Hutchinson screamed’” (Jackson, 2018)
2. The conflict in “The Rocking-Horse Winner” circles around a young boy, Paul, who is trying his hardest to win the approval and love of his mother, while his mother is trying to live a life of luxury. Paul believe that he can win her affection through placing bets on horses after he rides on his rocking horse to figure who the winner will be. We read later that an unfortunate fall from his rocking horse is eventually what kills him.

1. Conclusion

Both of these stories seem to portray families having horrific events happen to them. But the contrast of the conflict is what makes these two stories different. In “The Lottery” the family turns on you to make sure the next harvest is a good one. In “The Rocking-Horse Winner” the family seems to be a very tight knit family with no issues that are seen from outsiders, but deep down the family is falling apart.

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