Outline
I. The dangers of conformity is the main theme of both D.H. Lawrence’s short story “The Rocking-Horse Winner” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.”
A. Although these stories were written in different times and places and describe different characters and events, they converge on the main theme of conformity to irrelevant or harmful social norms.
B. Both Lawrence and Jackson use literary devices like symbolism, irony, and characterization to convey the theme of conformity.
II. Characterization is central to both of these short stories, helping to show how weakness and lack of self-awareness lead to blind conformity, causing suffering and even death.
A. The mother in “The Rocking Horse Winner” is like Bill Hutchinson in “The Lottery,” even though the latter could have prevented his wife’s death.
B. Tessie and Paul are both sacrificial lambs, although Tessie does realize the stupidity of the social rules governing the community.
III. The authors use irony to anchor the theme, and make their short stories more poignant.
A. “The Lottery” is ironic in the way rigidity is juxtaposed with a desire to change.
B. “The Rocking Horse Winner” is ironic in that Paul rides a fake horse to pick numbers for the real horse races, but the winnings are as superficial as a rocking horse.
IV. Symbolism helps to show how conformity is ultimately destructive.
A. The rocking horse is a powerful symbol representing how material pursuits are false.
B. The stones and the black box symbolize resistance to change and mystery, respectively.
V. Both Jackson and Lawrence do a stellar job of blending symbolism, irony, and characterization in their short stories denouncing blind conformity to antiquated values.
When Winning is Losing
Literature often reveals the profound paradoxes of life, the ironies that befuddle human beings and make human societies complex and contradictory. Short stories can achieve their thematic goals even more poignantly than longer format prose. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” winning the titular game means essentially losing the biggest game of all: one’s life, one’s right to live....
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