“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell

In two The drawing off by Shirley Jackson and The Most Dangerous juicy by Richard Connell, the authors write to emphasize the holiness of tone through the conflicts endured by their important characters both implicitly and explicitly. Both stories deal with the topic of the pickings of human race life.The drawing implicitly delves into the thought processes and ritual of a society where the taking of a life is ceremonial. However, the reviewer is left to respect the purpose of this manifestly ageless tradition. The Most Dangerous Game on the other hand, is a lot much sinister in nature.Human life is similarly taken in a systematic way, with rules that must be followed, but also a chance that the target may earn his freedom. In this explicit way, the reader adepty comprehends the evil surrounding the Game and is confounded by cleanup position as a means of entertainment.What first struck me as I read both stories was the similarity in the development of the characters. Both stories had an public executioner and a victim that were seemingly interchangeable. In The Lottery, Mr. Summers was the presider of the ceremony and he effectuate his duties with an aloofness that gave the reader a false sense of security end-to-end the story.The crowd encircled him. He knew one would die in point he himself was not exempt. Yet, he wistfully remembered a time when the Lottery had more pomp and pageantry. General Zaroff in, The Most Dangerous Game also felt a longing for a time when the Game was more exciting.He had a crowd of contestants in his training area that he despised for lack of skill and wisdom. Mr. Summers and the crowd felt the same way round Mrs. Hutchinson, who was so lackadaisical about the Lottery that she was late.In a matter of life and death for her family her excuse for being tardy was a sink full of dirty dishes. In The Most Dangerous Game Rainsford is also kind of flippant about his situation and about taking lives as he brags to h is associate about his hunting exploits.Rainsford dismisses the fear he is surrounded with upon the put forward of dangerous waters. In this way, both authors exhibit their theme of the importance of the sanctity of life in the reactions of both victims, Mrs. Hutchinson and Rainsford when they realize that their lives are the ones in baffle unexpectedly.When Rainsford finds himself washed up on what the other sailors called ship trap island the reader hears gun shots and the author creates a further sense of foreboding as he introduces Rainsford to General Zaroff. No detail is left unnoticed by the reader as the butler Ivan opens the door and Rainsford is met at gunpoint.At first Rainsford is impress and flattered by the General who recognizes the expert hunter. Soon, however, the finery of Zaroffs compound is negated by the brutality of the Game he describes and nonchalantly intends for Rainsford to approve of and participate.Conversely, the warm springtime riding horse of The Lottery is misleading. In modern society a lottery is a much sought after prize. People choose to play and request to be selected for vast sums of money.However, in this story there is an undercurrent of worry and masked fear in the crowd as they take their troll to draw slips of paper. The Most Dangerous Game is much more of a thrill ride for the reader as we hide with Rainsford in the tree as he is purposefully hunt in the Game.We cheer for him as he eludes General Zaroff and changes his mind about hunting as a sport. Ironically, Rainsford can now empathize with his quarry after becoming the hunted himself. The same cannot be said of The Lottery. Mrs. Hutchinsons change in way is heart breaking. With her outbursts and contention that the Lottery had been run unfairly, the reader realizes that her life is shortly coming to an end. The irony of her situation is that she claims to have forgotten all about the Lottery earlier that morning.Nowshe fights to challenge its outcome and the reader is left to wonder why people of this town die at the hands of the Lottery in the first place. Though their style of writing is completely different, in both The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell, the authors engage their readers into battling along with their main characters for their very lives. We challenge the seemingly pointless rituals of the Game and Lottery. Inevitably we agree with the authors that lives are not to be toyed with by an unfeeling society.