Things Aren't Always As They Seem

Authors Note: The purpose of this piece is to explain a theme of the story The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson.

What would you do if you lived in a town where the lottery was not about money? The short story “The Lottery” is a story about how things are not always what they seem to be. For example, when thinking of a lottery, death does not come to mind but a grand prize like a new car or lots of money. In this short story the author, Shirley Jackson, uses irony to support the theme of things not always turning out to be what they first seem to be.

When reading the title, “The lottery” the thought of lots of money or a really grand prize comes to mind. After reading the story, the lottery really turns out to be a game of death and not luxury. This irony supports the theme since the lottery really did not turn out to be so grand as the readers expected it to be but one of the worst nightmares of the village residents.

All of the villagers are really scared of because they no it is not for money,it is for their lives.Another bit of irony in the story is that no resident of the little village wants to win the lottery. It could be inferred that no villager wants to win the lottery when said “‘you didn’t give him time enough to take any paper that he wanted. I saw you. It isn’t fair’” In these sentences, Tessie is saying that it wasn’t fair that they got the paper with the black spot on it indicating that they are the winners of the lottery. This is ironic that the townspeople don’t want to win a game that we would think of as grand prizes. This helps to support the theme since winning the lottery usually means winning grand prizes, but in this lottery, winning the lottery means losing your life.

Seeing that it means losing your life none of them want to win. In this short story, The Lottery, we learn that things are not always what they seem to be. For example when a lottery comes to mind, a grand prize is what is usually in store for the winner, but in this lottery, the winner wins the privilege to lose his or her life. Shirley Jackson uses irony to support the theme of things not always turning out to be what they first seem to be.

Katniss' Goal

Authors note: This is a piece on the book Catching Fire about how Katniss could have changed her mind about saving Peeta but she didn't.

In the book Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, Katniss’s (the main character) life has been changed because of the games, and all she wants is her old one back. People of District 12 look at her differently now, and she's always on the radar in the Capitol. Barely into the first chapter of the book, she says "I mourn my old life here. We barely scraped by, but I knew where I fit in, I knew what my place was in the tightly interwoven fabric that was our life. I wish I could go back to it because, in retrospect, it seems so secure compared with now, when I am so rich and so famous and so hated by the authorities in the Capitol." (10) She wants Peeta to survive in the beginning but there are many things that possibly change her mind in the games.

She wants Peeta to survive but now that she's won the Hunger Games, Katniss' family gets to live in a nice house and will never go hungry. Her role as the family's breadwinner is no longer needed. The others in her district also get more food and will be better off for at least a year, thanks to Katniss and Peeta's win in the arena. Because of this she might not want to give up her life; if Katniss dies her family no longer gets the supplies and no longer lives where they do now.

While Katniss knows what happened in the arena, she still doesn't know how she feels about it. At the end of the first Games, she and Peeta survived, thanks to her clever berry trick. Katniss decides that her action at that moment reveals who she is and how she should fit into this new, post-Games world "The berries. I realize the answer to who I am lies in that handful of poisonous fruit. If I held them out to save Peeta because I knew I would be shunned if I came back without him, then I am despicable. If I held them out because I loved him, I am still self-centered, although forgivable. But if I held them out to defy the Capitol, I am someone of worth. The trouble is, I don't know exactly what was going on inside me at that moment."(87)

Most of the time, Katniss is full of self-loathing, especially when she must decide whether to run away or stick it out in District 12 and try to fight the Capitol "I'm selfish. I'm a coward. I'm the kind of girl who, when she might actually be of use, would run to stay alive and leave those who couldn't follow to suffer and die. No wonder I won the Games. No decent person ever does." (82-83)

Is Katniss being too hard on herself? Aren't most people "selfish" and "cowardly" from time to time? Katniss can also be brave and selfless. Soon after hearing about the Quarter Quell, she determines to save Peeta's life, though it will cost her own. She doesn't give in to her gut feelings to look out for herself alone; she stays at his side and fights.

Last Flower In The Flower Bed

All the others are dead…. I'm lonely. I stand here swaying back and forth holding on to the hope that I can survive. Just as I'm giving up hope I see something in the distance. A man, walking towards me with a bucket of water and more plants. I am saved I think to myself. As he arrives next to the flower bed he crouches and starts digging up the other flowers. At last after he has dug up the other flowers he comes to me, as I think he is reaching for the water to save me he pulls a shovel out from his back pocket. I thought I was saved, but truthfully I knew I had to go sometime soon so I might as well make it now.