“The Lottery” and “The Destructors”
Works of fiction are always aimed at passing a certain message to a specific audience chosen by the author. Different works of fiction may pass a similar message to different audiences, or may even target similar audiences. Similar works of fiction from different authors are not an uncommon feature, although such works are subject to differences as well. The goal of every author is always to keep their work as unique as possible while maintaining the quality of the work as well as keeping the bond between the author and the audience as strong as possible. Some of the features that make fictional works either different or similar include the plot, setting, characters, or even the themes built in the works. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Destructors” by Greene have both differences and similarities right from the setting to the themes presented in the two books.
The setting of “The Lottery” and “The Destructors” is similar since it is based on the period after the World Wars. The Lottery story takes place immediately after the Second World War in a village that is said to have about three hundred people (Jackson, 1948). The village residents are required to conduct a ritual that is commonly referred to as the lottery and involves choosing a human sacrifice that is meant to pay for the continued wellbeing of the village. On the other side, “The Destructors” is set immediately after the Second World War in London and features the story of a town gang that is out to destroy an old building owned by an old man (Greene, 1954). “The Destructors” story is dated back to the mid-1950s and is a short story like “The Lottery.” The setting of both stories explains the character traits of the residents of the areas represented.
The setting of both “The Lottery” and “The Destructors” affects the way the characters behave to justify their actions. “The Lottery” is set in a village that has been founded in a belief that an individual has to be sacrificed for the village to continue in wellbeing. The belief compels the villagers into treating their fellow humans chosen for the sacrifice inhumanely, although every resident appears to agree with the choice to sacrifice individuals for the wellbeing of the village. The piles of stones that are visible from a distance symbolize the violent nature of the village. Similarly, “The Destructor” is set in a town that appears to be the reason for the behavior of the various characters. A gang of boys is said to have been meeting at a particular spot regularly. Eventually, the boys decide to destroy a building that had been standing near the meeting spot for several years. Additionally, the bomb is dropped at the spot where the characters had been meeting before the incident.
“The Lottery” and “The Destructors” are however different in the way the theme of tradition is built in the two books. Although both stories represent the characters as being blinded by the desire to keep hold of the existing tradition, “The Lottery” presents the upholding of an existing tradition while the “The Destructors” is based on the belief of a tradition that is developed by individuals who later decide to stand by the tradition. The residents of the small village portrayed in “The Lottery” are blinded into following a tradition that has existed for several years without questioning (Robinson, 2019). The tradition in the village has brainwashed the residents, and they do not care about the outcomes of the various activities. For example, the villagers wake up, as usual, to go to work with the excitement of coming back to engage in a lottery game that will end with one of them dying for the belief that the village’s wellbeing will be upheld. On the other hand, “The Destructors” involves the tradition that has been developed by a gang of boys, of meeting at a particular spot without a specific goal. The tradition eventually becomes the origin of the idea of destroying a building. Generally, the presentation of tradition is different between the two stories.
“The Lottery” and “The Destructors” have both employed the use of irony in the building of several themes. The iron is first seen in the “The Lottery” with the day of the lottery being explained as a jovial day. Also, Warner is portrayed as a jovial man despite being the leader of a lottery that is aimed at ending someone’s life. Additionally, the lottery is not a way of winning a fortune as expected, but instead, the winner is killed as a sacrifice. On the other side, “The Destructors” incorporates irony in the way the impacts of war are narrowed down to the destruction of an old man’s crippled house.
In sum, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Destructors” by Greene have both differences and similarities right from the setting to the themes presented in the two books. The settings of “The Lottery” and “The Destructors” are similar since they are based on the period after the World Wars. “The Lottery” and “The Destructors” are however different in the way the theme of tradition is built in the two books. However, “The Lottery” and “The Destructors” have both employed the use of irony in the building of several themes.
References
Greene, G. (1954). The destructors. Picture Post.
Jackson, S. (1948). The lottery. The New Yorker, 26, 25-28.
Robinson, M. (2019). Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Holocaust Literature. Humanities, 8(1), 35.