Short Stories

In class we read a short story called "The Lottery". The story is about a village, and every year this village hosts a lottery. Doesn't this sound like such a happy little tale? First the man of the family goes up and picks a piece of paper from an old black box. Whichever man picks the piece of paper with a black dot then has to pick another, as does his family. They all pick again and whoever picks the black dot 'wins'. What do they win I hear you ask. Well, they win the opportunity to get stoned to death so the village might have good harvest.

The theme for this story is how people in general are so hypocritical, and that they don't mind something until their in the hot seat. For example, gossip. Everyone loves to gossip, but they hate being gossiped about. In "The Lottery" there is one lady who goes along with it all, however that is until she ends up getting picked to be stoned to death.

I'm going to compare this to an episode of the amazing television show, Supernatural. Supernatural is a show about two brothers who go around and save people from evil supernatural creatures. In this particular episode, the two brothers enter a small town where annual disappearances have been reported just outside. The boys soon find out that the two nicest people in the village are really just preparing couples to be sacrificed to a living scarecrow, in the surrounding forest, who can bring them good crops.

The theme of this is similar, slightly more skewed, but their similar. The people in the village gladly sacrifice people who pass through their town, yet none of them will go themselves. The nice people try to sacrifice one of the brothers, and their daughter, claiming they would do the same, and it was a great service. Though, when the daughter angrily calls them out, they quickly leave.

These stories are similar because both have someone(s) who are behind the killings, who are also slightly weary and scared, but behind it. Until their called out. In one case they make it out, and the other the person is stoned to death. However the main thing, is that both themes show how hypocritical the human population is, or can be.