Comparison of the Theme of Luck and Literary Devices in “The Lottery” and “Rocking-Horse Winner” Anonymous 12th Grade

The plots in both The Lottery, and Rocking-Horse Winner focus on winning an eventual reward by the respective characters consequently causing the tragedy of their outcomes. In H. Lawrence’s The Rocking Horse Winner, Paul obsesses over luck and monetary rewards in order to earn motherly love from his avaricious parent. In due course leading to his own fate. Similarly in Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, residents fervently participate in an irrational and cruel lottery tradition that demands the death of the winner. Both stories share a similar structure, as they begin innocently with a common aim that a character emerges as the winner through luck. However, the stories both utilize an abrupt ending involving tragic deaths. As Paul dies from obsessively winning horse races that eventually overcomes him. Also, Tessie is stoned to death following the pick as the winner of the village’s lottery. In accomplishing this feat, both authors use irony to illustrate how being the winner is not actually fortunate but results in death. The stories also utilize symbolism to demonstrate the parallel theme of luck while conveying other respective themes. Both stories employ symbolism to convey their theme and also entail similar dramatic...