Characterization In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

Vincent Aquino
Mr. Shigo
English 9 Period 3
2/23/23
Characterization in Short Stories
Throughout life, people can often get caught up in a single-minded way of thinking. They believe that only they are important and often disregard others. They gloat, brag, and overall try to present themselves in a way that is superior to others, rather than be genuine and sympathize with these people. In a similar manner, two short stories follow matching ideas. In the short story, “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, there is an annual lottery held in a small, rural village. The winner of this lottery doesn’t win a large wad of cash, but is rather gifted the “reward” of being lapidated. The short story, “A Sound of Thunder,” by Ray Bradbury, takes place in

They are now willing to kill her brutally and harshly with large objects rather than sympathize and feel bad for this. Thirdly, diction is shown in the phrase “the children had stones already.” By saying the word “already,” this again slightly shows the excitement and readiness for people to kill Tessie. As soon as Tessie was selected to be killed in the lottery, people and children didn’t stop to admire her and think about all of the good times they’ve had with her, but immediately picked up stones and were ready to throw them. By writing about someone also giving little Davy Hutchinson some stones, the author shows that people want her killed so badly that they even gave her own son stones. Not only do they want little Davy Hutchinson to witness the death of his mother, they want him to participate in the lapidation too. Finally, Tessie's friends, neighbors, and even family members continue to advance towards her, despite Tessie “[holding] her hands out desperately.” Through diction, it is clear that these once friends and loved ones do not care about

Eckels, our main character, is a rich hunting enthusiast who has been on several different hunting trips already. As a result, he goes to Time Safari INC. to try to hunt a larger and more intimidating animal; a T-Rex. When the safari leaders go over the rules, they explain how going away from them and stepping on something small like a mouse can alter reality. However, Eckels is extremely self-centered and doesn’t care to listen to the rules for the safari hunt. “‘...With a stamp of your foot, you annihilate first one, then a dozen, then a thousand, a million, a billion possible mice!’ ‘So they’re dead,’ said Eckels. ‘So what?’” (Bradbury 4). Through this quote and indirect characterization, Eckels's true colors are revealed. He doesn’t really care about the safari adventure and just wants to be known as the person who killed a T-Rex. By him saying, “So what?” Eckels shows that he doesn’t care about the repercussions and effects doing something wrong could possibly have despite the safari leaders already explaining it. Later in the story, after our characters travel back in time, they eventually find a T-Rex. Despite Eckels being all full of himself at the start of the short story, he is ultimately scared during this moment. Consequently, he disobeys the rules and runs back to the time