Comparing The Lottery And My Life Stood A Loaded Gun

The theme of facade and its intersection with violence is a common one explored by many authors. This is especially apparent in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." Despite its outward appearance as a nice small town, it is revealed to have dark traditions involving violence, such as sacrificing a community member every year. Emily Dickinson's "My Life Stood a Loaded Gun" presents a poem that uses an extended metaphor of an inanimate object to convey a woman's experience with violence that exposes deeper issues such as gender and power dynamics. In contrast, Paul Simon's "Richard Cory" portrays a man who appears to have everything, yet ultimately takes his own life, emphasizing the theme of violence in the face of social expectations. Each of these

However, this community has many dark traditions that involve sacrificing a community member every year. In the story, the morning of June 27th is described as: “clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blooming profusely, and the grass was richly green" (Jackson 244). However, this vivid setting serves as a façade that masks the brutal reality of the villagers' annual tradition. In Jackson's story, the townsfolk blindly follow a tradition that requires them to stone one of their own to death every year, without questioning its origin or purpose. Some Indvidual's in the town may believe that this sacrifice is necessary for their crops and their survival, even though there is no evidence to support this idea. Some community members also fear any change or deviation from the tradition, as some exaggerate that giving up the lottery could lead to a return to living in caves; this can be seen by the quote from Old Man Warner: “Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them. Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves” (Jackson 247). However, this is nothing new, as actions taken such as real-life lottery play is a well-documented phenomenon in human societies: “Lottery play is... arising from tensions and frustrations caused by disadvantaged positions, or

In Paul Simon's "Richard Cory," the poem's themes of facade are evident right from the very beginning. “They say that Richard Cory" establishes the poem's point of view as someone observing Cory (Simon 1), which can be easily missed if not carefully examined. As the poem progresses, the reader learns that the persona who narrates the story works in Cory's factory. The persona states, "But I work in his factory / And I curse the life I'm livin’" (Simon 9-10), which adds to the irony of the poem's themes of façade as the persona's statement that they "curse" their life living in Cory's factory suggests that despite Cory's wealth and success, his employees are not living a fulfilling or happy life. This statement undermines the facade of Cory's success and happiness, as it shows that the reality of his employees' lives are much different than the image Cory projects to the outside world. The persona's resentment towards their own life in contrast to Cory's perceived perfection. The poem begins with a description of Cory as a larger-than-life figure, as evident in the quote: "He had everything a man could want: / Power, grace, and style" (Simon 6-7). This emphasizes his image as a paragon of success: someone who has everything that society values. However, a commonly overlooked part of