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Essay Comparing The Lottery And The Hunger Games

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“Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is” (Albert Camus qtd. in Goodreads). Throughout history, the essence of human nature has been meticulously questioned and debated by philosophers, scientists, believers, and all other manners of individuals. Some argue that humans trend towards altruism, having a natural desire to provide assistance and aid to others. However, this viewpoint is quite rare when compared to its counterpart. The most prevailing and pessimistic line of thinking asserts that humans, at their core, are inclined towards savagery and barbarism, even in a civilized setting. This stance has been reflected in countless pieces of literature, such as Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery,” and Suzanne Collins’s …show more content…

The novel takes place in Panem, a nation made up of an upper-class metropolis known as the Capitol, as well as twelve servile districts that surround it. These districts are oppressed and exploited by the Capitol, which holds a lottery each year in order to choose “tributes” for a competition called the Hunger Games. Through this drawing, the Capitol selects a boy and a girl from each district and forces them to fight within a massive arena until there is only one tribute left alive. The Capitol claims that the event is both punishment for a rebellion from the districts and a memorial for those lost during the revolt, but presents it as an exciting spectacle that is televised all around Panem. The Capitol holds the Hunger Games in order to keep the districts in line, viewing those living in them as uncultured dangers to society who could rebel the moment they feel empowered. Ironically, it is the citizens and officials of the Capitol who display the most startling lack of empathy and humanity. They live extravagantly decadent lives and have access to excessive amounts of resources that enable their hedonistic lifestyles. This is reflected in their vibrant and outlandish sense of fashion, especially when compared to the dull grays and browns of district attire. The residents of the

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The Lottery is a short story about a town of people that will crowd and all the men will get a slip of paper all the paper is blank… besides one and that one has a black dot, so a lucky person will get it and if they have a kid older than 16 they have play this game, anyway the winner will get a “prize”. The Lottery story and The Lottery movie have many things that were different. The Lottery story is different from The Lottery movie by where it is located and where the event took place, such as in the story they were sacrificing someone in a large field while in the movie they were stopped by the building. If they didn’t have the building in the way she could have lived longer while if they did she would have died sooner.

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1040 Words | 5 Pages

Often in literature, comparing stories will lead to revelations about human nature. Lord of the Flies and The Hunger Games both share a motif of being trapped and take human nature to another level. Lord of the Flies and The Hunger Games prove that working together and looking out for each other will give you a greater shot at victory. One very significant similarity is that in both books the characters are trapped on an island and fighting for their safety and survival. In Lord of the Flies, school boys, Ralph, Roger, Simeon, Piggy, Jack and along with other kids are trapped on an island and have to fight for survival, but, after a while of being on the island the civilization starts to die and so do the boys from violence and lack of communication.

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1570 Words | 7 Pages

In Hunger Games what creates the rebellion is inequality and extreme differences between poor and rich people. Country called Panem is divided in Capitol and districts from 1 to 12. The wealthiest is the Capitol and from District 1 to District 12, the level of poverty and hunger increases. Withal, Hunger Games are mortal games which are designed to

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766 Words | 4 Pages

Thomas 1 Joshua Thomas Ashley Allee English 115 February 23,2017 Compare and Contrast Essay Both Katniss and Tessie question the reasons for the continue the tradition each year and allowing the cruel activities to continue causing deaths each year through the lottery and reaping. In their own way both Tessie and Katniss are rebellious towards the demands of the government. Even Tessie complains to the villagers while Katniss acts out, but both resent the level of intrusion into their levels. But each character resent the government intrusion into their towns life. In each story the government demands someone death as punishment or to appease their tradition.

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264 Words | 2 Pages

Compare and Contrast Name Trinity Morse “The Lottery” and Hunger Games Both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins are about dystopian societies in which life and death events occur. They are similar in a way and not similar in a way. They are similar because this event happens once a year. In “The Lottery” the whole Village Square gets rocks and throws them at the winner they will throw the rocks until the winner is died. In The Hunger Games they get slips and put them in a jar and a special person with pull a girl and a boy from the jar.

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363 Words | 2 Pages

Is having a lottery to increase a farmer’s crop growth a fair idea? In the short story, The Lottery, readers find out that a small village host a lottery and the winner is stoned to death in order for the village to have a prosperous crop. Readers are left with a confused feeling due to people sacrificing another human to have a bountiful harvest. Readers can argue that the villagers should continue the drawing by blindly following the tradition to prosper. To begin with, the townspeople should discontinue the lottery.

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1015 Words | 5 Pages

We all have heard “You can't always get your way.” Sometimes we don't get what we want, or you would tell your siblings that when they annoy you. It is true that we, as people, don't always get our way. The same thing could be said in the two texts “The Lottery” and “The Hunger Games.” In both texts characters face eternal peace.

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375 Words | 2 Pages

There are many differences and similarities between “The Lottery” the short story by Shirley Jackson and the The Lottery the short film. One contrast of the short story and the short film is, at the beginning of the short story no one drove to the lottery in a truck, but in the short film someone drove to the drawing in a ford pickup. Another contrast is the way the story describes the box looking shaggy and barely being able to see the black anymore, but in the film the box looks brand new recently repainted. But one comparison to the short story and the film is the setting, because the writer of the short story was so descriptive it painted a picture in your head of what it was supposed to look like, and the writer of the film made

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976 Words | 4 Pages

In the Hunger Games series, a dystopian future is set up. The government of Panem, The Capitol, holds the wealth of Panem giving it the power to control all districts. In order to enforce this theory, they created the Hunger Games. They suppressed the rights of the citizen’s of Panem and selected their children in order to fight each other do death for survival. These games were created to scare the people and show them who was in charge.

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691 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout centuries, traditions and rituals have had the ability to control one’s behavior. In Shirley Jackson’s, “The Lottery”, she tells the reader of a small village. On the surface, this community may seem relatively normal. However, despite the picturesque appeal, this falsely serene village has a distinct deceitful flaw. On June 27th, every year, a lottery takes place.

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504 Words | 3 Pages

The Lottery is a story by Shirley Jackson. It is about a town that has a type of stoning event called the lottery. It is basically like gambling with your life. Each person has to pull out a slip of paper out of a black box. There are enough slips for each member of the town.

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501 Words | 3 Pages

Traditions have been sought after and passed on for generations; with no questions asked, whether humane or not, traditions are hard to break and diminish as they are often what a culture or community stands for. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, a story about the tradition of a small village, is painted in impeccable details of peace, and serenity on a warm summer day, as everyone follows the tradition they have known since a long time ago despite the true intentions and meaning of it forgotten. The Lottery taking place annually is like no other lottery, it paints the true picture of the horror that epitomizes the tradition that none of the villagers dare to question, despite it creating separation between gender and families and ruining

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1740 Words | 7 Pages

Based in what is called “The Capitol,” the Hunger Games society is run by a totalitarian government that controls its population through the ritual of the actual Hunger Games tradition that take place. In order to keep its citizens in line, every year, The Capitol holds an annual Hunger Games. Through these Hunger Games, citizens are picked at random and are forced to fight to the death in a large outdoor arena that is control by The Capitol. The games itself are spectacles. Although being forced as a tribute to fight to the death, each member fighting is stripped our their social status as they put on fighting gear to joust it out until the end.

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866 Words | 4 Pages

The Capitol, the ruling power in Panem, exercises complete control over its citizens, using the Hunger Games as a way to maintain their power and authority. The Capitol maintains its power through fear and intimidation, as the people of the districts live in poverty and constant fear of punishment for stepping out of line. The Hunger Games are a way for the Capitol to remind the districts of their powerlessness and to prevent them from rising up against the government, while also tauntingly using their suffering for the entertainment of Panem. Evidence for this is seen in the quote, “This is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving a rebellion.”.

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1162 Words | 5 Pages

On the other hand, there is Capitol who has political control in the nation of panem. The story starts when each district must offer a male and female between the ages of 12-18 at a public reaping as a penance for their uprising. The tributes which are male and female shall be delivered to the Capitol and then transferred to a public arena where they will fight with other district until a lone victor remains. This tradition called the hunger games. The story centers was coming from poor district 12 where Katniss and Peeta as their tributes.

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