The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and The Destructors by Graham Greene

Two short tales

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and The Destructors by Graham Greene, show various methods of how writers communicate with their readers.

Characterization

In the short tales “The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and The Destructors by Graham Greene,” characterization is a key component of fiction. The element identifies the parallels and divergences between the two literary works that readers can compare and contrast. Authors use different ways of communicating their messages to audiences. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and The Destructors by Graham Greene are two short stories depicting different ways through which authors reveal their message to readers by the description of the characters and the purpose of the author in the work of literature. The characters in these stories reveal different behaviors, qualities and emotions that communicate various messages to the audience. The essay will discuss the characterization of the two selected stories while comparing and contrasting to establish the similarities and differences of the message that author wanted to portray to the audience.

Description of the Stories

The Lottery

This is a story of people within a community who have gathered to play the lottery. They seem happy in the beginning, however, there is emanating danger that the residents may face due to the presence of the stones that were being piled up in the scene. Before beginning the event, the people go through the traditions as well as rituals associated with the lottery including performances, swearing-in, customs, chanting and recitations (213). The event proceeds after the arrival of Mrs. Hutchinson who had forgotten the date.

The Destructors

It is a story about teenage boys who had formed a group called Wormsley Common gang, a name they invented from the area they lived. These boys used to meet daily near the parking lot of one of the towns that had been bombed during the World War II. After the bombing, nearly everything within that region was destroyed. It was only one house owned by Mr. Tomas that stood with minimal destructions. He was an old man who lived alone and the boys called him the Old Misery.

Comparing and contrasting

Characterization

The Lottery presents five characters including Tessie Hutchinson, Old Man Warner, Mr. Summers, Bill Hutchinson, and Mr. Harry Graves. In the story, the author wants to the readers to understand the loser of the lottery by the he portrays the main character of the story, Tessie Hutchinson. She was unlucky and lost the lottery. After arriving at the village late, Tessie was excited about the lottery and in an anticipation of taking part. However, after the name of her family was drawn, she protested that the lottery was not fair. It was after she drew on the paper using the black mark caused her stoning to death by the people.

Old Man Warner was the oldest man in the community and also took part in the lottery. The author used this character to enable the audience understand that the lottery was not a new game in the village. He had already taken part in seventy-seven lotteries in his entire life. The old man Warner demonstrates the importance of lottery in the community and is seen despising the young people for stopping to participate in the lottery. He believes that the lottery is an important game that helps people not to return to a barbaric state.

Mr. Summers is a village leader and the man who was conducting the lottery by preparing the paper slips that were going to the black box. By using Mr. Summer, the author wants readers to learn how lottery is prepared. He called the names of the people to draw papers from the box.

Bill Hutchinson is the husband of Tessie. He was the first person to draw the paper that was marked by Mr. Summers from the black box. He lost the lottery in the second drawing after picking a blank paper. The author uses Bill Hutchinson to demonstrate the love and support of a husband towards his wife. He is seen showing every person attending the lottery that Tessie, his wife drew the paper that was marked. Therefore, she is the winner of the lottery.

The last character in the story used by Shirley Jackson is My. Harry Graves. He was the postmaster and helped Mr. Summers in preparing the lottery papers. Harry also helped Mr. Summers when conducting the ritual.

In the Destructors, Greene used seven characters including Blackie, the driver, Joe, Mike, Summers, T., and Mr. Thomas. Blackie is the main character in the story. He led the Wormsley Common gang before T. became the leader. The author wanted to show the characteristics of a just leader through Blackie. He is considered as a leader who is just because he isn’t jealous. Also, his intention is to maintain the group intact. For example, when the group sided with T. Blackie felt betrayed. The group was more important to Blackie that his personal interests. He wanted the group to work in unison until they bring down the house of the house of Mr. Thomas.

The Driver is a character who appeared nearly in the end of the story. He is the one who brought the house down by tying the gutted house to his truck and pulled it adjacent to the parking lot to crumble. The author wants to demonstrate that one thought could be enough to provide a solution to a problem that has been pestering people. The gang had worked hard to bring down the house without success. The driver only tied it to his truck and destroyed it.

Joe is a character who represents a major supporter of the gang to destroy the house under the leadership of T. Mike is a member of the gang who is easily surprised. He is astonished when T. becomes the leader. Summers is a member of the gang and identified with his last name. He is a follower and is seen complaining of much work needed to destroy the house. He is a helped most of the times.

T. is the short form of Trevor and the new leader of the gang after Blackie. He suggested the change that the gang made to its activities to pull down the house. T. represents the change needed in a group when new leadership is introduced. Mr. Thomas is the old man with whom he gang was destroying his house. He represents the oppressed in the society without help. He is naïve of the boys wanting to destroy his house and never anticipated their intention of disrespecting property.

Similarities and differences

The characters in the two stories have similarities. The authors used an old man in the works to display wisdom and need for respecting elders. In the lottery, the Old Man Warner demonstrates the need for respecting lottery as a game. In the destructors, Mr. Thomas is the old man who demonstrates the change in the society that young people are disrespecting the elderly and property.

Mr. Summers is a name that is common in the two stories. The authors used the same name to serve different purposes. In the lottery, Mr. Summers is the leader conducting the lottery while in the destructors, Summers is depicted as a helper in the gang. The helper in the lottery is Harry. From the two stories, the responsibility of a helper is present but represented by different people summers in the destructions and Harry in the lottery. The main characters in the stories are depicted as losers. In the lottery, Tessie lost the lottery while Blackie in the destructors lost his leadership.

There is a difference between the two stories whereby the lottery used one woman character while the destructors did not use a female character. There are five characters in the lottery while the destructors used seven characters. The main characters in the two stories anticipate winning. Both have outstanding qualities of becoming winners. Tessie wants to win the lottery while Blackie wants to win his leadership back from T. In the lottery, the author describes Tessie as a woman wanting to take part in the lottery and win for her family. In the destructors, Blackie developed his quality of becoming a winner by wanting to keep the group together. That’s why from the two stories, the motivations of the main characters can easily be determined from the text.

Conclusion

In conclusion, characterization is an element that authors of literary works use to pass information to the audience. By comparing and contrasting the stories, the lottery and the destructors, it is evident that the authors used characters to demonstrate the message to the readers. The main characters in the stories have similarities that a reader can identify and relate to the intention of the authors. Similar names have also been used in the two stories. However, the number of characters is different and the authors used them to serve different roles in the stories.

References

Greene, G. (1954). The Destructors. Retrieved from https://100mudcats.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/destructors.pdf

Jackson, S. (1948). The Lottery. Retrieved from https://sites.middlebury.edu/individualandthesociety/files/2010/09/jackson_lottery.pdf