"The Lottery" Response

Authors note: This is a response to the short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson.

Have you ever been part of a lottery where you do not want to win. In the story "The Lottery" winning the lottery is the last thing any of the villagers would want. Victory leads to certain death at the hand of the rest of the villagers.

One theme in this story is humanity vs. inhumanity. The villagers think that the process of the lottery is a humane event, when in fact it is the exact opposite. Other villages received attention in the story after dropping the lottery. The villages still using the lottery looked at this as insane when it was actually an act of the other villages giving up inhumanity activities.

Another theme in this story was power. The government had complete power over everyone in the community throughout the whole story. For example those who won the raffle had no choice but to get stoned. Another example of power in the story was in the households in the village. Men had complete power over women. In the lottery the men drew for the women and if there was no man to do this then the woman's son would draw for her, they didn't even have the right to draw. Power is a common theme in this story.

There are many possible themes for this story but these are the two that seemed to stand out to me the most.

Strength in Numbers

Authors Note: This is a prediction piece that i plan on using for my DWA.

 Does the term strength in numbers still come in affect when you and those baring arms have the same initial objective to kill one another?  In the novel  The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, killing one another is the primary goal for all those competing in the games.  Katniss, and Peeta will go into the games with a disadvantage due to the amount of attention drawn upon themselves during the opening ceremony.  I predict that they join forces, even though technically they are enemies,  in order to avoid pushing up daisies early off in the games.

The appearance of Katniss and Peeta caught the eyes of nearly all those watching the ceremony.  The desire for attention was apparent in each competitor.  Due to jealousy nearly every participant has it out for Katniss and Peeta which gives them a strong disadvantage.   I predict that they will form some sort of alliance in an effort to overcome the major disadvantage being faced by the two of them.  Although considered enemies Katniss and Peeta will work together in hope of success.

There are many pieces of evidence providing hints to why they might go into the games with a disadvantage.  First off, tributes crave sponsorships going into the games, which means they will do anything to receive attention from those providing the sponsorships.  Katniss and Peeta easily won the crowd during the opening ceremony.  They received nearly all of the attention possible; it was almost as if the other tributes were being ignored. This obviously caused rage within each opponent, as shown on p72, "As I glance around, I notice a lot of the other tributes are shooting us dirty looks, which confirms what I've suspected, we've literally outshone them all".  This anger will drive others to personally seek out and target both Katniss and Peeta.  The way they presented themselves may come back to haunt them.

Katniss and Peeta will have no other choice but to team up due to those seeking each of them out.  There are many reasons as to why the two of them could end up working as a team.  One obvious reason is that they are from the same district.  Another possible cause of this could be the connection between them growing up.  They always seemed to keep a watch on one another unnoticeably.  Also, Peeta had previously gone out his way to help Katniss from starving.  There are several reasons that could support the idea of the two of them uniting.

That alliance is mandatory for them to find any success in the games. The slight disadvantage will be easily overcome using teamwork. I predict that they will join forces, even though technically enemies, in order to avoid death early in the games.