Editor's Choice
Compare and contrast "The Rocking-Horse Winner" and "The Lottery."
Quick answer:
"The Rocking-Horse Winner" and "The Lottery" both feature shocking, tragic endings, initially presenting a deceptively positive atmosphere. "The Rocking-Horse Winner" focuses on a single family's internal pressures, while "The Lottery" depicts a town's collective adherence to brutal tradition. Both stories critique societal conformity; however, "The Rocking-Horse Winner" centers on love and sacrifice, whereas "The Lottery" highlights a lack of compassion, showcasing how cruelty is perpetuated across generations.
Both stories are similar in the fact that they both have tragic and shocking endings. When readers begin both stories, there is nothing to convey that major characters are going to die. In fact, both stories begin with a fairly positive and happy vibe. "The Lottery" has townspeople gathering together. Men and women are talking to each other, and kids are running around in a playful manner.
The children assembled first, of course. School was recently over for the summer, and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them; they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play. and their talk was still of the classroom and the teacher, of books and reprimands.
"The Rocking-Horse Winner " begins by discussing a beautiful woman that married for love. We even get a very quaint description of the house and kids in the...
Unlock
This Answer NowStart your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
beginning of the story.
There were a boy and two little girls. They lived in a pleasant house, with a garden, and they had discreet servants, and felt themselves superior to anyone in the neighbourhood.
The stories are quite different in their sense of scale. "The Rocking-Horse Winner" stays focused on an individual family; however, "The Lottery" is focused on an entire small town. Readers get little personalized snippets of various people, but the core of the story is based on traditions of an entire town.
Both stories certainly show the dangers of conformity. In "The Rocking-Horse Winner," the mother feels that "she felt she must cover up some fault," and even though there's never any particular person forcing her to try and prove her worth by having more, she feels that nebulous need. She wants the "discreet servants" and to be seen as part of the upper class, and her son, understanding his mother's needs, chooses to sacrifice his life. This same conformity is evident in "The Lottery" where members of this town press each other to go along with the lottery. The old man Wagner calls the towns who have given up the lottery fools and suggests that the rain may stop coming for them. Clearly, both stories have a lot of societal pressure to conform.
However, where the first story is really about love, "The Lottery" is about a lack of love or even compassion. Paul loves his mother so much that when she is desperate, he risks himself to try and give her what she needs. But in "The Lottery" the other people in town are not willing to even give up the cruel joy of stoning a woman to death. The lack of compassion for another human being is incredible, and when someone presses a stone into little Davy's hand, it's clear that this lack of compassion is being taught to the next generation. This is clearly and sharply contrasted against Paul who would sacrifice even his own life just to make his mother happier.