Second Essay Topic

For my second essay, my topic will be concerning the first question of comparing the two unjust and gruesome traditions in Shirley Jacksons “The Lottery” and Franz Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony”. After reading both stories I found many similarities in the themes of tradition. There were many comparisons in the characters and settings in each of the stories. For example the officer in the Penal Colony to me resembled Old Man Warner and the soldier in the Penal Colony resembled Mr. Summers. I think the comparisons amongst components and themes of the two traditions is very evident, however depicting the language and imagery will be more of a challenge. The officer’s argument against the new Commandant and almost blame as to why the machine was unable to work properly reminded me of Old Man Warner’s declaration in the Lottery. The procedure of the execution and specific machine parts reminded me of the village member’s strict system in the Lottery. In the Penal Colony, the parts of the machine (Designer, Bed and Harrow) each contributed towards the final execution similar to the specific procedure in the Lottery. Each execution had designated individuals to participate as well as material items (box and machine) that were expected to perform as a part of the tradition. There also seemed to be an emphasis on the children in both of the stories contributing to the traditions. For my essay, I will have to explore the imagery more and language used to make comparisons. I intend on using the language of the Officer in the Penal Colony to compare to the conversations that members of the village had in the Lottery. The imagery used in the Lottery depicted a village full of people gathered around the execution of Tessie Hutchinson will be helpful to compare to the Officer’s recollection in how the old tradition of the machine took place in the colony. The imagery made by the description of the machine in the Penal Code was also very specific so perhaps certain components will symbolize village members in the Lottery. There are many similarities in the two stories and after further exploration in imagery and language will be helpful towards my comparisons.

Tradition

In the Lottery, there was a blatant theme of tradition displayed by the village members. The tradition of gathering in June to have every member select a piece of paper and determine who would be stoned was a commitment that every individual made. As they gathered, every person knew where to be and what to do because they had done it for so many years as Old Man Warner explained. One tradition that my family has continued for years has been one around Thanksgiving. It may have not been as intense as stoning another member of the family, however after eating Thanksgiving dinner all 10 members of my family gather in the family room to uphold the tradition we do every year. We all line up with five people on each side facing each other and proceed to play rock, paper, scissors shoot. Whoever loses in that round has to clean the dishes while the others go to watch football. Although around my grandparents time, with my own parents they dealt cards to determine each other’s fate, the tradition has been going on for years now. Not once has one member of my family ask why we do this, or volunteer to help to do the dishes. It is always assumed that whoever loses will do the dishes. No one has ever argued against the method or suggested a new one because of the simple fact it is a tradition. After reading The Lottery I wondered why not one of the members of the younger generation fought against or argued with the tradition of their village. Although losing in a simple game and having to do the dishes pales in comparison to being stoned to death, it remains a tradition every Thanksgiving.