Comparing Jackson And The Lottery

Hemingway and Jackson are two well-known writers from around the same time period. “The Lottery”, written by Jackson, is about a small town that holds a lottery every year, where the unlucky winner stoned to death. Hemingway also wrote a story called “A Very Short Story”. His story is about a soldier that fell in love with a nurse named Luz, only to have his heart broke when she tells him it was only a boy and girl affair. How does “A Very Short Story” differ from “The Lottery”? There are several distinctive differences between “A Very Short Story” and “The Lottery”, such as the characters, style of writing, and the theme; that make the two stories distinct from each other.

To begin with, Hemingway’s use of characterization is the exact opposite Jackson’s. Each of the main characters in “The Lottery” has a name, a family, a brief background, and even a physical description. An example of this is Mr. Summers, “He was a round-faced, jovial man and he ran the coal business, and people were sorry for him, because he had no children and

The theme of “A Very Short Story” is about young love. Hemingway is trying to say that young love is not real and it will eventually end in heartbreak. In the beginning of the story, the soldier is obviously in love and even talked about getting married, “They wanted to get married, but there was not enough time for the banns, and neither of the had birth certificates” (Hemingway 2). “The Lottery” has a different and much darker meaning. Jackson conveys a message about the dangers of blindly following tradition. The small town holds a lottery every year, even though much of the tradition was lost and there is no logical reason for it other than, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (Jackson 264). The small town tradition seems harmless until the fatal ending when Tessie Hutchinson gets stoned (Jackson