Thursday, July 4, 2013

Can anybody think of a movie (any movie) to compare and contrast to The Lottery?

The Hunger Games would make an interesting subject with which to compare and contrast "The Lottery." In both cases, you have a system in which a communal sacrifice must be made for the continuing good, or at least survival, of the society. In The Hunger Games, Katniss and the citizens of District 12 are well aware of the impending drawing for a "tribute," a situation that is taking place in surrounding districts also. This echoes "The Lottery," in which the town knowingly gathers on the morning of a drawing, a drawing that also takes place in surrounding towns.
There are also similarities in the results of these random drawings. In both works, the drawing leads to death and there is a theatrical view of sacrifice. A similar conflict exists within each depicted society over the value of the system. The Capitol in The Hunger Games represents the portion of Panem's society most approving of the the Hunger Games, a display of the Capitol's power to stem future rebellion from the districts. In "The Lottery," Old Man Warner is the most vociferous in his defense of the annual lottery, revealing its roots in agrarian superstition when he says, "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon." He, like the Capitol, hopes to quash rebellion and dissent, though he sees that rebellion in the young, rather than in civil unrest.
Although similarities exist in the larger situations of both stories, the details reveal the differences. Although both locales are rural and apparently modest in terms of riches, "The Lottery" takes place in the past whereas The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian future. The winner, or loser, of the drawing in each case turns out to be a female, and in each case, there is a process within a family unit to get to that person; however, in The Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers to take her sister's place, whereas Tessie Hutchinson's family initially draws the paper with the spot, and then each family member draws again until it is Tessie who has the spot and thus becomes the sacrifice.
Another key difference lies in the differing attitudes of the female characters who become tribute. Though both are defiant, Katniss is defiant against the political system that oppresses her people and especially the oppressor's stronghold, the Capitol. She seems to accept those around her as fellow victims, even when she is the only one to become tribute. Tessie Hutchinson, on the other hand, becomes increasingly belligerent toward her neighbors as the process comes closer and closer to costing her personally. She berates the administrators and questions the process: "It isn't fair." These differences in attitude most likely stem from the greatest difference: Katniss has a fighting chance in combat with strangers at a future time and in a distant location; Tessie is immediately stoned to death by her own neighbors—and family.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvMSeg1s7uc&feature=youtu.be

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