ENGL 102 Fiction Essay: Comparing and Contrasting Two Short Stories

This essay provides a comparative analysis of Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery' and Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'Young Goodman Brown'. The essay begins with a thesis statement, which highlights the contrasting elements of the two stories including the main characters and their unique traits. It then delves into the themes, tones, and literary techniques employed by each author, such as the use of allegory, symbolism, and irony. The essay contrasts the characters' motivations and the societal contexts presented in each story, emphasizing the different moral lessons conveyed to the reader. The essay also explores the authors' writing styles, including their use of metaphors and the creation of atmosphere. The essay concludes by referencing the sources used. The essay fulfills the requirements of an ENGL 102 fiction essay assignment, as it compares and contrasts two stories from the fiction unit.

Running head: ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT 1
ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT

ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT 2
Thesis Statement: This essay depicts the contrast of two different stories namely The lottery
by Shirley Jackson and Young Goodman brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
The main protagonist in the story by Nathaniel Hawthorne features Goodman Brown,
his wife Faith, Goodly Clouse an older woman who happens to be the teacher of religious
subjects, the devil are the main characters, whereas in the short story “The Lottery”, Mr.
Summers, Mrs Hutchkinson, Warner the old man, Tessie and Bill along with the three
children Nancy, Dave and Bill (Shirley Jackson, 1948).
There were no outstanding qualities as such in story of the Goodman Brown on the
contrary he developed a very unique trait of not being able to accept the reality. The character
has developed these qualities of being the evil due to his susceptible mind. His own diabolical
characteristics lead him into that narrow forest. He could not believe on his wife and
displayed a care free attitude which in return he received as and when he was dying
(Williams, 2018).
Brown’s transgression is pride as it can be seen in the story (Hawthorne, 2018). In
case of the lottery story, it also signifies that how the people are living on the false beliefs.
Tessie Hutchinson symbolizes those people as the creators of the injustice as they all believed
on the false hope of winning the large amount of the money. She herself is a hypocrite person
who was participating in the lottery and was happy until her family is chosen to pay back for
the black spot in the chit. Bill Hutchinson on the other hand was not worried about her wife,
rather than the traditions followed by the society. The older man also determines that the old
values are something that one cannot take out of the person and therefore he resists changing
the system.
The tone of the lottery story fluctuates from peaceful, calm and tranquil moments to
one of the most horrific and the cautious moment. On the other hand the tone of the Goodman
Brown is a serious tone. Earlier the author keeps a rather sceptical tone and thereafter the
tone went on towards the negative zone. The tone of the Goodman Brown suggests the
happening of the serious events (Robinson, 2019).
The author of the lottery uses different mediums to write the story such as using of the
metaphors and theme of the story also includes the errie and the dangerous environment.
Large amount of irony has also been presented in the story. The story consists of the elements
of shock and horror. That’s what makes the writing special as the writer has made use of the

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ironies at different level. It encompasses fusion of different aspects such as the allegory,
symbolism, foreshadowing and point of view (Ismael & Ali, 2018).
Allegory: Behind the story, Young Goodman Brown is a moral story of humankind's
defect. As per Wilson, 'Goodman' was a title meaning a man of his word; this, in actuality,
implies that Brown possible acknowledgment of humankind's wrongdoing isn't just a
revelation for him, yet additionally for the world. On the other hand the style shows up
absolutely barebones, with no obvious feeling—or possibly no negative feeling. In such
manner, it may be said to reflect the mentality of the residents themselves, who generally
observe the lottery as a naturalized lifestyle, not any more deserving of feeling than the
blooms or the grass. The locals express no clear compassion toward Tess, and neither does
the story's portrayal. For us, this just serves to expand the frightfulness of "The Lottery"
(Shirley Jackson, 1948).
The author conveys the theme to the reader in the middle stage in case of the
Goodman Brown story when he meets the devil, and the devil speaks of the family of the
Brown. This is the clear indication of how Mr Brown was deceitful over himself. Whereas in
case of the lottery story the theme was clarified when Tessie realised in literal that one day it
could be her number as well (Hawthorne, 2018). In case of the story of the lottery the author
depicts how a few customs are not worth holding tight to. They trusted that a human penance
would enable their harvests to develop, yet they had no reason for this relationship, and the
demise of a kindred human does not appear to merit having some additional corn.

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References
Hawthorne, N. (2018). The birthmark. Charles River Editors via PublishDrive.
Hawthorne, N. (2018). Young Goodman Brown. Charles River Editors via PublishDrive.
Ismael, Z. I., & Ali, S. A. K. (2018). Human Rights at Stake: Shirley Jackson’s Social and
Political Protest in “The Lottery”. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and
English Literature, 7(6), 28-36.
Robinson, M. (2019). Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Holocaust
Literature. Humanities, 8(1), 35.
Shirley Jackson, (1948). The Lottery". Retrieved from
https://sites.middlebury.edu/individualandthesociety/files/2010/09/jackson_lottery.pdf
Williams, A. H. (2018). Bewildered in Salem: Speech Acts and Sexuality in Nathaniel
Hawthorne's" Young Goodman Brown". PsyArt, 13-31.