Exploring Cultural Themes: Point of View in Maidencane and The Lottery

This essay provides a comparative analysis of the point of view in two short stories, 'Maidencane' by C.B. Anderson and 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson. The analysis focuses on how the authors use narrative perspective to convey cultural themes and societal observations. In 'Maidencane,' the author explores the potential family situation and the reflections of a young girl from a broken family, while 'The Lottery' uses a seemingly simple village tradition to reveal deeper insights into human nature and the influence of community. The essay highlights how readers' interpretations may vary based on their own experiences and understanding of the cultural contexts presented in the stories. The references to the original texts support the arguments made, providing a comprehensive understanding of the authors' choices and their impact on the readers.

English RTW Assignment on Two Stories
The point of view in Maidencane chooses to pick is that of a reader’s potential family
situation. However, it may not be the same case as that of a typical black family. There are a lot of
assumptions made which are reflecting in the story, even though it is fictional in nature. The author
suggests that the father perceives the driving of a black person in a red car to cause too much
attention. But the truth is different from fiction. In many cases, it is seen that the fiction is inspired by
the truth of our society. In this case, the author has taken pointers that are potentially taken from a
Black family and their thought process. However, not all Black families may think the same. It is
important to take note that the author has presented the reflection of a girl that has come out of a
broken family and is struggling through life. She takes into account all the different suggestions that
her father has made to her over time like that of owning a cell phone. However, it is not the same
case in the reality that we live in. majority of the people tend to use cell phones or do not take into
account all the advice that are given by parents, especially if the parents do not live with the children.
The understanding of the reader may be different as their relativity with the truth would be made but
the author is more focused on fiction and relaying of a story of a young girl (Anderson, n.d.).
The focal point of the story – The Lottery by Jackson (1948), was the box that was in a bad
shape due to the mishandling that it had gone through. However, the box is used by the author to
give a closer understanding of the people of the village and their conditions. The author may have
used an original story to share ideas about his witnesses of the conditions of the people in a village
but the readers may perceive these as a shock. Majority of the people who read stories tend to live in
a modern-day city area and their interpretation of the words that are written by an author are always
different. For example, the information used about the difference in the attitudes of girls and boys in
the villages at that time is somewhat relative to the nature of young boys and girls even today. Some
people might relate to the idea while others would see a historical significance in the nature of boys
and girls from the very beginning of time. The Lottery Box is a story of a village and the numerous

thought processes of the people living in it and the prejudice that is long been identified. It is also
about the traditional political activities that are taken by different villages and the influence of one
community over another. The author may be focusing the story on the villages but a reader can easily
relate the influence of one village on another to the global scenario and political struggles that we
have to work in (Jackson, 1948).

References
Anderson, C. B. (n.d.). Maidencane. The Nimod Literary Awards. Retrieved from:
https://nimrod.utulsa.edu/archive/awards_38/Anderson.pdf. [Last Accessed: 25th May 2019]
Jackson, S. (1948). The Lottery. Middlebury Institution. Retrieved from:
https://sites.middlebury.edu/individualandthesociety/files/2010/09/jackson_lottery.pdf. [Last
Accessed: 25th May 2019]