"The Lottery": Analysis

     Through the entirety of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, I cannot help but to make a compariso of this short story to The Hunger Games.  In this piece, this traditional drawing is presented as festive and welcoming.  The towns people come and "... greet[ed] one another and exchang[ed] bits of gossip…" (Jackson). However, the citizens of this town have not the slightest idea of the wickedness that lurks in the lottery.  Although this event happens each year and is treated almost as a holiday, people seems to feel a little bothered and uncomfortable by it.  With the whole concept of the lottery, my mind draws to The Hunger Games from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  The Hunger Games is an event held each year by a power that is superior over the citizens.  These games upset the individuals in districts, but are looked at as a celebration in the capital.  Like in The Lottery, The Hunger Games draw names.  In both works, the names drawn experience death.  In The Hunger Games, each tribute eithers watches someone die, murders another, or experiences death itself.  In The Lottery, the person whose name is drawn receives the prize of death by family and friends.

"Death, be not Proud": Personification

      After reading Death, be not Proud by John Donne, I find the usage of personification spread throughout almost every line of the poem.  Right from the start, the narrator begins saying, "Death be not proud" (Donne).  Author John Donne has death portray a character who feels a sense of proud.  This feeling of pride comes from death's accomplishment in its ability to snatch the life of every individual that has ever walked this earth.  Death, as an undefeated character appears to be unstopable.  The narrators discusses that the human race will always be physically conquered by death.  However, each person will live on eternally in heaven.  Moreover, death, possessing human qualities, should not feel pride, but rather defeated.

The Glass Menagerie: Situational Irony

     Upon finishing The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, I am surprised by the usage of situational irony.  At the beginning, Tom is both appalled and insulted when Amanda deems him selfish.  I was surprised by her words because Tom "makes a slaves of himself to..." support his family (Williams).  Tom has put his dreams on hold to take care of his family.  Moreover, Tom is placed with the family's financial stress when his mother does nothing but nag on him.  I would not characterize Tom as selfish for wanting to escape Amanda's pressures after work.  However, Tom ends up leaving his mother and sister to fend for themselves.  Although, I do not blame Tom, he did leave Amanda and Laura in a pretty terrible situation.  Tom saying he is not selfish, and then selfishly leaving his family is an example of situational irony.  The audience's expectations of what is appropriate to happen is the complete opposite of what actually  does happen.

The Glass Menagerie: Final Scene Analysis

       After reading The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, I look back at the last scene of the drama. In this final scene, Tom has chosen to follow in his father's footsteps by leaving behind his family.  By abandoning his mother and sister, Tom is free to finally be adventurous and pursue his dreams.  However, in his travels, Tom comes across "pieces of colored glass" and instantly thinks of Laura (Williams).  Moreover, Tom journeys across the country to rid himself of his past life, yet everything he encounters reminds him of his sister.  I predict that tom is haunted by Laura because of his guilt of leaving her behind.  Tom tells Laura to blow the candle out so that she stops worrying about him and lets him go.  I assume that Laura blowing out the candle symbolizes the end to Laura and Tom's relationship.

The Glass Menagerie: Symbolism

      As I read The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, I ask myself, "What exactly is a glass menagerie?"  In one scene, Laura is "washing and polishing her collection of glass" (Williams).  Laura is described as admiring this menagerie, which leads me to predict it to simply be a glass collection of figurines. right form the get-go, Tom mentions symbolism in the glass menagerie.  I believe this menagerie symbolizes Laura's fragility to the world in which she is surrounded.  Moreover, like Laura, the glass unicorn figurine breaks in an argument between tom and Laura.  Like the unicorn, Laura is crushed by the pressures of school and Amanda's high expectation for her.  I found it interesting that Laura likes the unicorn better with the horn because now it looks like the other horses.  Now that the horn is gone, the unicorn has lost what made it unique and special.  Because Laura like this, I assume she does not like what make her unique: her crippled leg.  This glass menagerie symbolizes Laura's fragility to the outside world.

The Glass Menagerie: Portrait of Father Analysis

     In The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, the father of Laura and Tom is consistently mentioned in every scene.  In the beginning, there is a portrait of the father "gallantly smiling, ineluctably smiling, as if to say, 'I will be smiling forever' " (Williams).  In my opinion, since her husband's abandonment left the family financial and emotional ruin, I question why Amanda chooses to leave her husband's smiling face hanging in the house.  I believe the father's image serves as a constant reminder of the family's problems.  In greater depth, whenever Tom and Amanda argue, Amanda always points to the father as an object of blame.  For tom, I predict he looks at the portrait as a way to happiness.  I assume this because tom is surrounded by unappiness, so he recognizes the genuine joy in his father's smiling face.  Upon finishing the drama, I see that Tom leaves his mother and sister to find the happiness that his father found outside of the home.

The Glass Menagerie: Hyperbole

      In the American drama, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, I notice the perfect usage of a hyperbole to describe the love- hate relationship between Tom and Amanda.  To start, the mother-son duo undoubtedly and unconditionally love each other.  However, with the family's financial situation, Tom is forced to give up his dreams to support his family.  Amanda's genuine concern comes off as rude and pushy. Amanda's constant nagging and suspicion cause an extremely heated argument between Amanda and Tom.  Tom then goes on to say he is "leading a double-life, a simple, honest warehouse worker by day, by night a dynamic czar of the underworld..." (Williams).  This hyperbole is said to confirm that Amanda's assumptions are preposterous.  The exaggeration also shows Tom's imaginative character.  Moreover, no one believes that Tom goes to the movies every night to simply indulge in adventure through the screenplay.  This hyperbole also works to back Tom's testimony of where he goes at night by providing Amanda with an adventurous and sarcastic tale.