Literature and the Unchanging Past Essays

Literature and the Unchanging Past Essays Literature and the Unchanging Past Essay Literature and the Unchanging Past Essay In â€Å"A Modest Proposal,† Jonathan Swift vents about the tyranny of the English, the ineffectiveness of Irelands politicians, the English anti-Catholic prejudice, and the tendency of the rich, powerful people to treat poor people very badly. In â€Å"The Lottery,† Shirley Jackson writes about a village that blindly tries to preserve a dangerous tradition, even though it culminates a violent murder each year. Even though these two pieces of literature were written centuries apart, they both share a common theme. Both â€Å"The Lottery† and â€Å"A Modest Proposal† address the theme of society and class. Shirley Jackson and Jonathan Swift reveal the devastating consequences of society’s disability to question and correct its hurtful traditions and beliefs. In â€Å"The Lottery,† individuals are persecuted at random by the villagers, and the victim is only guilty of having drawn the wrong slip of paper from a box. This elaborate ritual of the drawing the lottery is designed so that all of the villagers have equal chance of becoming the victim-even children are at risk. Each year, someone new draws the fateful slip of paper, and he or she is chosen and killed. With this ritual, no family member is safe. What makes â€Å"The Lottery† so scary and chilling is the swiftness with which the villagers turn against each victim. At first, the audience only gets a glimpse of how excited the villagers are to draw their slips and follow the tradition. But this merry tone soon becomes dark and serious after Tessie Hutchinson draws the marked slip of paper. She instantly loses her identity as a popular housewife. Her friends and family quickly turn against her. No one even hesitates to participate in the killing. In fact, they kill her with the same enthusiasm as everyone else. After Tessie drew the marked paper, she became invisible. Even though Tessie has done nothing wrong, her innocence isn’t of any value. The only twisted logic is that the one