Irony in ‘The Lottery’ and ‘The Rocking Horse Winner’: Exploring the Power

Introduction

The first of the two stories I chose to compare and contrast is “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, and the second is “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence. I will compare each of their irony, tone, and characterizations in which they are both similar and different. Shirley Jackson and D.H. Lawrence each crafted a story that depicts their protagonists as they face a personal dilemma between selfishness and morals and learn the true meaning of luck. Jackson and Lawrence use irony, tone, and characterization of their protagonists to demonstrate the unreliable and addictive power of luck as well as the power of personal morals.

Body

Comparing “The Lottery” and “The Rocking Horse Winner”

I. Irony and Tone
a. Ironic Title
i. The title of “The Lottery” is ironic when Tessie “wins” the lottery, “the villagers moved in on her,” and “a stone hit her on the side of the head” (Jackson, 1948, para. 77).
ii. The title of “The Rocking Horse Winner” is ironic because Paul also loses his life in conjunction with winning, “you’re eighty-odd thousand to the good and a poor devil of a son to the bad” (Lawrence, 1933, para. 244).
b. Shifting tone
i. “The Lottery” starts with a peaceful tone describing “a full-summer day” (Jackson, 1948, para. 1) which shifts to anxiety and then despairing as the story closes with Tessie being stoned.
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ii. “The Rocking Horse Winner” shifts from a bleak tone detailing a mother who “could not love” (Lawrence, 1933, para. 1) to a hopeful tone as Paul wins more money to a desperate tone when Paul is no longer able to “know” (Lawrence, 1933, para. 182)

Morality and Selfishness

Tessie had a change of heart about the lottery. At first, she had no problem with it, even going so far as to make a joke, “Wouldn’t have me leave dishes in the sink, now, would you, Joe?” (Jackson, 1948, para. 9). Tessie does not change her mind about the lottery until it is her that wins, “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,” (Jackson, 1948, para. 79).

Paul’s only motivation for gambling in the horse races is to get money for his mother so that “it might stop whispering” (Lawrence, 1933, para. 149). He is battling his mother’s selfish greed. Tessie is disillusioned with the power of luck when her family is chosen in the lottery, repeating, “It wasn’t fair” (Jackson, 1949, para. 45) over and over. 

Paul begins with a misunderstood sense of luck, believing that having money is having luck because luck is “what causes you to have money” (Lawrence, 1933, para. 18). however, he is soon drawn to its addictive and relentless power, “madly surging on the rocking horse” (Lawrence, 1933, para. 223) as he strives to win again.

The Struggles of Luck

The struggles of luck and morality are universal problems. Everyone faces moral dilemmas, and everyone faces the harsh reality of luck as it turns on them at some point in their lives. Shirley Jackson and D.H. Lawrence each crafted a story that depicts their protagonists as they face a personal dilemma between selfishness and morals and learn the true meaning of luck. Jackson and Lawrence use irony, tone, and characterization of their protagonists to demonstrate the unreliable and addictive power of luck as well as the power of personal morals. Both authors utilize irony in the titles of their works. The title of “The Lottery” is ironic because Tessie “wins” the lottery, but her prize is death as “the villagers moved in on her” and “as tone hit her on the side of the head” (Jackson, 1948, para. 77). Lawrence demonstrates the same irony in the title “The Rocking Horse Winner” because Paul also loses his life in conjunction to winning, as Uncle Oscar says to Hester, “you’re eighty-odd thousand to the good and a poor devil of a son to the bad” (Lawrence, 1933, para. 244). The use of irony in both titles highlights one of the common themes in the stories, winning is not everything, and luck is not reliable or trustworthy. Jackson also uses irony in “The Lottery” to show the moral issues of her short story. When the villagers are more concerned about being “home for noon dinner” (Lawrence, 1933, para. 1) than they are about the ritual murder of one of their friends, they demonstrate a lack of general morality because Tessie is the only one to call out the village for their ritual.

A Shifting Tone Was Also Employed by Both Authors

“The Lottery” starts with a peaceful tone describing “a full-summer day” (Jackson, 1948, para. 1) which shifts to anxious and then despairing as the story closes with Tessie being stoned, while “The Rocking Horse Winner” shifts from a bleak tone detailing a mother who “could not love” (Lawrence, 1933, para. 1) to a hopeful tone as Paul won more money to a desperate tone when Paul was no longer able to “know” (Lawrence, 1933, para. 182). The shift in the tone of each short story allowed the authors to demonstrate the mixed emotions that come with luck and morality issues. Each protagonist begins the story as normal until they no longer have luck on their side, which is shown by a shift in tone. The tone then shifts again when Tessie and Paul face the consequences of relying on luck.

The protagonists in each story also share similar selfish moral standards, only working to right a moral wrong when it benefits themselves. Tessie’s change of heart about the lottery does not happen until it is her that wins, and she begins to call, “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right” (Jackson, 1948, para. 79). At first, she had no problem with it, even going so far as to make a joke, “Wouldn’t have me leave dishes in the sink, now, would you, Joe?” (Jackson, 1948, para. 9), demonstrating that her new moral stand against the lottery is purely selfish in design. Lawrence’s, Paul, only began gambling in the horse races to get money for his mother so that his home “might stop whispering” (Lawrence, 1933, para. 149). He is battling his mother’s selfish greed, but it is not purely so that he can help his mother. Paul’s motivation is to end the “whispering” of his home and to prove to his mother that he can be lucky despite her disbelief. Tessie and Paul also share experiences concerning luck. Tessie is disillusioned with the power of luck when her family is chosen in the lottery, repeating, “It wasn’t fair” (Jackson, 1949, para. 45)over and over, while Paul begins his story with a misunderstood sense of luck, believing that having money is having luck because luck is “what causes you to have money” (Lawrence, 1933, para. 18). However, he is soon drawn to its addictive and relentless power, “madly surging on the rocking horse” (Lawrence, 1933, para. 223) as he strives to win again and end his losing streak. Both protagonists are drawn in by the allure and false security provided by luck but are soon shown that there is truly no security.

Conclusion

Jackson and Lawrence both create shocking stories detailing the rocky relationship one can have with luck and one’s own sense of morality through irony, tone, and the characterization of their protagonists. Each went about creating their story differently, building surprising twists of their own through differing tone shifts and events; they were able to create the same central message about luck and morality in their work.
IRONY, TONE, AND CHARACTERIZATION 

References

1. Jackson, S. (2018). The lottery. In G. Johnson and T. R. Arp (Eds.), Perrine’s literature: Liberty University English 102 custom e-book. Boston, MA: Cengage. (Original work published in 1948).
2. Lawrence, D. (2018). The rocking horse winner. In G. Johnson and T. R. Arp (Eds.), Perrine’s literature: Liberty University English 102 custom e-book. Boston, MA: Cengage. (Original work published in 1933

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