The analysis and portrayal of how society treats its members is a much explored topic today, however the argument that society can be cruel and full of hatred was strongly rejected at the time of these works' publications, which is the argument made by both Ralph Ellison's “Battle Royal” and Shirley Jackson's “Lottery.” For example, “Lottery,” published in 1948, caused scandal because Americans at the time saw themselves as part of a large, helpful country that had just defeated a major enemy in World War II. In “Lottery” a small town participates in a lottery, where the representative of a family draws a card with a black dot, then each member of that family draws from the black box containing the pieces of paper, a person draws the card with the black spot, and in turn be stoned to death. In the story, Tessie, the mother of the Hutchinson family, gets the black spot and her community quickly turns against her, even though she is in a hurry to get to the noon dinner. Ellison's reconstruction of a specific event of extreme racism and hatred also arouses feelings that Americans prefer not to admit. The narrator of “Battle Royal” grows up with the problematic words of his grandfather who was on his deathbed, always having mixed feelings about his place in society. For his graduation, he gives a speech on humility and the powerful white men of the community gather and he is invited to give his speech, but not without first being forced to take beatings from other young black boys, and do the same too to them, followed by a painful and embarrassing event prompted by the promise of money. The lives of the characters in both stories are used to portray human nature in an unflattering state because they are controlled by the standards that make up their environments. Jackson provides readers with a specific situation that expresses the dangers of blindly following tradition while Ellison presents readers with a horror scene that expresses the cruel treatment of blacks by powerful white men who also follow a tradition: racism. The innocent and unknowing narrator of “Battle Royal” explores a way to respond to racism through his state of confusion and uncertainty throughout the story. Tessie, the unfortunate victim chosen by the lottery to be stoned to death in “Lottery” is a statement of what happens when you don't question an established social habit enough, or question it too late. In “Battle Royal” and “Lottery,” a raw and revealing depiction of human nature is presented through each story's major characters who make specific statements about humans. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay While “Lottery” is a story that reminds readers of a fairy tale gone wrong that probably never happened, and “Battle Royal” is rooted in historical reality, they are very similar when it comes to the specific ways in which nature human is expressed using the characters of the stories. Thomas Du Bose writes an article in Masterplots about the lottery in which he states that the members of the town are presented as healthy people, have stereotypically normal attitudes and lives, so when they turn against their friend, a member of their community, it is difficult to swallow. down and understand (2). This rapidity in becoming murderers, even of young children, presents another idea about human nature. Human beings have the instinct not to feel sympathy when they feel so strongly that they are doing the right thing, they don'tthe motivation to question one's actions even when it is obvious that they are causing harm. On the other hand, the white community in “Battle Royal” most likely decides to act as they do, has the choice to engage in horrific acts of racism and cruelty, but chooses to do so anyway. This is strongly opposed to the community in “Lottery” because that community is simply following the crowd and truly believes that what they are doing is right, while the “honest” white community in “Battle Royal” acts like them because it is a form of fun. The image that Ellison creates of these men praising the battle royal and that Jackson creates as people begin picking up rocks and walking towards Tessie reminds readers of mob violence and the science behind it. These large groups of characters are representative of another statement that goes beyond mob violence and includes the setting, or restriction of where these communities exist. Both stories consist of small towns and a relatively small community, thus allowing for an intimate relationship between the author's intention regarding the stories' themes and the characters' roles. The book of essays compiled by editor Bernice M. Murphy on Shirley Jackson includes an essay on English Gothic that says, "much of the power of the tale is that, if you don't know the author and his origins of the tale, one could imagine." that take place in virtually any isolated rural community” (113). These small towns greatly influence how authors manipulate their characters to make a statement about society. Mass violence becomes prominent in these stories when the violence begins and the violence itself determines both protagonists' responses to the difficulties they find themselves in. In "Battle Royal", the "mob" are the young white men who sing about the battle royal. black kids are forced to participate. In this battle royal scene, the narrator is finally forced to question his previous thinking that humility is the right thing, the right way to approach life. In “Lottery,” the people in the small town were all convinced that the lottery was the right thing to do simply because “there has always been a lottery,” and even Tessie, the victim, has the chance to question the tradition of the city. he always followed (Jackson 142). In Ellison's story, the narrator makes the mistake of saying "social equality" instead of "social responsibility," and immediately the room goes silent, and the narrator rushes to correct himself or knows a beating similar to the one he just experienced was coming (Ellison, 275). Tessie and the narrator of "Battle Royal" are protagonists thrown into a situation where they must choose whether or not to conform to what is expected of them, and risk a level of expulsion from the community. The protagonists of the stories are the narrator in "Battle Royal" and Tessie in "Lottery": each character is developed through backstory, endowed with unique characteristics that work to illustrate their current level of conformity and to lead to their transformation regarding to their situation in their community. The narrator recalls his upbringing as a young black boy through his high school graduation. As a boy, he hears the words of his dying grandfather that he is a spy asking his family to "keep up the good fight" by teaching the "young men" his acts of undermining the white men (Ellison 268). The book of essays by editor John M. Reilly includes an essay by Floyd R. Horowitz in which he says: “We find him to be a bear at first, by his own admission. He had to learn the Booker T. Washington tradition: practical service to the Negro community, humble dignity (at least in public),intellectualized acceptance of white authority” (32). In his childhood, he is a good student who idealizes humility, this becomes obvious to the readers when the narrator mentions his graduation speech, which he talks about with much fervor and passion, he is obviously quite excited about giving his speech. Yet when he actually gets a chance to give his speech, white men don't even listen to him, and he is rewarded with greater conformity: a scholarship to a state college for Negroes. After participating in the battle royal and being electrocuted, it is obvious that he is not as confident in his beliefs of humility as he was before. This transformation is similar to the one that happens to Tessie. She is introduced in the story as the woman who forgot it was lottery day, was doing her chores and then realized what day it was and ran to the meeting. In the end she protests that the way her family, and then her, were chosen wasn't right, she says they didn't have enough time to choose the piece of paper carefully. This moment, similar to a moment of epiphany, happens to both characters: Tessie realizes that the tradition they have is not "right" and the narrator is introduced to the idea that the white man's tradition of racism is not right and always will. keep the black community under control. In “Lottery,” the three most important characters who represent different human tendencies or natures are Tessie, Old Man Warner, and Mr. Summers. Tessie, the woman who ends the story with her protests against the lottery and her unfortunate death, was so free-spirited that she even forgot about the lottery that day. He only expressed disagreement with the lottery when his family was in danger: this presents the idea that people are selfish, but perhaps also that a community is forced to accept tradition and only has the opportunity to protest when there is it is a threat to one's life (Du Bose 2). It's almost as if people are being held captive until they have a reason to stop thinking similarly to everyone else who accepts whatever is thrown at their feet. The person promoting this exact idea is Old Man Warner who has been playing the lottery for 77 years. Du Bose refers to Warner as “the embodiment of rigid tradition” who firmly believes that the lottery allows them to survive, both mentally and physically. Among Warner's few lines, Warner mentions a saying he obviously believes: “Lottery in June, corn will be heavy soon” (Jackson 142). No one in town remembers many details of the lottery, and many parts of the tradition have stopped or simply been forgotten. They continue the lottery “out of habit and sheer inertia,” says Du Bose. Due to their ignorance of how to proceed with the tradition step by step, the city unofficially selected a man, Mr. Summers, to lead the raffle, which includes making slips of paper, calling people to collect coupons, and once a certain family “wins”, calling family members to take a piece of paper, where one person will receive the fateful piece of paper with a black spot, sealing his fate. Mr. Summers is highly trusted and respected, which becomes ironic when readers find out exactly what he is leading, which looks a lot like a witch hunt. William nelles writes in Masterplots: Women's Literature Series an article analyzing the “Lottery” in which he says: “A number of specific objectives have been suggested for Jackson's story, including American society's obsession with scapegoating during the years of the Cold War and the House of Representatives. The House Un-American Activities Witch Hunt” (2). The person who dieshe essentially did nothing wrong, he simply chose the wrong piece of paper, and readers can quickly understand the inference Jackson is making about American history, which includes the numerous acts of unreasoning violence, including the witch hunts. , lynching, and any other act readers can think of. In “Battle Royale,” there are two individual characters who represent the most important ideas about human nature and one large group, the white community. The characters in “Battle Royal” who represent Ellison's statements are slightly different from those in “Lottery” due to the setting to which these statements will apply: the Battle Royal. The white community resembles the town in “Lottery” when it comes to the idea of ​​mass violence because when the violence began, the image that the authors create for the readers is quite similar and the readers have the feeling of one against many. In this story, a group of boys are blindfolded and beat each other for no reason other than survival and involuntary habit, while the white men scream screams of amusement and exhilaration. The rich and powerful are a tool that Jackson uses to interrogate the way of life in America: he questions the understanding that being in a respected position and in a good economic situation means that someone cannot have bad morals (Du Bose 2 ). As the men sing about the battle royale, the narrator undergoes the beginning of a radical transformation which is fully chronicled in Ellison's novel “The Invisible Man” where “Battle Royale” is the first chapter. Tessie and the narrator realize similar things about society in the stories, but there are different circumstances and characters that help them do so. Towards the end of the battle royal, the narrator is left with another boy in the ring, named Tatlock. At this point they are both badly beaten and the narrator suggests that Tatlock fake defeat so they don't continue fighting, but Tatlock responds with, "I'll break your behind" and the narrator sarcastically asks if he's doing this for the audience, and Tatlock says he's doing it for himself. Andrew MacDonald writes an article in Masterplots: Short Story Series on “Battle Royal” and says: “[One theme,] social Darwinism, which metaphorically encourages individuals to fight to the end to receive rewards; the ways in which the strongest and most cunning members of the black community take advantage of their comrades, refusing to cooperate against the common white enemy just as Tatlock refuses to feign defeat; the corrupting influence of awards and praise on the narrator himself; and the need for the white establishment to maintain American responses to racism and politics. stops protesting. In both stories there is an ideology about good versus evil, and the group of white men are the embodiment of evil in this story, creating the harsh environment that blacks must endure, thus creating the struggles they go through. Ellison created “Battle Royal” to depict the feelings of someone unsure of how to respond to racism, as well as to discuss the negative effects of many different types of people's lives. It means describing what it's like to not yet know what hate is and how the effects can impact a person's life, regardless of culture or race. “The narrator's innocence and decency are conveyed so effectively that readers of all races and cultures can understand the problems he faces,” says MacDonald. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get Custom Essay Overall, characters play a vital role because they act as interveners, or representations, for”..