COMPARING THEME AND SYMBOLISM

Described as "a thoroughly chilling and unsettling story" (Porter), The Lottery was written by Shirley Jackson in 1948. In a letter to poet Howard Nemerov, she wrote, "...I have always loved to use fear...I delight in what I fear" (Guran). James Joyce was "born into a well-off Catholic family in Dublin, Ireland" (Barger). He later rejected Catholicism in favor of literature (Barger). Theme and symbolism are prevalent in the writings of both these authors. The …

…The Unknown James Joyce. 15 Feb. 2002 <http://robotwisdom.com/jaj/> Guth, Hans P., and Rico, Gabriele L., eds. Discovering Literature. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice, 1997. Guran, Paula. Dark Thoughts. 10 Feb. 2002 <http://www.darkecho.com/ darkecho/archives/jackson/html> Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." Guth and Rico 130-137. Joyce, James. "Araby." Guth and Rico 39-44. Porter, Carol. Reminiscences About Shirley Jackson. 02 Feb. 2002 <http://www.redbay.com/dazzler/rrr/sjackson.htm>