"A Sound of Thunder" and "The Lottery"

The two short stories used in this comparison are “A Sound of Thunder “by Ray Bradbury and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. “When you make a choice, you also choose the consequences” and this concepts is represent in those stories. The main characters are male and female and how their life end up by careless choice and traditional rule that are meant to be followed. The plot, setting show readers that choice make careless can be lethal.

Exposition is used to introduce background information.

In “The Lottery,” it a warm summer day in a small town, it was lottery day. Where a winner is chosen to win the town’s yearly lottery. Someone from each family is chosen. Children gathered rocks as women stood with their husband. In “A Sound of Thunder,” we learn that is the year 2055 and company discovered a way to travel thought time. They used to hunt dinosaurs. The protagonist is introduced name Eckels, when he learns about this company, and he meets his guide, Mr.

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Travis and his assistant Lesperance, who marked the path they need to stay on. Two of them were hunter Billings and Kramer.

The rising action is the event in the story leading to the climax. In “The Lottery,” most of the tombstone is the cemetery have the date June 6 on them and the town is getting ready for it yearly lottery that is on June 27th. The lottery starts, as Mr. Summers gets the little black box ready with all the names of the townspeople of the town are in it.

The town gathers in the town square, the names are being drawn as people wait nervously and take a piece of paper to wait to see who the “winner” is. In “A Sound of Thunder,” when Eckels, Travis, Lesperance, and the other men go out of the time machine, (Bradbury) Travis kept on warning them to “stay on the path.” Because if they go out of path they will step on something and kill that something and that will change the history.

The climax is the most interesting point of the story and the point of no return. In “The Lottery,” as they drawing the slips of paper and the townspeople begin to unfold their papers with sighs of relief and smiles. The “winner” or chosen one is declared as the Hutchinson family. Everyone thinking it was the father Bill they took another drawing between the family and after the second drawing Tessie Hutchinson is declared the “winner”. In “a Sound of Thunder,” poor Eckels step off the path and kills a butterfly, therefore Eckels change the history.

The Failing Action is the event that goes between the climax and the resolution. In “The Lottery,” after the second drawing between the Hutchinson families, the townspeople’s gather around young Tessie and stone her to death. As her family watches, and Mrs. Hutchinson watch their own get stones to death. In “A Sound of Thunder,” Travis is furious with Eckels and berates him for stepping off the path.

The Resolution is how the conflict is resolved. In “The Lottery,” as they threw pebbles and stone at Tessie Hutchinson, Mrs. Hutchinson her mother was screaming out in tears “it’s not fair, it’s not right.(Jackson)” In ‘A Sound of Thunder,” Eckels realizes that he caused a major chaos and Travis shoot him.

Sometime the choice we make can harm and destroy things that are important. The consequences could cost life and that is how both stories ended. In “The Lottery,’’ an innocent life was losing because of tradition. In “A Sound of Thunder,” Eckels small action caused his life. First think of consequence before taking any action.