The Approach To Greater Good In The Gift Of Magi And The Lottery

Great achievement is usually possible by making sacrifices, although it is not an easy move for most people to make. Sacrifice is the act of giving up a valuable for something else that is regarded as more important or worthy. In The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, both of the writers use different approaches to narrate the action of sacrifice throughout the stories. The authors use imagery, symbolism, and tone to spread the same message of how sacrifice is made for the greater good.

The imagery and symbolism gives the readers an idea of how big the sacrifice is, while the tones inform the readers of the condition of the sacrifice. The examples of imagery, symbolism, and tone provide details as to how they are implemented to convey the moral of both stories.

First, Shirley Jackson and O. Henry put imagery into effect to give the audience a visual perspective of the sacrifices.

Get quality help now

Bella Hamilton

Verified writer

Proficient in: Free Essays

5 (234)

“ Very organized ,I enjoyed and Loved every bit of our professional interaction ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

The in-depth details give readers an imagination of how valuable the object that is being sacrificed is and how difficult it is for the characters to go through with the sacrifice. For instance, in The Lottery, the imagery is described at the start when the narrator says, “The morning of June 17th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green.” (Jackson, 1) This phrase is clearly meant to oppose the fatal ending of the story consisting of Mrs.

Hutchinson being stoned by the other villagers. Furthermore, when Mrs. Hutchinson is chosen, one of the final striking pieces of imagery is evident through the stone that Mrs Delacroix chooses. The narrator applies this in the story when she describes, “Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar.” (Jackson, 6) This phrase demonstrates not only the hidden malevolence of the village, but how painful and horrifying sacrifice the villagers have to take once they are chosen. On the other hand, The Gift of the Magi implements imagery to also show the great sacrifices the characters make, however it is shown through a more pleasing description. This approach of imagery is evident when the story explains, “So now Della’s beautiful hair fell about … into a dress for her.” (Henry, 3) The representation of her hair tells the readers how valuable Della’s hair is, as she later sacrifices her locks for twenty dollars in order to buy her husband an expensive Christmas gift. Also, the story shows the hard choice Della has to make when, “... she put it [her hair] up on her head again, nervously and quickly. Once she stopped for a moment and stood still while a tear or two ran down her face.” (Henry, 3) In addition, the gift that James bought for Della describes how valuable it is when it states, “For there lay The Combs—the combs that Della … but her hair was gone.” (Henry, 5) The passage clearly explains James’s sacrifice of selling his grandfather’s expensive watch in order to buy her wife a decent gift, in which she cannot use anymore since her hair is cut off. In the end, the audience can visualize how the great the sacrifices are in both of the stories through the examples of imageries.

Next, the authors apply symbolism in the stories to describe the sacrifices that the characters make to achieve their goals. The symbolic objects of the story are a part of what is used to explain how great and difficult of a sacrifice the characters go through. For example, the stones in The Lottery permits the people in the village to participate excitedly and freely in the ceremony. The terror of this is not just that someone is murdered: it is that everyone takes part in the killing. As the narrator of The Lottery observes, '... they [the villagers] still remembered to use stones.' (Jackson, 6) The stones are significant as it is used to make most human weapons. Stoning is a strong religious strategy of punishing people to reinforce group beliefs, therefore the readers recognize how people of the village dying is the sacrifice made for a greater good. On the contrary, the gifts in The Gift of the Magi are symbolic, as they are also forms of imageries. However, the main characters themselves greatest are symbolic examples. Jim and Della are a poor couple that must sacrifice the things most important to them so each can give a gift to the other. Ultimately, this makes their gifts meaningful and valuable. Therefore, the narrator writes, “Of all who give gifts, these two were the most wise. Of all... wise ones. They are the magi.” (Henry, 6) The author suggests that Jim and Della are wiser than the wise men because they recognize that love makes a gift truly worth giving. They understand that the sacrifice they make is what makes their gifts so valuable, not because the gifts are expensive. Hence, the symbolism in each story presents a deep message on the tough decisions the characters make to achieve something greater.

Finally, the authors’ tone in the stories provides details as to how good or bad the sacrifices are. Starting with The Lottery, the writer’s tone is light and calming from the beginning. However, the distinct shift from a regular, peaceful tone to a horrific ending of the tale is visible. All the while, Shirley Jackson continues to tell the ending with no change of tone. This is evident when she writes, “The lottery was conducted--as... Halloween program.” (Jackson, 1) The scene seems completely peaceful, which makes the story’s violent ending shocking for the readers. As the scenario does not fit the initial tone at all, the readers can identify how horrific the sacrifice is that the villagers make one by one. In contrast, The Gift of the Magi is different in that the narrator also takes breaks so that he can prove his point. He writes as if he is directly speaking to the audience and and understands the world well. In other words, he is wise and wants to teach the readers a lesson. This shows through the text, “Love and large-hearted giving, when … marks, dear friends— never easy.” (Henry, 4) Through this example, O. Henry gives his advice on how sacrifice is not easy for anyone, but is beneficial in the long-term. Thus, the tone of the stories help spread the message of how extreme the sacrifices of the characters are.

To conclude, Shirley Jackson and O. Henry successfully imply imagery, symbolism, and tone to display that sacrifice is made for the greater good in different ways. The viewers can identify the importance of the sacrifice through analyzing the imageries and symbolisms, and the tone tells the viewers how good or bad of a sacrifice there is in each story. Overall, the two stories are great examples of how making hard sacrifices can lead to greater achievements and higher success.