The Lottery and The Rocking-Horse Winner
Name: Kimberly Newman
Writing Style Used: APA
Thesis statement: “The Lottery” and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” are two short stories. The
Lottery by Shirely Jackson is an exceedingly small town that holds an annual lottery in the end
whoever wins will get stoned to death by the community. The Rocking-Horse Winner by D. H.
Lawerance is a mother who is dealing with stress and anxiety from the winning money that
causes her to lose her son.
Outline: Conflict/Plot/Structure/Theme
I. First Supporting Point: “The Lottery” conflicts because the city never questioned the
traditional lottery, which lead to an unexpected outcome.
a. Paul was determined to win his mother's love and approval, which led him to ride a
rocking horse to show he could win the horse race.
b. The lottery brought problems within the community that stroked many people's beliefs.
Tessie became the chosen one since his beliefs of the traditional lottery were contrary.
II. Second Supporting Point: “The Rocking-Horse Winner” conflicts because it focuses
materialistic things and its dangerous conflict with family relationships.
a. Paul was determined to win his mother's love and approval, which led him to ride a
rocking horse to show he could win the horse race.
b. Paul winning money through using his imagination riding his rocking horse to
pick the winner of the race.
III. Third Supporting Point: In both short stories the characters died in the end.
a. Paul lost his quest for money to win his mother's love, which led him to his own
passing away.
b. The tradition lottery in town caused a killing of a person in the town.
IV. Conclusion: The protagonists succeed in achieving the lottery characters goals were
not typical because it is traditional. The protagonist in “The Rocking-Horse
Winner” is Paul winning money through using his imagination riding his rocking
horse to pick the winner of the race.
Works Cited or References or Bibliography page (depending on if you use MLA, APA, or
Turabian)
The New Yorker. (June 26, 1948). The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. The New Yorker. "The
Lottery," by Shirley Jackson | The New Yorker
Liberty University. (May 23, 2022). Lesson 8: The Rocking-Horse Winner. Liberty University
Watch: "The Rocking- Horse Winner": ENGL102: Composition and Literature (B15) Page 3 of 4
Include entries for your primary text(s) as well as any secondary sources you used.
While reading “The Lottery and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” they have conflicting,
plotting, structure, and a theme. “The Lottery” and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” are two short
stories. “The Lottery” by Shirely Jackson is an exceedingly small town that holds an annual
lottery in the end whoever wins will get stoned to death by the community. “The Rocking-Horse
Winner” by D. H. Lawerance is a mother who is dealing with stress and anxiety from the
winning money that causes her to lose her son. Both stories offer thought-provoking insights into
the complexities of human behavior and consequences of their actions.
“The Lottery” conflicts because the city never questioned the traditional lottery, which
lead to an unexpected outcome. “The Rocking-Horse Winner” conflicts because it focuses
materialistic things and its dangerous conflict with family relationships. Within the two short
stories, there are negative consequences of social pressures and outside corroborating efforts.
The built tension of conflict for both short stories spotlight destructive power of social measures
and the pursuit of outside corroborating, leading to complex and impactful outcomes. They both
ended in a horrible death due to consequences and choices.
In both short stories the characters died in the end. In “The Lottery” there were characters
like Tesse Hutchinson who took on the annual tradition lottery but later realized it had many
effects on the community. Others like Old Man Warner was all for the annual lottery that was
performed. The lottery brought problems within the community that stroked many people's
beliefs. Tessie became the chosen one since his beliefs of the traditional lottery were contrary.
The Old Man never had any doubts about the lottery his beliefs were strong for the tradition.
In “The Rocking-Horse Winner Paula had the knowledge and importance of conflicts as a
character in the story. Paul was determined to win his mother's love and approval, which led him
to ride a rocking horse to show he could win the horse race. With distance between Paul and his
mother this caused a conflict where he had to prove to his mother with materialistic things that
he could success in life. Paul did anything he could do to get the love he wanted from his mother
and in return she ignored him. With Paul having issues gaining his mother's attention he shields a
wall up when communicating with others around him.
“The Lottery” found a way to resolve the conflict through a frightening and devastating
peak. The tradition lottery in town caused a killing of a person in the town. If the town had
produced different ideas for the tradition the outcome would have ended differently. “The
Rocking-Horse Winner” also found a way to resolve their conflict in a tragic and poignant
manner. Paul lost his quest for money to win his mother's love, which led him to his own passing
away. His mothers deinal from not loving him led him to the consequences of his obsession. If
Paul's mother had shown him some type of love or attention, I believe they would have built a
wonderful life together. He would have lived longer if his mother had put forth effort to build
that relationship.
The protagonists succeed in achieving the lottery characters goals were not typical
because it is traditional. The lottery was a community ritual that the townspeople engaged
in every year. This short story does not focus on just one person striving to meet goals.
The townspeople learned that there were consequences with their traditional lottery. The
protagonist in “The Rocking-Horse Winner” is Paul winning money through using his
imagination riding his rocking horse to pick the winner of the race. It made a great
impression and some consequences at the end of the story.
The character I have chosen that receives my deepest sympathy is Paul. I felt soft-
hearted for Paul because he wanted his mother's love. One thing all children need is that
special love and nurturing from their mother. He done everything he could think of to win
and prove to his mother she was much needed. I am a mother after reading “The
Rocking-Horse Winner” my heart was hurt because in the end he died still not able to get
the love he desired from his mother. No child should go without any type of love from
their parents. I have personally watched parents neglect their children because they put
their personal lives first. When dealing with death I read Psalm 116:15 “Precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of His faithful servants.”
The New Yorker. (June 26, 1948). The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. The New Yorker. "The
Lottery," by Shirley Jackson | The New Yorker
Liberty University. (May 23, 2022). Lesson 8: The Rocking-Horse Winner. Liberty University
Watch: "The Rocking- Horse Winner": ENGL102: Composition and Literature (B15) Page 3 of 4
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