Theme of Truth in The Lottery and Tell All the Truth but Tell it Slant - Essay Example

The Theme of Truth in "The Lottery" and "Tell all the Truth but tell it Slant This paper compares and contrasts the theme of truth in the story, “The Lottery” and the poem, “Tell all the truth but tell it slant.” Various literally devices, such as irony, symposium, allusion, and imagery, are used to illustrate the points made regarding the theme of truth as brought out in the two distinct literatures. In the Story, “The Lottery,” unalterable human conditions are exposed thereby capturing various human tendencies that stem from unalterable human condition. The story on an idyllic scene within a small village that has green grass and budding flowers, where polite town people gather in a town square. This gathering is a case of irony in which the men gathered appear to be in peace and happy, but they are indeed in great bitterness attributed to their past experiences. From this point of the story, it becomes true and clear to the reader that someone is about to win a great prize. This truth is made clear through foreshadowing within the story’s early part. An imagery is used; a small town gathering, that depict the curiosity of people waiting to see the truth regarding the good things expected. The author says, “Soon the men began to gather. Surveying their own children, speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes. They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed” There is also a careful stone gathering into a pile, done by adult men. These men are polite and make the reader notice the truth behind their wish to keep distance. The truth is nevertheless bitter. These stones symbolizes the bitter experiences in the past. The willingness by people to follow traditions, human inherent cruelty, as well as the lack of the willingness to change happen to be the basic negative behavioral actions presented in the story. The truths about human existence is depicted with unalterable human condition being among such truths as a major theme presented by the author. Historically, humans have tended to act almost in the same way; they repeat same mistakes and then end up becoming better off as compared to an earlier time. To depict the truth about these changes, the author uses an imagery by explaining the way the black box changes each year. The author says, “The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained” (Jackson 2). Towards the end of the story, some more truth is depicted. “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones” (Jackson, The Lottery: Important Quotations Explained). This quotation brings out the truth about the essence of the story, which is murder. There a bit of allusion in which the villagers seem to talk of tradition, history and rituals, but the truth of the assertion is that the tradition has actually been abolished. The original box and ritual could have borne a long a certain tradition, bizarre, and violence. Violence is the only remaining thing and people have to discover the truth about it and know how to deal with it. They are forced by circumstances to absorb this truth. Ironically, the villagers seem to be eager to embrace the remains. They are thus picking up the stones eagerly and then carrying the same tradition for another year. The poem, “Tell the truth but tell it slant,” on the other hand seems to open with a directive to readers. The directive appears to frame this poem poetry writing instructions. The truth in this regard is directly mentioned unlike in “The Lottery,” where it is not directly mentioned. Dickinson suggests to the audience to tell the truth, and more importantly, to tell all the truth. He however uses an irony where he says while it is vital to tell all the truth, it is also important not to tell it directly (Dickinson). The truth as presented by the author in her poem has some payback. There is always success in telling the truth, but such success comes out when done circuitously. Allusion also comes out when the author seems to advocate for telling the truth, but asserts that success in such truth would be achievable through circuit lies. She further points out the quality of truth by saying that, “The Truth’s superb surprise” (Dickinson, Tell all the truth but tell it slant, line 4). The author uses an imagery of lightning to depict this quality of truth. To the author, the truth is good since, “As lighting to the children eased” (Dickinson, Tell all the truth but tell it slant, line 5). The truth according to Dickinson is also very overpowring especially for the weak peerception of individuals. With this regard, she asserts that it is “Too bright for our infirm Delight” (Dickinson, Tell all the truth but tell it slant, line 3). In this case, brightness is a sympol of its powerfulness. People can therefore end up being overwhelmed by the truth or they may fail to undertand it. It is completely unlike in the case of truth as ddepicted in the story “The Lottery” where the truth seems to be bitter to the people because it reminds them of their difficult past and also they have to maintain some harmful traditions even in the future. In the poem by Dickinson, the truth is depicted a bit differently. The truth gives light to the people. Howver, it can as well pressent bitter results and experiences if told wrongly. The author uses imagery, allusions, and irony to pass her messaage to the reader that while it is important to tell the truth, ther has to be a smart way to tell it or it can be harmful. She says that, “The truth must dazzle gradually” (line 7), “Or every man be blind” (line 8). Works Cited Dickinson, Emily. Emily Dickinsons Collected Poems: Emily Dickinsons Collected Poems Summary and Analysis of "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant --". 2015. Web . 24 Mar 2015. Dickinson, Emily. Tell all the truth but tell it slant. 1263. Web . 24 Mar 2015. Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. 1948. Print. Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery: Important Quotations Explained. 2015. Web . 24 Mar 2015. Read More