The theme of Betrayal in Literature - Essay Example

Research on the Theme of Betrayal in Literature Introduction Life is unpredictable. You never know where you are going to fall or fly. Some psychologists state that each person builds his life with a right spirit, enthusiasm and positive thoughts. It means that the biggest part of vital issues is concentrated in person’s hands. Today a big variety of songs, movies and books are made by the general motto, which proclaims that life is beautiful. It is believed that when a person has favorable vision about surrounding things then he manages to achieve his goals easily, from the very beginning getting himself ready for success. However, public divulgence of positive and happy ideas does not eliminate the existence of tragedies, failures and disasters. Life always will be wonderful, meantime occasionally staying cruel and unfair when it sends pain, disappointment, suffering and betrayal to human’s destiny. Understanding the fact that nobody is secured from these mishaps, everybody hopes to avoid them fervently. Regrettably, eventually things that scare people most of all have a tendency to take place in life. Therefore the most valuable piece of advice is to get familiar and at least try to get prepared for the possible crashes of life learning by examples of literary heroes and situations, which represent vivid picture of human’s troubles. Hence, the short stories “How I Met My Husband” by Alice Munro and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson have common parallel, depicting the problem of betrayal. Despite the fact that mentioned works describe totally dissimilar situations, they both are connected with the same theme that is, unfortunately, considered to be urgent and typical nowadays. The first short story depicts the male betrayal meanwhile the second one shows the treason of the whole family. Both literary works manage to shock and stupefy readers with catching plots and unexpected finals, underlining the prosaicness of betrayal and instability of people’s faithfulness. Idea of betrayal in short stories Alice Munro in “How I Met My Husband” tells a story about fifteen-year-old girl, who has gotten her first job, living in Peebles family on the farm. Young and naïve Edie gets acquainted with Chris Watters, military pilot, who after the war “couldn’t settle down to ordinary life” due to his passion to flights. From the first meeting Chris at once starts to send signs of attention to Edie, calling her nice and beautiful and compelling her later on to admit that she “was not even old enough then to realize how out of common it is”. Without any thought about being moral to Mr. Watters’ fiancée, Edie gets intimate, by her own understanding of this word, and attached to Chris, who leaves her, promising to send a letter. Day after day Edie hopefully waits for any massage from her pilot, until finally she realizes that “no letter was ever going to come”. Edie feels sorry for herself and especially for those women who spend their lives in waiting for something. In this respect, a girl destroys all hopes for Chris and builds relationships with a mailman, who later on becomes her husband. In this story author uses first person point of view for being able to express main character’s ideas and feelings in a full way. The setting of the story explains that actions take place in country side after the war. In the beginning the author describes the treetops as red and silver, helping the readers to realize that it is an early autumn outside, meanwhile in the end of the story Edie tells that “the children gone back to school, and the leaves turning, and I was wearing a sweater”, underlining the change of the season. Edie is a bright example of dynamic protagonist, while Alice Kelling plays the role of antagonist and Mrs. Peebles is static figure of foil. “How I Met My Husband” manages to amaze the readers with its unpredictable end, because when you read a theme of the story and get acquainted with Chris you involuntarily start to imagine him as potential husband of Edie. However, in the end of the story it is revealed that the initial hero, who is hinted in the theme, is a mailman indeed. This author’s ruse manages to distinguish the mentioned short story from numerous numbers of others. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson tells the story of a small village, all population of which every year on the 27th of June arranges a traditional draw. The author very clearly describes the place, time and whole preparatory process of impending event, with a help of which the readers are able to receive some details about specific characters. The story is written with a help of third person objective point of view. In the issue of the plot it is getting revealed that finally protagonist Tessie Hutchinson draws out a treacherous and fateful piece of paper marked with a black spot. The story ends tragically when all villagers, including Tessie’s husband and three kids, throw stones in a poor woman. Such representation of lottery differs drastically from our modern perception of this event. Hence, today’s understanding of the lottery means winning some free presents that suppose to bring joy and delight. Author manages to reinforce our initially wrong vision with a line of Old Man Warner, who tells that it is not right to quit lotteries, calling people from other places as “pack of young fools”. In contrast to common meaning, in the mentioned short story instead of pleasant price Tessie Hutchinson obliges to lose her life. Consequently, contradictory theme of the story is able to provoke reader’s shock and consternation at the end. The stories “How I Met My Husband” and “The Lottery” are written in different styles, using dissimilar point of views and literary elements. However, it is fair to mention that both stories have discrepant themes that do not come along with the general representations and the finals. This manages to confuse readers, direct them to the wrong visualization and bring possible astonishment and disappointment of own premature views. Conclusion “How I Met My Husband” shows the betrayal of a man, who gives an empty promise to a young girl and never makes it. “The Lottery” depicts the betrayal of a family, when for the sake of irrelevant traditions and prejudices Tessie’s close people take part in her murder. The idea of betrayal is very clear revealed in the stated short stories, emphasizing the fact of human meanness, fears and flabbiness. Such literary works give people valuable lessons and push readers to reflect about significant values of own life. Works cited Munro, Alice. Something I’ve been Meaning to Tell You. New York: Penguin, 1996. Print. Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. United States of America: The Creative Company, 2008. Print. Busch, Frederick. “Review: Something I’ve been meaning to tell you”. The New York Times 20 Oct. 1974. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1974/10/27/books/munro-something.html Cross, Stephanie. “The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson: Review”. The Observer 16 Jan. 2011. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/16/shirley-jackson-lottery-stories-review Read More