Comparing “The Lottery” and “The Hunger Artist” Sample Essay Example For Students

Comparing â€Å"The Lottery† and â€Å"The Hunger Artist† Sample Essay Rituals are a set of actions performed for a symbolic value. such as through forfeits. traditions in communities. or to pull strings spiritual symbols. Rituals that are performed as traditions can be seen through the short narrative â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson. In this short narrative Jackson exemplifies the mode in which the significance of a ritual can be forgotten while facets of the rite are still continued by going a civic responsibility to its participants. Conversely. Franz Kafka’s short narrative â€Å"The Hunger Artist† expresses the antonym of rites going an individual’s civic responsibility as shown in Jackson’s narrative. He illustrates how the significance of rites dies when that ritual becomes a commercial spectacle to its audience. One narrative illustrates how a ritual loses its value one time its participants view the rite as their civic responsibility. whereas the other short narrative shows a ritual which fades off one t ime the spirit is gone. decreasing its value. The reader is able to see the manner factors affect the spiritualty of the ritual which in bend determines how long the rite will last. Rituals hold cultural significance which makes them of import because it is the manner many civilizations are able to acquire spiritually closer to their God ( s ) . Many rites are able to last decennaries and are still practiced in today’s society. For illustration. Lent is a spiritual rite practiced today that is comprised of fasting and giving up a material point for self-denial in the 40 yearss predating Easter Sunday. Rituals such as Lent tend to last decennaries because every individual that participates is allowed to make so without holding to pay a fee. When a pecuniary value is placed on a ritual. the ritual slowly begins to lose its spiritualty and cultural significance to the participants. Additionally. individuals in charge of the ritual can at times be seen as subscribers to the loss of the spiritualty and significance of the ritual. Preservation of spiritualty of a ritual is a lending factor to the grounds why rites can last for decennaries. A loss of spiritualty can ensue when a pecuniary value is placed upon the ritual and participants are forced to pay a fee in order to position and go on the rite from coevals to coevals. Once the rite has lost its value due to the fee placed on it. as in Kafka’s short narrative. it will turn into a position quo of people that can afford to see it and people who can non. Kafka provinces. â€Å"While once it used to pay really good to present big exhibitions of this sort under private direction. today this is rather impossible†¦ During the ulterior phases endorsers used to sit in specially reserved seats in forepart of the little barricaded coop all twenty-four hours long† ( 713 ) . The position that is now placed on go toing this rite is what begins to take others off from it. The ritual has now turned into a fuss to go on passing money on which leads the people to lose involvement in the ritual and turn their attending elsewhere. Additionally. the commercialisation of rites necessarily leads to its terminal as the significance of why person would desire to go on the ritual alterations. Kafka is able to utilize the symbolism of the hungriness creative person to stand for a spiritual symbol to demo the death of a ritual as a direct consequence from its commercialisation. He states. â€Å"Experience had shown that the public’s involvement in any town could be stimulated for about 40 yearss by increasing the advertizements. but so the populace lost involvement. and a significant bead in attending was noted ; of course there were little fluctuations in this affair between the different towns and parts. but as a regulation 40 yearss was the limit† ( Kafka 715 ) . The hungriness artist’s rite of fasting for 40 yearss illustrates the usage of fasting to happen religious fulfilment. This is what the writer uses to assist the reader see the hungriness creative person as a spiritual figure. The writer besides shows through this quotation mark that the commercialisation of this ritual merely last for 40 yearss before the public forgets about it. Once the rite was commercialized it so became a signifier of amusement to the audience. Thus the spiritualty of the rite was taken away when a pecuniary value was placed on it. What Is Paradise? EssayBy saying this. the writer is boding that something sinister will be go oning. Yet in Kafka’s short narrative the opposite occurs in which the audience accumulates in a ritual to see person agony. He states. â€Å"Yet there was another ground why he was neer satisfied ; possibly it wasn’t merely his fasting that made him so emaciated that many people. much to their sorrow. couldn’t attend his public presentations because they couldn’t bear the sight of him† ( Kafka 714 ) . Once the spiritualty of sing the hungriness creative person turns into a screening of person agony. so the audience turns their attending to the following best thing. Kafka is able to demo through his narrative that the loss of spiritualty of a ritual can obviously take to that ritual’s death. On the other manus. Jackson is able to show that rites can last without its spiritualty. In kernel. rites can last over decennaries. For illustration. Lent is still practiced today. Many factors which can impact the spirit of that ritual can clearly lend to its terminal. Primarily. adding a pecuniary value as seen in Kafka’s short narrative can be a chief contributing factor. A pecuniary value strips off both spiritualty and cultural significance of a ritual by turning it into a signifier of amusement for the participants. Having to pay a fee causes the audience to lose involvement because the ritual has now become a position quo of the rich persons opposed to the poor persons. Alternatively. Jackson’s short narrative shows that even though the spirit of a rite has diminished it can still go on in the signifier of a jurisprudence.