The short stories “ The Rocking-Horse Winner”, “The Lottery”, and “War”, all focus on sadness that results when children lose their innocence pre-maturely.

In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the residents in a small farming village gather each year in the center of town for an annual lottery. In what seems to be a peaceful community, the village is actually filled with corruption and twisted rituals. The community takes part in an annual ritual where one unlucky person is sacrificed in order to guarantee good crops. The winner is chosen by a ballot, and in an ironic twist, the winner becomes the loser. The villagers, even family members, show no resistance in killing friends or family. The

In the short story “War” by Timothy Findley, a Father enlists in the army and leaves his family to do what is best for his country. The youngest child in the story feels he is being abandoned and feels violated. His Father will be absent for some time, and most likely will never return home. (name) is forced to grow up faster than he ever should, with no Father in the house, the mother will leave to work and (name) and his brother will be on their own. (name) must now do jobs around the house and

Some topics in this essay:
Shirley Jackson, Paul Paul, Fern Hill, Findley Father, Herbert Lawrence, , Derby Mother”, Governor-General's Award, Rocking-Horse Winner”, short story, five thousand pounds, short story “the, “the lottery”, family paul, five thousand, students encouraged, thousand pounds, story “the, rocking-horse winner”, “i couldn’t,