Over a short period of time, we have accumulated a lot of information regarding short stories as a result from reading. They all had many significant themes and a variety of symbolic meanings. The majority commonly share many aspects however certain stories are completely unrelated. “The Lottery Ticket” by Anton Chekhov and “Rich for One Day” by Suzanne Jacob share the most similarities. Their similarity is evident between the setting, characters and the plot.
To begin with, both stories share the same setting. They both take place back in the earlier days, where the dollar had a high value. In the “The Lottery Ticket” Ivan Dmitritch was earning approximately a monthly earning of one hundred dollars and was living normally. “Ivan Dmitritch, a middle-classed man who lived with his family on an income of twelve hundred a year and was very well satisfied with his lot.” (Chekhov, P.199). Also the prize for the winning lottery was seventy-five thousand dollars; Ivan and his wife were stating how it could allow them many things. “The ticket is yours, but if it were mine I should, first of all, of course, spend thousands on immediate expenses, new furnishings...travelling...paying debts, and so on... The other forty thousand I would put in the bank and get interest on it.” In the short fiction story “Rich for One Day” Aline considered herself to be rich and having a fortune with only eight
dollars. She allowed herself many of things, like a ticket to the movies, popcorn, coke and a taxi ride. “Then she remembered, she was rich today. She had eight dollars, a fortune. She could allow herself thousands of things.” (Jacob, P.257). Not only did the stories relate with each other through the setting but also relate through the characters.
Secondly, Ivan Dmitritch and Aline both share the same character traits. They are both have a big imagination and are laid back individuals. Ivan Dmitritch in “The Lottery Ticket” had many fantasies with what he would do with the large amount of money and started to dream often. “Pictures came crowding on his imagination, each more gracious and poetical than the last. And in all these pictures he saw himself well fed, healthy, felt warm, even hot! Here, after eating summer soup, cold as ice, he lay on his back in the burning sand close to a stream or in the garden under a lime tree.” (Chekhov, P.199). Aline in “Rich for One Day” also often fantasized and dreamed. She dreamed how rich she will be when she grows up and how the possibilities would be endless. “ She said to herself that when she was grown up, she would be very, very rich, and that she would have a car and a chauffeur, and that she would be surrounded by very rare things, very beautiful things, and very astonishing things, and she would never cease being astonished at all these things around her. And she would travel, she would spend all her time in this car, and she would stroll over the whole world and not just one or two sidewalks.” (Jacob, P.259).
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