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A Worn Path By Eudora Welty Analysis

597 Words3 Pages

Times A’changing Everyone has a tradition, a routine they follow and they might not even realize it. Be it the path you walk to school or the way you tie your shoe. If you learned it or have grown up doing something a particular way it is unlikely that it would change. Its human nature to veer away from change. Short stories “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty and “The lottery” by Shirley Jackson are two adequate examples where the changing of times and traditions can be seen in comparison to human nature.. The lottery of today is coveted by many, the cash prize yearned for. Ironically, in Jackson's world, the winner of the town lottery, instead of receiving a quantity of money, is stoned to death by her family, friends, and fellow townsfolk. So was the fate of Tessie Hutchinson. For as long as there has been the town there has been the lottery. “Listening to the young folks… There's always been a lottery” (4). Assumptions could be made that it was created to control the population. The people of the …show more content…

Michael Timko, a professor Emeritus (English) of the City University of New York seems to have the same opinions about this short story. “The author's central focus is on several aspects of human nature, especially the attitudes towards tradition and ritual, and the way humans look upon relationships, familial and others. In the story Jackson is asking the reader to look again at the various characteristics of human nature, especially in regard to the way human beings treat one another in religious, social, and civic contexts” (Timko). The lottery has started to be challenged by other communities, those communities are evolving with the morals that have started to be acknowledged in this time. This change is in essence attacking the traditions of those who still believe in the lottery as essential to their

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“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, is a short story expressed through the theme of apathy, when the community feels no emotion for anyone, that a ritual is more important than a human being, mob mentality, and hypocrisy which is prevalent within the townspeople. It may help learning more about Shirley Jackson to better understand why she wrote such a horrific story like, “The Lottery.” Shirley Jackson moved into a small town, Bennington, Vermont, where she wasn’t accepted within her town which shows she was thinking how cruel people can be. Not being accepted is not the same as being stoned or killed, but it has the capacity for cruelty. Through this, Shirley Jackson is suggesting that we need to examine ourselves and our actions carefully and live our lives consciously instead of

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Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” (rpt. in Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson, Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 11th ed. [Boston: Wadsworth, 2012] 278-285) is quite ironic in its presentation. The nameless narrator in the story leads the reader into making an observation that supports the title; however, the story ends up in a turmoil that baffles the reader; leading to a change in ideas that were developed earlier. The story gives a false sense of harmony by its setting and how Jackson describes the preparation for the lottery, this leads to a misconception that the tradition is jovial.

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The Lottery is a short story by Shirley Jackson that describes a small town’s “lottery.” In the story, paper slips are placed inside a roughed-up black box around the middle of the town. The kids are picking up rocks while adults are normally socializing. One could only assume that the lottery is a great event that everyone enjoys due to the jovial-like nature they exude. Later, after all the ballots have been counted for, everyone leaves.

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In the story “A Worn Path” the author Eudora Welty uses many symbolism that advances the development of the story by going into detail about the harsh conditions she has to travel thru just to get the medicine that her ill grandson needs. While traveling to the medical clinic in Mississippi she encounters unusual situations that “demonstrate great courage and determination when she overcomes every obstacle in her way” (May), even facing a hunter who points a gun at her. When reaching the clinic she was disrespected by the staff and was treated as a “charity case”, but she withstands the humiliation to get her grandson the medication. When heading out on a cold December day she has to walk for about half a day. She demonstrates her fear of the wild animals delaying her travels by talking with them and asking them to keep the wild animals out of her path.

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“God has given you one face, and you make yourself another” (William Shakespeare). “The Lottery” is a short story that was published during the 1940s, shortly after the end of World War II. People believed that this story’s setting and characters were modeled after the author’s life and where she lived in 1940. The short story was meant to highlight the social, political, and cultural atmosphere of the society during the time it was written. During this era, there was a large male dominant societies, where women had barely any power or say in what was occurring.

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The truth of the matter though is that traditions can be disastrous because they are perceived as respectable merely because they have been around for so long. In “The Lottery,” Jackson uses tone, symbolism, and irony to show the destruction that can be caused by conforming to a tradition or a custom. Just like the villagers’ annual lottery, discrimination has been around for a long time as well, but just because it has been around for so long, does not mean it should be implemented. People must learn to separate themselves from such practices so they can teach future generation’s better ethical

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As we approach the future, old customs from history continue to make an appearance in present time. Old customs, fashion, and habits proceed on to the next generation which lead people to the conclusion that history repeats itself. In “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson demonstrates how society follows rituals from ancient times without fully understanding the meaning behind it. Through families participating in the stone pelting ritual for population control, it continues to illustrate the dehumanization of human culture. “The Lottery” in the story was set up on June 27th.

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In the short story “The Lottery”, The author does a good job of explaining the theme of, traditions can shut down people’s common sense. When there is talk in the north village about giving up the lottery Old Man Warner says “There's always been a lottery. " This is characterization of Old Man Warner and it shows how their village doesn't even consider the idea of giving up the lottery which blinds them in realizing that this tradition is unnecessary. This is also juxta position with the setting because it contrast two nearby s and their different points of views about the lottery. Another way the author does a good job of explaining the theme is by, making the setting a small village, which has no population issues.

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Today 's reader would not be as shocked by the publication of The Lottery as those of 1948. With each passing generation it seems as though the tragedies of the world have become less tragic as a result of common occurrence. With social media, people are exposed to racial injustice, mass shootings, police brutality, and acts of terrorism so often that these events are not so much shocking as they are expected. Furthermore, social media has provided a platform to speak through, where no topic is off limits and supporters from every side can chime in. Now days people would read a story like The Lottery on social media and relate it to the social media stoning of mothers breastfeeding uncovered.

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Tradition lasts, it matters, and it hurts. In both stories it’s a basic necessity of life. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a shocking short story that gradually rises in action. You feel calm one minute, then the next you feel shocked because what just happened is insane.

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In The Lottery by Shirley Jackson she uses a theme of traditions and shows it through the story in a unique way, Jackson also changes the mood throughout the story so the reader also changes perspectives and understands the story in a different way as the story goes. From my point of view the theme of The Lottery is that sometimes societies have certain traditions that people follow without questioning why they do it? , is it right or wrong? , should we maybe consider not doing it anymore?. A lot of times people know that that’s wrong but they don’t do anything about it because they don’t want to create disagreements or go against what society says.

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The story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, wanted us to acquire that the fear of change, and expressing your opinion can drive you to follow the crowd. This short story takes place in a small New England village on June 27th. A ritual called The Lottery was being practiced. A case in point, the author tells us, “Every year after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without being done.” (p. 1-2)

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Shirley Jackson's The Lottery is about analyzing traditional social and class divisions. Because the story is asking us to think about the ceremony and traditions that we careless following as members of our society. The story is analysis the ways custom is concealed right and wrong, the lottery is becoming a way to analysis social and class divisions. The random samples of paper mean that some of the family are fortunate and that others aren’t fortunate.

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While real life traditions are rarely so extreme, Jackson’s exaggerated fictional example emphasizes her point to great effect. By the end of the story, the audience is convinced that the town is wrong to uphold the lottery tradition, but Jackson is not really writing about a lottery; she is writing about how damaging it can

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(Conclusion) “The Lottery” is about how a town’s citizens are scared of upbringing change because they do not want to alter their custom. The townspeople do not realize that they must fight and change their tradition, or it will continue forever. The lottery may have been much more needed in the past rather than in present day, but the people continue to conduct it because they are fearful of an amendment to such a close part of their lives. Practicing traditional ceremonies is an essential part of life, but accepting change is imperative to ensure that development is

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