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Disturbing Language In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

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The “Lottery”, a short-story written by Shirley Jackson, demonstrates a use of compelling and disturbing language throughout the story. The reader does not know where the “Lottery” takes place giving the story anonymity which can be seen as disturbing because this scenario could take place anywhere. From the start of the story, Tess Hutchison was separated from the group, arriving late, and maybe that is what is so compelling about her character. We see her happy and eager due to the lottery and talking lightly with friends. Since arriving late, Tess was different from the rest, seemingly happy that the lottery is about to occur not caring about the consequences it will bring while the others stood quietly. "Clean forgot what day it was," she …show more content…

Usually, Lotteries bring valuable profits like money, trips, and other favorable items but one still has no idea what prize this winner will receive. After the names are drawn and it is revealed to us that Tess has ‘won’ they attitude quickly changes. “Tessie Hutchinson shouted to Mr. Summers. "You didn't give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair!". This allows the reader to see that maybe winning the Lottery might not be so desirable. While the others try to calm her down, she tries to substitute to her own daughter instead of herself even though she rightfully was chosen. Through all of this happening the reader has no idea what is going on which makes it even more disturbing. The reader does not know why the lottery is undesirable and why Tess is so sad she is chosen. Due to the reader’s lack of knowledge the story makes us anxious and we are compelled to know what comes next. Once the townspeople start to pick up rocks one can begin to predict how bad winning the lottery truly is. Soon After, Tess begins to get pelted with rocks and the reader can only assume winning the lottery meant getting stoned to death. The last sentence: "It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.” makes the reader aware that Tess will not make it out

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In the story, "The Lottery," Tessie Hutchinson thinks that the lottery is unfair. The lottery took place on June 27 and was supposed to be every villager's main focus. However, Tessie Hutchinson not only forgot about the lottery, but was late to it, which was unusual. After the family heads draw a slip of paper and open them, Bill has "got it." Tessie immediately exclaims that "it wasn't fair!"

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Tessie Hutchinson is the only villager who protests against the Lottery. When the Hutchinson family draws the marked paper, Tessie exclaims: “It wasn’t fair!”. But her fight is not supported by her family and people around. Her voice is ignored even her husband asks her to be quiet. This refrain continues as she is selected and subsequently stoned to death, but people are always selfish.

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The main conflict in The Lottery is between Tessie Hutchinson and the rest of the town. According to Shirley Jackson, “Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villages moved in on her.” “It isn’t fair,” she said. The rest of the town people disagree with her and says everyone took the same chance. One of Shirley Jackson’s conflicts is between the character’s dark actions and the picture-perfect setting.

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“The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson is a very suspenseful, yet very shocking short story. This story is set in a small village, on a hot summers day in June. Flowers are blooming, and the towns people are gathering for the lottery, which is a tradition the town does every year. As the reader reads the first paragraph they think this is a happy story. The title also says, “The Lottery” which is a word often used for winning something or receiving a prize.

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Another quote to suggest the crowd grew nervous was when Mr. Adams was called upon, “They grinned at one another humorlessly and nervously”. She described what the characters were doing and not what their thoughts or intentions were. Shirley Jackson intensified the feeling when Tessie hysterically protested Bill’s “winning” selection, by withholding information until the last possible second, she builds the story’s suspense and creates a shocking, powerful conclusion. In conclusion, The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson builds up suspense by foreshadowing the horrible moment through the children who felt uneasy and collected rocks, creating a character that stands out from the crowd, Tessie Hutchinson, the person who saved her husband but could not save herself. More importantly, withholding the true nature of the story until the end, leading to the tragic death of Tessie

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When the twelve year old Nancy “[goes] forward switching her skirt, [taking] a slip daintily from the box,” the audience is struck by her innocence, making the subsequent death of her mother via the lottery outcome even more terrible and tragic. A still more effective example of Jackson’s appeals to pathos occurs at the end of the story, where “someone [gives] little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles” to join the crowd in stoning his mother. This moment is incredibly poignant and elevates the disgust and pity that the audience feels as the nature of the lottery is revealed. Little Davy is too young understand what is happening, and it is reasonable to assume that the rest of the characters have long since lost touch with the purpose of the lottery, as the only explanation the audience is given for its continuation is Warner’s statement that “there’s always been a lottery.” This remarkably insufficient excuse in support of such a heinous crime secures the sympathy of the audience towards not only Tessie’s plight but also Jackson’s argument.

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Shirley Jackson uses specific diction and language in order to convey an ominous tone in her short story “The Lottery”. In this short story, a small town holds a lottery every year, but this “lottery” is unlike any other. In the end, who ever wins this lottery is stoned to death, as all part of a ritual. According to the short story on pages 32 to 33, it states, “She hesitated for a minute, looking around defiantly, and then set her lips and went up to the box.” (32-33)The author uses the word “defiantly” which means “boldly, or rebelliously”.

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“The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson is atypical of any other story from its time. Jackson utilizes a shift in tone that is emphasized through the event’s location, attendees, and rituals found within her work to take readers on a wild ride. What begins as an average day on June 27, unfolds into a situation that never could have been expected. Jackson’s use of tone in “The Lottery” functions as a way to distract readers from the overall mood of the gathering. The pleasant and easy-going tone, presented throughout the beginning of Jacksons’s work aims to deter readers from questioning the villager’s initial motives.

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“The Lottery”, a short story by Shirley Jackson, is about a lottery that takes place in a small village. The story starts off with the whole town gathering in the town square, where Mr. Summers holds the lottery. Once everyone gathers, every family draws a slip of paper out of an old black box, and the family with the black mark on their paper gets picked. After that, each family member older than 3 years of age re-draws a slip of paper again and this time, the person with the black mark on their paper gets picked as the “lucky winner” of the lottery. In this short story, after the Hutchinson family gets drawn, Tessie Hutchinson is declared “winner” of the lottery, with her reward is being stoned to death.

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She realizes that this is an unpleasurable and outdated tradition and should be forgotten only because she got chosen. However, if her family’s name wasn’t drawn, she would have blindly followed the ritual, thrilled to have escaped a gruesome, sacrificial death. As a reader it is easy to empathize for Tessie since she or others don’t have a voice in their community or are even able to look at the bigger picture and see that the lottery is unnecessary. Not only does the dramatic irony of the lottery allow the reader to understand Tessie’s view, it creates a similar feeling towards Bill Hutchinson. For example, “Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the slip of paper out of her hand.

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