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The tradition of the lottery
The tradition of the lottery
The tradition of the lottery
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More handpicked essays just for you.
The tradition of the lottery
The tradition of the lottery
The tradition of the lottery
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Shirley Jackson once said, “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones.”. Shirley’s story “The Lottery” takes place in a small village where the population was only 300. The children picked up some stones outside the village and brought it where the people do the lottery, which was run by Mr.Summers and Mr.Grave. From the commencement, it sounds normal but as the story progresses the reader will start to notice that it is not a normal lottery. It was actually like a ritual in which one of the people who receives a paper marked with a black dot will be stoned to death with the stones brought by the children. The unfortunate winner was Tessie who was late to the lottery said it was unfair, but at the denouement nothing changed and she was stoned to death.
In the short story, "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, the characters have a different type of normal. June 27, lottery day, marks the day of the death of an innocent person. As I read this story, I was very puzzled. This story made me think about the death of a person, whether be young or old, liked or disliked. The death on lottery day was thought to be normal in these towns, but it was not normal to me.
Human nature is what defines the way that people behave and think. In her story "The Lottery", Shirley Jackson describes the different ways people react to the probability of getting killed. In the town presented, people have a tradition called The Lottery in which a human sacrifice is made every year, and it is associated with good agriculture and nature; however, the ritual is so old there's no way of actually knowing why or how it started. They decide who the victim will be by a paper draw between all of the people in town and at the end whoever gets the slip with the black dot, is stoned to death. The unlucky winner is Tessie Hutchinson and other members of the town like Mr. Summer; who conducts it, and Old man Warner; who is a loyal follower of the ritual are involved.
Imagine a society where killing somebody for the sake of a tradition is acceptable. In the short story “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson describes an ordinary village with normal people, but as the story progress the details of their yearly practice known as “the lottery” unravels to be more disturbing. The author subverts the readers’ expiations by persuading the reader into assuming “the lottery” is a ordinary tradition until unusual details and the behavior of the characters come into place. In her short story “The Lottery,” Jackson seemingly uses ordinary details about the setting and the townspeople to characterize her theme that although society claims to be civilized, and may appear so, it is inherently barbaric.
Starting off, our relationships with other people tells us who we are and how we act towards one another. Sometimes you act nice with someone, but other times you may act in a heated or angry manner with another person. On the outside, a person could be really nice, but when you truly get to know them, they may change into a new person. Other times, people act like the way they do because of their past. The reason why they act like that is because of what they have been through or what they have witnessed.
Traditions have been around for as long as we have been on the earth. As humans we don’t like change, so having a ritual that we repeat every year is the sense of normalcy we crave. People will go through the same hurtful cycle, even though they know it’s wrong or not working, simply because it is all they know. Unlike common belief, giving up harmful practices is not the same as giving up culture. People hold onto tradition because they feel that giving it up is taking them away from where they came from.
The Lottery,is a short fictional story published in 1948 and written Shirley Jackson in the magazine called, The New Yorker. Some of the main characters of this story are, the Hutchinsons,Mrs. Delacroix,Old Man Warner,Mr. Summers,Mr. Martin,Mr. Graves, and Mrs. Dunbar. The Lottery is about this village that has a very strong tradition where somebody has to sacrifice for the crop, but some younger adults don’t like the tradition and want to give it up. ” Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon,” was the old saying. The head of the household/husband has to draw a piece of paper out of this black box.
“The Lottery” is a short story by Shirley Jackson. The story commences with a vivid description of the summer day in the town, giving us the idea that the day will be good. When the lottery begins, families begin to draw slips of paper from the black box. Finally, when Bill Hutchinson withdrew the slip of paper with the black dot, his wife Tessie starts yelling that it wasn 't fair. When the second drawing was held only among the Hutchinson’s family, Tessie gets the same piece of paper with the dot and is stoned to death.
“The Lottery” is an realism/horror story written by Shirley Jackson. The story is about some villagers of a small New England town who follow the tradition of making a lottery every year. When it comes, they like to celebrate it with the correct rules and the correct objects so they can feel more comfortable. Everyone need to take a slip of paper from a small black box, and the paper with a black dot in it means that the family is the winner, then they raffle again; Bill Hutchinson, who was the husband of the protagonist Tessie Hutchinson picked a paper with a black dot in it, that meant that Tessie was the winner of the lottery, then she starts complaining because the drawing was not conducted properly. At the end, the townspeople moved off to a cleared spot outside the town and they begin stoning her to death (Jackson).
“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.
Before choosing criminal justice as my major, I wanted to be an art major. The dream was to work as a comic book artist, but I soon realized that it was virtually impossible for me to achieve that dream. Eventually, I became interested in the criminal justice system and all of the aspects that exist in the system, specifically the court aspect. When I told my family that I wanted to be a criminal justice major, my father told me outright that I could not be a police officer or work in corrections, so law school was the only option, but I morphed that expectation into my own with the desire to become a civil rights attorney. Moreover, I have always been interested in politics and political movements that involved civil rights and human rights.
The short story, The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson. The Lottery is about people from a small town that gather together in the square in June. In this village, there are only 300 people. Therefore, unlike most towns, the lottery only takes a few hours. The children in the town collect stones, rocks, and small pebbles and put them in a pile in the corner of the square.
The Symbolism of The Lottery One big symbol that the short story is discreet about is the black box that is repeated throughout the short story symbolizes fear to adults which could affect even the most innocent. The black box appears to be the only paraphernalia that is still being used in the tradition of having a lottery. Mr. Summers is the one who is running the lottery at the time. Mr. Summers is seen as a nice man, however, when he is introduced, he is seen with the black box. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a short story that uses the black box as a symbol to convey an underlying message that when the power of a tradition is given to a person, it could lead a crumbling society.
The villagers on “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson are afraid to let go of their tradition, the lottery. They are concern of unknown consequences that will happen if they change their old customs. So, for every year, the villagers gather at the square to do the lottery at 10 AM . The villagers are afraid to quit their outdated tradition because they think that changing their old customs will only bring trouble.
The short story “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson is full of literary elements. The old and innocent, small town atmosphere creates the perfect stage for this ironic tale. Several literary elements are evident throughout the composition but three specific elements stand out the most. Jackson’s unique ability to use tone and style, symbolism, and theme are what makes this story so fascinating. Tone and style are critical literary elements in “The Lottery.”