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+literary essay outline on the theme/conflict of "the lottery
Symbolism in the lottery story
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Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” uses stones as a symbol to convey an underlying message that even though people practice certain traditions, it may be harmful to others. For instance the text stated “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,” ( p. 34) . when Tessie Hutchinson was about to get stoned. This affirms that Tessie and all the people in the village know that the lottery is erroneous, and isn’t right but don't do anything to stop it or question it, from happening again. Another form where we could see the villagers not questioning their harmful tradition would have to be in page 25 where it states “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example” (p. 25) when the children
Justin Walters Mrs. Briscoe English I Honors 7 September 2017 Violence in “The Lottery” What does the author of The Lottery want us to understand about violence? Well, there are several things that are related to violence in this story by Shirley Jackson, such as the ritual of doing it the way that it is done, the style of it itself, and not even having enough time to draw a card sometimes. The first thing is the ritual of doing the lottery the way that it is done, and that is by kids drawing cards and having a black dot meaning that they were killed by rock-throwing by all of the other villagers. For example, in paragraph two, Jackson explains, “The children assembled first…”, “pockets full of stones”.
(Jackson, p 51). The stones go on to suggest the cruelty of the people of the village as it provides a slow and painful death. “The Lottery” demonstrates how a tradition that drives the society can be completely forgotten through the years. While
In the story, The Lottery, Shirley Jackson tells a story of egerness. No matter if they were eger to get it over eger to see who got the black dot everyone was eger about something. In the beginning of the story the children are so eger for the lottery that they started collecting stones as soon as they could, guarding them so others couldn't have them. Mrs. Adams is eger to get it over with because she tells about how other places have quit doing the lottery.
Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery” uses specific details regarding the stones to convey a malicious tone. This is because by the end of this short story, the reader discovers the unsettling role the stones play in the lottery. Near the end of the story, Jackson reveals to the reader that “although the villagers had forgotten the rituals and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones” (34). To paraphrase, the people of the village only preserve one of the original traditions from the lottery, stoning the “winner” to death. Not only does this indicate how hostile the inhabitants of this village are, but it also unmasks a sort of numbness that the villagers display towards the idea of murdering someone.
Everyone usually has a family tradition that they do every year. Every year my family celebrates Christmas during Christmas we wake up and open gifts and go to my grandparents house for dinner and usually open more gifts. In my short story “The Lottery” their tradition is putting names into a box and if your name gets called and there is a black dot on your slip,you get rocks thrown at you until you die. In The Lottery Jackson uses the black box to symbolize death and if you're going to die.
Her action of picking a big stone expresses it. “Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs Dunbar and said come on, Hurry up” (Last Page) Events of the story show that Shirley Jackson is condemning humankind’s hypocrisy and evil nature. “They greeted each other and exchanged bits of gossip with each other and joined their husbands” (Page 1). The reader expects the lottery to be advantageous in some way to the villagers.
“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 story says, “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones” (Jackson). Children evidently play a role in the assembling of the lottery by collecting stones prior to its commencement, and they do so in a nonchalant manner. This action may seem minimal at first; however, it displays the level of normalcy and desensitization toward the inhumane ritual. The townsfolk are conditioned to see the sacrificial practice as normal due to early exposure to it. The early exposure consequently leads to a new generation being brainwashed as adults to think the lottery is a necessary means for a triumphant crop.
In “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson uses foreshadowing when the children are collecting stones from the river and putting them into piles. It hints that something bad is going to happen because it is unusual for boys to be grabbing stones and randomly put them into a pile. For example, while the towns people were getting ready for the lottery the narrator states, “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example,selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix, eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys.” (Jackson). This quotation shows that the boys in the village are finding the smoothest and roundest stones and putting them into a big pile.
In “The Lottery” after Mrs. Hutchinson drew the black spot from the box, winning the lottery, Jackson immediately wrote how the people of the town would start to surround her with rocks. Although Mrs. Hutchinson pleaded and sympathize with the people’s emotions and attitudes “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,” Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her” (Jackson, 1948, para. 75), they would ignore her pleas and followed through with their town’s
The gathering and guarding of the pile of stones suggests that the children were preparing for the lottery’s conclusion, and even anticipate participating in it as if it is a game of dodgeball. The eventual outcome and demise of a community member at the end of the lottery event does not faze the youths demonstrating a numbness towards
“Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and the roundest stones”(304).The ritual and traditions of the lottery in Shirley Jackson’s story seem to be just as old as the town itself, especially since most of the residents do not recall any of the old rituals, even the Old Man Warner, who is “celebrating" his 77th lottery. This helps illustrate how the people of the village just went on with the lottery without even questioning it. Like during the shock testing in Lessing experiments. The subjects blindly followed orders to obtain information even if it meant killing the person. Even in today’s society we are in social groups that define who we are and we do whatever we can to conform to
By incorporating dramatic irony into “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson is able to convey a sense of understanding and compassion towards the character. This first instance of dramatic irony is where Tessie is pleading to the town’s people that they were unfair to her husband. “People began to look around to see the Hutchinsons. Bill Hutchinson was standing quiet, staring down at the paper in his hand. Suddenly.
This indicates that the tradition has been going on for so long, the people that grow up with this find it normal to be done. The old man who criticized the other towns that grew tired of the Lottery has been used to seeing the Lottery around for so long and had actually supported the reason behind it. Next to the rocks in symbolism was the stool as well as the black box. The black box which was used to draw the pieces of paper symbolizes the key between life and death.
