“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson It creates a sense of suspense and shock to everyone who reads it and is considered an all time great. In her story she develops this suspense by the use of irony, imagery, and foreshadowing to develop her theme. One device that Shirley uses in her story is the use of irony. Right off the back she adds situational irony when she says “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny.” This is ironic because the weather was portrayed as happy and pleasant summer day but the actual event that goes down is horrific and dark. Jackson then introduced a character named Mr. Summers, in paragraph four, who was described as “round face, jovial man.” This is ironic for two reasons, one being that his last name is Summers and that is usually thought to be a pleasant and fun time. The second reason is that he is actually the bringer of death but was still described as that “jovial man”. She then uses irony with Tessa Hutchinson. When her husband, drew the card with the black dot she was the only one who thought it was unfair. She eventually is …show more content…
In the second paragraph the little boys were stuffing their pockets with rocks. This is foreshadowing because at first it seems innocent, but later it is revealed that it was for killing with stones. The discomfort and uneasiness of the citizens foreshadowed that the lottery was not something that was a positive event. The men joked quietly and they “smiled rather than laughed”, and when the women called for their children, they had “came reluctantly.” Then a man named, Mr. Graves, was mentioned multiple times throughout the story. His last name foreshadows what happens when the lottery is complete. Finally, the Watson boy says that he is drawing for both himself and his mother. This can be interpreted by the reader that his father was the one who got chosen by the lottery last year. This once again foreshadows that the lottery is a horrible