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Individuality In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

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The short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a timeless and powerful work of literature that exposes the dangers of conformity, challenges the power of tradition and advocates for the importance of individuality in the face of oppressive social norms. Through a masterful use of suspenseful storytelling, vivid imagery, and a shocking twist ending, Jackson immerses the reader in a seemingly idyllic small town and gradually reveals the dark truth behind the annual lottery. By examining the character’ attitudes and behaviors, the story highlights the human tendency to blindly follow tradition and the catastrophic consequences of such behavior. However, the story also offers hope for resistance and change through the character of Tessie …show more content…

The disabled child, named Doodle, eventually dies as a result of his brother’s obsession. The theme of the story is the destructive power of pride and the damage that it can cause to both brothers as he is; and instead, he tries to mold him into something he’s not. The line, “I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death,” highlights the destructive power of pride and how it can have both positive and negative consequences. The tragedy of the story is that the narrator only realizes this after it’s too late. The theme is powerful but it lacks the universality and urgency of “The Lottery,” as it deals with a more personal specific …show more content…

Through its haunting portrayal of the devastating consequences of unquestioning conformity, “The Lottery” exposes the dangers of blindly following tradition and warns against the chilling effects of groupthink, making it a timeless and thought-provoking work of literature.As previously mentioned, the story explores the theme of blindly following tradition and dangers of complicity in one’s own oppression. The quote, “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones,” highlights the deeply ingrained tradition and the power of conformity that exists in the society depicted in “The Lottery”.The story is set in a small town, where every year, the townspeople hold a lottery to determine who will be sacrificed for the sake of the community. The shocking revelation of the story is that the person chosen is stoned to death by the rest of the townspeople. The story creates a sense of unease from the beginning, building suspense and foreshadowing the dark ritual to come. The story’s themes are universal and relevant, as they speak to the dangers of groupthink, conformity, and blindly following

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Throughout time, society has had its ups and downs but in the short story “The Lottery” people’s lives are taken to the next level by challenging their luck of survival. Today winning the lottery is rewarding and a positive feeling, but in the short story it’s nothing but a dangerous tradition that will end someone’s life. In “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson creates a story filled with foreshadowing, irony and a ritualized tradition that masks evil which ultimately demonstrates the central idea that people should not blindly follow tradition. For starters, The short story foreshadows many events to come and makes people’s lives more stressful and fearful.

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In Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," Mrs. Delacroix conveys the duality of human nature through abruptly betraying Tessie when she is chosen to be sacrificed. For example, before the lottery, Tessie talks with Mrs. Delacroix then "Tapped Mrs. Delcaroix on the arm as a farewell and made her way through the crowd" (Jackson 2). By tapping Mrs. Delacroix on the arm as 'a farewell,' Tessie wishes her luck and believes that Mrs. Delacroix is her friend. The friendly nature between the two women shows Mrs. Delacroix's righteous and kind side to her personality.

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693 Words | 3 Pages

Shirley Jackson characterizes Tessie Hutchinson as an insurgent, dominating, egotistical person in her short story, “The Lottery”. Jackson successfully creates this image through diction, imagery, and juxtaposition. Tessie Hutchinson is a member of the village that rebels against society’s standards and expectations, dominates her husband, and only cares about

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410 Words | 2 Pages

Through Shirley Jackson’s utilization of irony, The Lottery portrays how following traditions naively can be destructive towards communities. To begin, Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery elucidates irony to create an emphasis on how holding on to loyalty to traditions at the expense of morals can be dangerous to everyone. This author first implements this when the setting is introduced as “clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day”(363), but ironically the story ends with the death of Tessie Hutchinson. This use of verbal irony emphasizes the normalization of the gruesome rituals practiced and how unaffected the town is. Additionally, in the beginning of the story, children stuff their pockets with stones and begin creating piles

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770 Words | 4 Pages

The view from which a story is told will give a story structure and has the ability to throw surprises at the reader as in the case of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. The author limits the readers’ view of the characters within the story; she didn’t show us how they were feeling about the event that was about to occur. Today, the lottery is something one looks forward to winning; it’s a chance to win a load of money. Little did the reader know that the lottery, in this case, referred to the stoning of a person within the town. The point of view in this story, third person, doesn’t allow the readers to know thoughts of characters, thereby surprising the reader at the end of the story when someone is to win the lottery.

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324 Words | 2 Pages

Immanuel Kant famously said, "out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made." This sentiment is echoed in Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Lottery," which exposes the dark side of human nature. Jackson's work reveals how even the most seemingly civilized people can commit acts of extreme cruelty and violence when motivated by tradition and fear, highlighting the inherent evil in human beings. The lottery in the story is a disturbing ritual that exposes the grotesque disfigurement of humanity's porcelain mask. The townspeople have normalized this twisted act to the point of treating it like a farmers market or other social event.

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691 Words | 3 Pages

The purpose of the lottery is to continue the old tradition of sacrificing a scapegoat in order for a harvest. The scapegoat is chosen at random and then stoned to death by his/her companions. Although “The Lottery” reflects an event from the past, Jackson shows that many of the actions of the town resemble the tribulations that ensue in today’s society. To begin with, like the villagers in the story, our society also partakes in valuing tradition.

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501 Words | 3 Pages

The Lottery itself represents a primal example of loss of innocence; portrayed through the young boys who gather at the town square to collect rocks for the horrors soon to follow. An illustration of how traditions can lose their true meanings and come to represent violence and warfare. Furthermore, “The Lottery” also represents the decaying characteristics of traditions, as symbolized by the town’s black box, in this case where every year, someone’s name is drawn out of the black box and they are stoned to death, by other members who may or may not end up to be family. Nonetheless, it ends up to be the villagers who

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690 Words | 3 Pages

The short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a novella that examines the murky side of human nature. The narrative takes place in a little American community where the locals assemble each year to take part in an unusual ritual. The narrative aims to stress the value of uniqueness and critical thought while emphasizing the risks of questioning traditions. Initially, "The Lottery" appears to be a basic account of a tiny village getting ready for an annual ritual.

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871 Words | 4 Pages

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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136 Words | 1 Pages

The Lottery In the short story,” The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson the characters have different views on” the lottery.” In the short story Mrs. Hutchinson does not agree or like the thought of the lottery. She does not like it because she thinks it is stupid and she thinks it is unfair. Also you can tell she thinks it is unfair because she yells it out to everyone in the crowd.

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1333 Words | 6 Pages

Full of plot twists, and turns, “The Lottery” relies on its characters to convey a sense of normalcy throughout a majority of the story. The villagers’ acceptance of rituals allows them to act normal while knowingly partaking in a deadly tradition. Jackson’s brilliant use of deceptiveness leaves readers blind sighted as one could never predict this story’s outcome. Jackson’s work is renowned because of its unpredictable shift in tone. June 27, may appear to be a pleasant summer day, but this prediction could not be further from the truth.

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205 Words | 1 Pages

The Lottery In this short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson we can see the theme of the duality of human nature. Tessie Hutchinson thinks the lottery is unfair. She claims that they didn't get through time. But everybody had the same chance and time.

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360 Words | 2 Pages

Its human nature to turn a blind eye to injustice inflicted into others. In the ‘’The Lottery’’ by Shirley Jackson, the author tells a complex story about how a simple lottery took place in a small town changing the lives, and fates of its inhabitants. Jackson main focus in the story is Feminism Criticism to illustrated the misogynistic views in ‘’The Lottery’’. In the story, the author uses the treatment of the females characters against its male counter parts to illustrate how women are view as second-class citizens, and how disrespected, and stereotypical they are. An example of this is showed in the very beginning of the story, where Jackson writes ‘’ against the raids of the other boys.

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650 Words | 3 Pages

“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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