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Irony And Tension In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

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“Expectation feeds frustrations. It is an unhealthy attachment to people, things, and outcomes we wish we could control; but don’t“ by Dr. Steve Maraboli. “The Lottery“ is a short story written by Shirley Jackson, which talks about a village whose members have been taking part in a twisted ritual called “The Lottery” and it has been going on for decades.It takes place in an undistinguished village on a clear morning, June 27th and it’s described as an ordinary and pleasant community. "The Lottery" combines elements of horror, irony and tension, all of which are oftenly found separate different short stories. In Shirley Jackson's Short “ The Lottery“ she uses the Black Box as a symbol for ritual homicide as part of the villages community which …show more content…

Summers and also Mr. Graves whom oversees the lottery, together to symbolize how people expect life and death, new ideas versus traditional ideas. Most simply, Mr. Summers represents the season of which the lottery takes place, June 27th. Usually summer is known to be full of life and growth which is very similar to Mr. Summer’s personality. He is described as a cheerful man, and also wearing a clean white shirt and jeans. Mr. Graves’ name on the other hand refers to death and more precisely the fate of the winner of the lottery. While Mr. Summers speaks frequently of change, whether it be trading the old shabby box for a new one or replacing the wood chips with slips of paper, he seems to never be appreciated of. On the other side “ Mr. Graves made up the slips of paper and put them in the box, and it was then taken to the safe of Mr. Summers.” , the symbolism behind Mr. Graves writing all those paper sheets describes how death sets up traps for the innocent to fall into, and eventually they will be in the arms of death itself.

“The Lottery“ is a short story written by Shirley Jackson, which talks about a village whose members have been taking part in a twisted ritual called “The Lottery” and it has been going on for decades. It takes place in a small village in the middle of nowhere and seems to be just like any normal village around the world. In Shirley Jackson's Short “ The Lottery“ she uses the Black Box as a symbol for ritual homicide as part of the villages community which creates expectations throughout the town, promoting opinions and questioning each

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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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This story still remains relevant in comparison to today. Simple towns people who speak to each other on a daily basis and joke around with each other all of the sudden turn around and kill one of their one. This story symbolized the change of heart within people when events go on. With various symbols, Shirley Jackson created the short story, The Lottery, to show society and what it has been and what it could be. One might even say that Jackson wanted to keep it in the mind of a ‘modern’ society that such things could happen again.

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