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Mob Mentality In The Lottery

717 Words3 Pages

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a strange village that blindly follows a non beneficial tradition. Jackson uses several objects in order to convey the overall theme of mob mentality to the reader, such as stones, old man Warner, and the black box. The symbols build upon the story to solidify the theme that mob mentality can ruin a society. Many societies even today struggle with mob mentality especially communist societies. "The Lottery" is a prominent example of how history repeats itself. One significant symbol within the story is the stones in which are used to kill the chosen individual. The stones allow everyone in the village no matter the age to participate in the barbaric ritual effortlessly. The most shocking …show more content…

You are probably thinking, "why is it still so widely popular ?" We as a society like to disagree with our true selves and want to be unique when in reality we are all partaking in mob mentality. This story shows our true need for human connection which is why it is hated and/or loved by so many. One instance of this can be seen in North Korea which is a major communist country that has crafted their society to only have a mob mentality and punishes those that stray away from the hordes of unwilling compliances. Punishments for being "unique" include but are not limited to public executions, Firing squads, or being piled into inhumane prison camps. As an American, we cannot comprehend the types of laws that are enforced upon North Korean Citizens. A few bizarre controlment rules that I still struggle to comprehend myself are there are only twenty-eight ways North Korean men and women can cut their hair, North Korean Men and Women are not allowed to own a bible or any western literature, and also there are only three channels on tv and you must only watch those. Along with those laws in place, the North Korean government has control over education and news which leads to many growing up to hate other countries besides their own with no reasoning behind their hatred. Our lives along with many others are still being affected by the iron grip of societal norms.

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Both “the lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “first they came” by Martin Niemoller deal with following the crowd can have disastrous consequences. If you follow the crowd sometimes we can get in trouble for someone else. And if someone is doing something stupid and they told you to come or do it with them you can get in trouble for that to. “The lottery” had some sketchy history be hide it. Some people think if you win a lottery you win a prize like money or a new car but not in this story if you win the lottery you win death.

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The first symbol can be discovered when analyzing the duality of the townspeople. At the beginning of the story the picture of a small tight knit community where life seems simple and nice. When in reality, “First-hand impressions can be deceptive; on the surface things are smooth; deep down reality is cruder.”. (Schaub, 52) This can be seen when after it is revealed Tessie Hutchinson won her whole community: friends, family, even her own husband and children start pelting her with stones.

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The short story “The lottery” is about a small village that has an annual lottery in which the winner gets stoned to death. Many of the townspeople know this is inhumane, but they choose not to speak out because their name isn’t picked. Jackson uses direct characterization to describe all the characters in the village and uses symbolism throughout the story. Not to forget about the vivid description of the setting in the beginning of the short story. Shirley

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"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson begins innocently enough with a village preparing for an annual event, but as the story progresses, it becomes clear that the seemingly harmless tradition is anything but, forcing readers to confront the dangers of blindly following tradition. Jackson employs rhetorical techniques that highlight the importance of avoiding conformity, as it will lead to dire consequences. Shirley Jackson's story is a powerful example of the use of symbolism, vivid imagery, and irony to illuminate the danger and violence of blindly following traditions, as the seemingly innocent annual lottery in a small town ultimately reveals the brutal consequences of conformity and the human capacity for violence. Throughout the story Jackson

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The short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is about a small town that conducts an annual lottery. The entire town gathers to participate in the sacrificial stoning of the so-called winner. Jackson’s aim for this story was to show the general evil of human nature and the unnecessary violence in the world. Jackson uses the third person point of view and a lot of characters to help convey the purpose of the story by distancing the reader from the characters. This shocks the reader at the ending and allows them to view the story from an outside perspective and see the reality of the situation.

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“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).

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“The Lottery" is a verdict of depraved tradition of a community. The story surrounds a town where the lottery is drawn every year as a sacrifice ritual one 's life for a good fertile crop. The lottery rose up public opinions when it first published in 1948. It is a piece of Shirley Jackson in which she wrote about inhumanity and violence among human based on her real experience when she moved to a small town and was rejected by its people. Shirley Jackson always believed in sinful spirit within each individual self as her writing style portrayed the vicious side of her and people 's souls, “The dark current of awareness of evil that runs through her life and work seems too strong to have as its sole root the observance of suburban hypocrisy” (Judy Oppenhaimer).

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Throughout centuries, traditions and rituals have had the ability to control one’s behavior. In Shirley Jackson’s, “The Lottery”, she tells the reader of a small village. On the surface, this community may seem relatively normal. However, despite the picturesque appeal, this falsely serene village has a distinct deceitful flaw. On June 27th, every year, a lottery takes place.

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Research Paper The famous short story by Shirley Jackson "The Lottery'" was published on June 26th, 1948. The short story has been drawn into discussion for many years for its short, but intricate and complex story. A summary story in its simplest form could be put as a tradition that was followed by a small town called the lottery, but there is so much more contained in between the lines of that statement. The story has a very dark premise regarding the tradition that the town must follow is for the safety of the town itself.

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“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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The Lottery The short story, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson proposes an annual lottery drawing in a little village set in New England. However, unlike any usual lottery, the winner is stoned to death by their fellow townsmen, women and children included. The lottery seems to have been a custom around the area for over seventy years.

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