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Similarities Between The Possibility Of Evil And The Lottery

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Evil doesn’t always present itself in an obvious way. In Shirley Jackson’s short stories “The Possibility of Evil” and “The Lottery” uses literary devices to show how everything isn’t what it seems. She is able to convey the theme by using diction, mood, and irony. In both “The Lottery” and “The Possibility of Evil” the author uses diction when describing the setting. The small town in “The Possibility of Evil” Miss Strangeworth’s describes how, “ (her) grandfather built the first house on Pleasant Street”(Jackson, 1). The author chose to make the street name “pleasant” because it makes the reader believe that it is a nice town. When we begin reading “ The Lottery” the day is “clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day”(Jackson ,1). This word choice makes it seem like another day in a regular town even though the reader will soon find out it is nothing of the sort. Even the title “The Lottery” makes it seem like a positive day. …show more content…

When Tessie Hutchinson won the lottery and was stoned to death she screamed the phrase “"It isn't fair, it isn't right"(Jackson, 7). This is a drastic change from earlier in the story when she was encouraging of her husband to pick his lottery slip. In “The Possibility of Evil” Miss Strangeworth is at first portrayed as a nice old women but when she writes her letters we find out the truth about what type of a person she really is. At the store she reassures a young woman that her baby is perfectly normal but then goes on and writes “ DID YOU EVER SEE AN IDIOT CHILD BEFORE? SOME PEOPLE JUST SHOULDN’T HAVE CHILDREN SHOULD THEY?”( Jackson, 4). This completely changes the mood of the story. The reader nows gets a sense of what the story’s theme is truly

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449 Words | 2 Pages

Albert Einstein once said “The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.” Miss Strangeworth makes unethical decisions that supplemented to hurt feelings amongst the people in her town. Miss Strangeworth’s intentions are to shield the town’s people from evil while her external actions create her own form of evil. Miss Strangeworth corrupts the relationships of the other people in town toward one another and towards her. Truly, Miss Strangeworth assumed that the town people were corrupt and evil, but in reality Miss Strangeworth.

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650 Words | 3 Pages

People often try to justify their actions, it’s in their nature to provide a reason whether they are right or wrong, but sometimes their actions can cause them to become the victim. Shirley Jackson helps to convey this idea in her short story “The Possibility of Evil.” At the beginning of the short story readers are introduced to Miss Strangeworth, a highly respected elder in the town. As readers progress through the story they learn that Miss Strangeworth is trying to cleanse her town of the evil nature embedded within the townspeople by mailing hateful letters to each and every one of them, but her actions later end up causing her to become a victim of her decisions. Throughout the story Shirley Jackson suggests that revenge, self-righteousness

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1247 Words | 5 Pages

Jean Jaures once said that “Tradition does not mean to look after the ash, but to keep the flame alive.” Such was the case with the stories The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, and Everyday Use by Alice Walker. Despite being written in different time periods, the characters in both stories had ardent convictions. Whereas the characters in The Lottery treated tradition as a ritual and and its villagers were confomists, Everyday Use’s Dee treated it as an heirloom and Dee was radical in her views. But they are also similar in the reasons why and how they value tradition.

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467 Words | 2 Pages

In his short story “Young Goodman Brown” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism and imagery to show the concept of good versus evil. Symbolism is essential to literature because it helps create meaning and emotion in a story. Imagery is crucial to literature because it helps create a vivid experience for the reader. Hawthorne uses both to draw the reader in.

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1737 Words | 7 Pages

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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1000 Words | 4 Pages

In 1948, when the New Yorker published Shirley Jacksons piece, “The Lottery,” it sparked outrage among readers, but could arguably be known as one of her most famous pieces of writing. In this short story, Shirley Jackson used literally elements such as imagery, diction, and symbolism to foreshadow the negative and harsh ending of the story; the harsh ending that sparked such outrage by society in the 1940’s. One of the main ways Jackson foreshadows the ending and true meaning of her short story, “The Lottery,” is through symbolism. Jackson uses the color black throughout the story.

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264 Words | 2 Pages

Compare and Contrast Name Trinity Morse “The Lottery” and Hunger Games Both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins are about dystopian societies in which life and death events occur. They are similar in a way and not similar in a way. They are similar because this event happens once a year. In “The Lottery” the whole Village Square gets rocks and throws them at the winner they will throw the rocks until the winner is died. In The Hunger Games they get slips and put them in a jar and a special person with pull a girl and a boy from the jar.

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One afternoon Shirley Jackson decided to write “The Lottery,” all in one day. Jackson sets up the story by describing specific details about the town and where they were gathering to form a twisted end. “The Lottery,” and “The Hunger Games,” seem to have quite a few similarities. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson both show how humans are drawn to violent traditions and the hypocrisy human’s possess towards violence. I do believe author Suzanne Collins was influenced by Jackson to create her novels.

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785 Words | 4 Pages

‘The Lottery’ is a story about tradition and sacrifice. However, even though the NY times article is about sacrifice, they are for different things. Such as money vs. good luck. ‘The Lottery’ talks about this small, peaceful village that have no problems and has mainly positive dialogue. But this village has this really weird tradition.

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691 Words | 3 Pages

“The Lottery’s” opening lines read: “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. ”(Jackson 309). From this line, one can conclude that Jackson is trying to portray the village as a quaint and nice place where townsfolk gather, and no harm occurs. However, this strays far from the truth. As the story continues, the gathering abruptly changes and ultimately leads the townspeople to commit violence and murder.

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457 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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871 Words | 4 Pages

While real life traditions are rarely so extreme, Jackson’s exaggerated fictional example emphasizes her point to great effect. By the end of the story, the audience is convinced that the town is wrong to uphold the lottery tradition, but Jackson is not really writing about a lottery; she is writing about how damaging it can

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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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865 Words | 4 Pages

For years now psychologists and sociologists have studied how humans think and act. One key interest among both of these is how humans thinking and actions changes in a group setting. . " The banality of evil" used in “The Lottery” is a term used to describe the ways in which seemingly average people commit violent acts while behaving as though these actions are just another mundane, everyday task to accomplish. One example is Doris Lessing’s

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926 Words | 4 Pages

While other towns are starting to go away from this method, this village continues the tradition. Although it may seem like a simple story, Shirley Jackson implemented various symbols incorporated into the names, objects, and scenario in the story to hide the meaning and intention behind the lottery. Firstly, the names alone conceal a lot of symbolism. The author utilizes symbolic names to indicate reason

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