Similarities Between The Possibility Of Evil And The Lottery

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.

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