Paragraph 1-Introduce the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Explain the plot of the story and the theme of the story. Paragraph 2-Introduce the movie The Lottery that was produced in 1969. Explain 4 MAJOR/IMPORTANT similarities between the movie and the short story.
Conformity can make people do cruel things without reason. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” highlights a village that continues a senseless tradition of stoning the winner of a lottery. Although all the villagers initially seemed innocuous and welcoming, as soon as the winning ticket was drawn, everybody quickly turned against the winner, Mrs. Hutchinson. Through a stark, cold tone, Jackson brings attention to the dangers of unquestionable loyalty to old traditions. Jackson starts the story with antiquated characters that contribute to the blunt tone.
The hesitance of the villagers shows how they knew the wrongdoings of the lottery but they continued to go along with it. As the whole village was preparing for the lottery Mr Summers needed some
The beginning of the story was setting as an original and charming community; it seems like a traditional town, the people are kindly and friendly. However, the setting of this story is very ironic, the horrific purpose of the lottery is through the whole story until the end. Mrs. Jackson cleverly imparts, that a break from tradition would be foolish and it is what separates them from the barbaric and primitive times. “The Lottery” was published after World War 2. The most people cannot face the truth and hope run away the war and death.
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.
The overall theme is that people are blinded by dangerous cultures and traditions and blindly follow them. Since the “The Lottery” is annual and has been a tradition for years causing the people of the village to think nothing of it. One thing that symbolizes the theme is “Old Man Warner”. A quote to make the previous statement more valid is, “... the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born.” (The Lottery /Line 5)
“The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson is a very suspenseful, yet very shocking short story. This story is set in a small village, on a hot summers day in June. Flowers are blooming, and the towns people are gathering for the lottery, which is a tradition the town does every year. As the reader reads the first paragraph they think this is a happy story. The title also says, “The Lottery” which is a word often used for winning something or receiving a prize.
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
“The Lottery,” is a horrifying, yet thought-provoking story. Author Shirley Jackson gives readers an unexpected twist while reading about a small village. Jennifer Hicks also discusses the view of this town in the article “Overview of The Lottery.” “Jackson portrays the average citizens of an average village taking part in an annual sacrifice of one of their own residents,” (Hicks). At the beginning of this story, no one would think the ending would consist of a deadly stoning.
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.
How do relationships with others show our true personality? The way we communicate with others, views how people see us. In the story “ What of this Goldfish do you wish?” by Etgar Keret’s. Shirley Jackson’s “ The Lottery” and Diane Glancy’s “ Without Title”.
The tradition of the lottery has been carried out for so long in this village that nobody even knows the reason for its occurring in the first place and nobody questions it. When Old Man Warner, the oldest man in the village, is told about other villages giving up the tradition of the lottery, he says that they are, “[A] pack of crazy fools [...]. There [has] always been a lottery [...]” (Jackson, 4). There is no reason why there has always been a lottery except that every year on June 27th, they held the lottery.
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson has been going on for way too long. This event is every year and Mr. Summers runs it. The lottery needs to stop happening because it decreases population, children are being taught the wrong thing, and because families are being turned against each other. There is a lottery but people don’t seem very enthusiastic. Towards the end, I realize that the lottery isn’t good.
“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.
The villagers are reluctant to give up their beliefs because they think that they might lose their distinction that separates them from others. Old Man Warner strongly disapproves of people who want to quit the lottery. He says, “There’s always been a lottery”3 so for him, these people are “crazy.”4 However, for the readers, his reluctance means that he is afraid to change his place within the society. He has gained the title of Old Man not only because he is the oldest man in the village but he has also been in the lottery for 77 years.
