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Analysis of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
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The lottery by shirley jackson analysis essay
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Questioning Traditions Traditions can be part of one 's culture but should they be changed? The author’s purpose is to make the reader’s question some traditions. In the story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, uses tone and mood to make the reader question the tradition of stoning people. In the story, “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseni uses person vs person conflict to make the reader question the tradition of calling unwanted kids harami. In the story, “2BR02B” by Kurt Vonnegut, uses person vs society conflict to make the reader question the tradition of population control.
Tradition is something everyone in the world has gotten to experience. These types of traditions may be good and some may be bad. The short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson shows us the dangers of blindly following tradition and how Black Friday and The Short Story both set an example of blindly following tradition. Blindly following traditions just like in The Lottery in many ways is when you follow the steps and rules that were set in place, it mainly focuses on doing what others do because of the tradition regardless if it's bad. In the short story The Lottery, Shirley Jackson gives us a vivid descriptive details about the terrifying ordeal.
The Danger of Tradition Traditionally many ancient societies would kill their people to sacrifice to God in order to obtain rain or a good harvest. These mindlessly, followed traditions were never critically thought about and therefore citizens died year after year. A similar tragedy occurs in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”. This story features a civilization much like our own but with one small difference, the town’s people hold a lottery every year and the town stones who ever loses to death.
The world is currently affected by the foulest illness of all: conformity. Many people are nervous to stray away from tradition in fear of being an outcast, even if that means following customs like racism and sexism, which causes chaos among the country. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” displays this morbid reality when a town of villagers gathers to obey their annual tradition. Although this event appears at first to be pleasant and festive, it soon becomes clear that the prize is not something of value. The “winner”, it turns out, will be stoned to death.
In the story, “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson, the greatest human failing as far as Jackson is concerned is humanity following tradition thoughtlessly without questioning why it happens allowing for unnecessary violence to take place. This is demonstrated in “The Lottery” through many aspects and specific details. Firstly, the calmness of the atmosphere expresses how the people of the village view this day as a normal happening showing that they are following this ritual without thinking about the tragic outcome it causes. Secondly, the use of characters illustrates how the villagers are so blinded by this tradition that no one understands the harm that is occurring from this tradition and the actual reasons behind the lottery itself. And
Shirley Jackson is known as one of the most brilliant and talented authors of the twentieth century. One of her most popular short stories is "The Lottery". " The Lottery" was published in the New York Yorker on June 28, 1948. This short story received a popular amount of attention from the readers.
Why in society do we all follow traditions and holidays without question of their purpose ? This was a similar question i thought when I read the 1948 story the Lottery by Shirley Jackson. The story the Lottery is about a village with a lot of close knit people. Every year on June 27th a lottery is held. Everyone gathers with their family to put a piece of paper that chooses their fate and whether they live or die.
Shirley Jackson wrote the short fictional story called The Lottery in 1948, first written in the magazine called The New Yorker. It starts out as a nice warm day on June 27, with blooming flowers and green grass in a small village of about three hundred people. Every year this village has a lottery; Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves set it up every year. And whoever draws the paper with the black dot they get stoned as a sacrifice for their crops. Even though there are some young people that want to stop doing it, tradition is very strong so they won’t.
Imagine a society where killing somebody for the sake of a tradition is acceptable. In the short story “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson describes an ordinary village with normal people, but as the story progress the details of their yearly practice known as “the lottery” unravels to be more disturbing. The author subverts the readers’ expiations by persuading the reader into assuming “the lottery” is a ordinary tradition until unusual details and the behavior of the characters come into place. In her short story “The Lottery,” Jackson seemingly uses ordinary details about the setting and the townspeople to characterize her theme that although society claims to be civilized, and may appear so, it is inherently barbaric.
Ibn Khaldun once wrote, “Blindly following ancient customs and traditions does not mean that the dead are alive, but that the living are dead.” When humans mindlessly adhere to rituals that span centuries, they begin to forget the true meaning behind the performed practice, leading to the death of individuality. In “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, the townspeople become so accustomed to participating in the lottery that they no longer question its existence or wish to alter its negative consequences. The development of the characters, the main points in the plot, and the usage of symbolism throughout the story portray the theme of dangerously following tradition without knowing its origins. The characters’ responses during the lottery illustrate the significance of the roles of conformity, hypocrisy, and perpetuity in the theme.
Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is about a village who participates in a drawing every year. The family that is drawn then has to come forth and draw one more time, and whoever draws the sheet of paper with a black dot on it, is to be stoned to death. The townspeople do not think negatively of this event; nor do they treat it any different than any other type of social gathering. The ritual has went on for over seventy seven years because the towns people believe it benefits the crops. The towns people know very little about the origin of the ritual, but they insist on keeping it alive.
In Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery the author creates a complex world, a world that possibly could resemble our world that we live in. Every year the villagers culminate in a violent murder, a bizarre ritual that suggests how dangerous tradition can be when people blindly follow it. Shirley Jackson is a master at manipulating her reader, a tactic that pays off as the story unfolds and all of the things that once seemed pleasant are shown to have a very dark side. Jackson emphasizes the necessity of discarding the tradition of the lottery, because it doesn't fit in present day times. This allusion of sacrifice also suggests that the villagers view the lottery as normal, even necessary, as it is ritualized.
“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.
In her story "The Lottery", Shirley Jackson implies the negative consequences of blindly following tradition through the acceptance, by the villagers, of the tradition of the lottery. Jackson suggests that the people of the village are afraid to give up the little tradition they have, even if it is not good. Every year after the lottery, the conductor of the lottery, Mr. Summers suggests that they should build a new box but, “No one [likes] to upset even as much tradition as [is] represented by the box.” (Jackson, 1). The black box symbolizes ritual and tradition.
The villagers on “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson are afraid to let go of their tradition, the lottery. They are concern of unknown consequences that will happen if they change their old customs. So, for every year, the villagers gather at the square to do the lottery at 10 AM . The villagers are afraid to quit their outdated tradition because they think that changing their old customs will only bring trouble.
