More handpicked essays just for you.
The lottery by shirley jackson summary essay
The lottery by shirley jackson summary essay
The lottery by shirley jackson summary essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Many people in the village have fluctuating opinions with this violent tradition, and it has created tension within the village. The people of the village do not want to risk the growth of the crops, therefore, they will not question if killing someone is the right or wrong thing to do in order to grow crops and not starve.
Within “The Lottery,” author Shirly Jackson embeds the theme of blindly accepting traditions as illustrated by the actions of the villagers. For example, the Lottery is presented as an event that has always occurred throughout the region's history. Likewise, the author states multiple times that parts of the traditional Lottery have changed unnoticed by the villagers. Finally, the “murder” of Tessie Hutchinson is nonchalantly committed by the entire village. To start off, a brief history of the lottery is given to the reader which quickly implants the idea that the Lottery is an event that has occurred annually for hundreds of years within the village and surrounding area without any disruption.
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
In The Lottery, Jackson’s descriptions of tradition present an ugly, monotonous and unregulated setting. Through the use of connotative language and literary techniques, Jackson employs the detrimental effect of blindly following tradition. As Jackson argues through The Lottery, tradition is portrayed as meaningless and arguably followed as a means of uncertainty and inability to change. Jackson portrays the blind acceptance of tradition in the village through their failure to understand the purpose of The Lottery. It can be inferred the townspeople have no directive behind revealing the original reasoning behind the lottery.
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.
Why does an individual follow a blind tradition in hopes of achieving “sameness” with the public eye or society? One is unconsciously trained to follow mindless tradition without knowing what it’s deeper meaning is. “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson, represents a long lost sacrifice ritual, now morphed into a blind tradition that people follow. A fictional village struggles with this concept, holding a voluntary “lottery” every year, where the “winner” is stoned to death. The villagers hold the lottery because they believe that the crops will be bountiful in the event that they do as such.
Conformity is a powerful and influential behavior that can drastically affect a society’s circumstances. The morality and wellbeing of the individuals’ in a society are shaped by the everyday traditions and customs of that culture. Shirley Jackson, an award-winning author for her works in horror and mystery, unveils the perturbing effect of conformity on a society and its people in her short story “The Lottery.” In her thought-provoking story, a village situated in a warm area of England prepares to partake in a traditional crop fertility ritual that involves a paper drawing to elect a ‘winner’ who will be stoned to death. The societal conformity to continue this brutal tradition causes the life of a person to be insensitively taken away each
Tradition is a sacred way to pass down the customs or beliefs of one generation to another. It is sometimes used to celebrate certain occasions, pay tribute, or remember the fallen. But in some cases, it can be used to sate the deep dark thoughts humans keep hidden inside them. For example, in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, it is common to hold a lottery annually in every town. At first, it sounds like a chance to get lucky and win some serious cash.
Traditions have been sought after and passed on for generations; with no questions asked, whether humane or not, traditions are hard to break and diminish as they are often what a culture or community stands for. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, a story about the tradition of a small village, is painted in impeccable details of peace, and serenity on a warm summer day, as everyone follows the tradition they have known since a long time ago despite the true intentions and meaning of it forgotten. The Lottery taking place annually is like no other lottery, it paints the true picture of the horror that epitomizes the tradition that none of the villagers dare to question, despite it creating separation between gender and families and ruining
Human nature can be characterized as being positive, capable of altruism and goodness which sets humankind apart from savage animals; however, human nature possesses a dark side, namely cruelty, and it is capable of barbarism like any beast. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, cruelty is part of human nature, and the participants of the lottery demonstrate human cruelty through violence towards one another; markedly, by exhibiting desensitization to violence and the acceptance of violence resulting in internal dysfunction which is perpetuated yearly. Participants of the lottery belong to a close-knit community, and every year the community hosts an enigmatic lottery draw. The conclusion of the lottery draw is only mysterious until the outcome
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.
At a time when basic religious beliefs and traditions were being questioned by academia, author Shirley Jackson penned a poignant attack against those who blindly accepted values and traditions in her short story, “The Lottery.” The Lottery is presented as an event that has always occurred throughout the region's history without any opposition. Nonchalantly, the entire village commits homicide at the finale. Finally, aspects of the traditional lottery evolved without notice or were forgotten by the villagers. Within “The Lottery,” author Shirley Jackson embeds the theme of blindly accepting traditions as illustrated by the actions of the villagers.
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.
