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Analysis of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
The lottery by shirley jackson an analysis
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson analysis
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Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” examines human traditions and the way humans cling to them without necessary probable reasons. The villagers fear of letting go there traditions. Two elements that illustrate the theme of the fading tradition in “The Lottery” are the black box and Old Man Warner. The black box functions as a symbol for the decaying tradition of the lottery.
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 Lottery”, written by Shirley Jackson, is a short story about how villagers from a small town partake in a cruel tradition. They believe that they will have a bountiful harvest if they sacrifice one of their own. Throughout this story there is symbolism that shows how the tradition is kept, their fear of change, and things to come. This is shown through objects, dialogue, and even names. The villagers’ fear of the unknown stops them from changing this tradition, so it becomes a norm in their society.
The Lottery: Winner Loses All Envision a summer day in a quaint, peaceful town full of flowers and green grass. Everyone participates in a town meeting in this picturesque village, where flowers bloom, and families enjoy each other's company. However, there is a catch: one random person will be stoned to death on the town square. " The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson, explains this dark and sinister story, first painting a picture of a charming, tight-knit community. Jackson continues, explaining that every year, the townspeople participate in an event known as "The Lottery.
Traditions are an important part of our culture and what makes us individuals. They are passed down from generation to generation through following what our parents and grandparents have done. This shows our respect for our ancestors. However, there are some traditions that have no logical need to be followed, but still are blindly followed. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the villagers follow the tradition of the lottery, even though they question why they still do it.
In “The Lottery” by “Shirley Jackson,” we are introduced by the author telling us about some of the society's’ traditions such as ‘The Lottery.’ The lottery is an ancient tradition that has been going on for several years in this small village. They each pick a slip of paper which determines if they have won the lottery or not. This lottery is not like most but, let's just say it’s not a very rewarding prize. By the end of the story, the reader can see that hurting others is never entertainment.
The short story “The Lottery” is written by Shirley Jackson. This story takes place in a small village where everybody knows each other. In this story all the villagers gather around town for their annual lottery. Everyone in the village is compelled to follow this tradition even if the outcome ends up with someone dying. In “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson uses conflict, theme, and irony to develop this suspenseful short story.
Of the religions we have studied Taoism and Buddhism share the most connected history. Both religions have a great deal influence over many eastern countries, especially China. They both express a need and pursuit of virtue, wisdom, and a correct way to live life. They share the use of temples and shrines for worship and have many monasteries all over the world. Neither religion focuses on belief and worship of an all knowing presence in favor of a pursuit of greater self while acknowledging that the Gods are just higher life forms and not exactly deities.
Historically, in every culture, important practices exist which transmit traditional values to subsequent generations as traditions is a critical piece of our culture. They help developing and moulding the attitudes and characters of humans, forming the structure and foundation of families and our society. Notwithstanding, many traditions promote social unity and coherent, some traditions erode the integrity, psychological and physical health of individuals as can be seen in the story “The Lottery” writer by Shirley Jackson. In the story, head of the families take a lot in choosing the family that going to sacrifice one of the family members to increase the crop yield. Furthermore, the story “Looking for Rain God” written by Bessie Head reflects the belief in traditional practices, resulting in merciless death of two children.
Many people would die to win the lottery; in the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson you would do anything NOT to win this lottery. This annual lottery reveals the negative aspects of this town’s Tradition, Savagery, Barbarism, and cold-heartedness. In this paper I will show why this town blindly follows these customs, not because it’s a tradition but because of the accepting wickedness that can be shown. Why does the town follow this foolish tradition? Throughout “The Lottery” the narrator tells that the people do not remember how the lottery began, and that some of the older people believe the lottery has changed over the years, that now people just want to get it over with as fast as possible.
Growing up policy was not on my mind, although throughout my childhood my family like many struggled to make ends meet, often relying on my mother’s school loans and the federal programs such as WIC. Up until this point this was my only experience with policy a rather personal one at that. Ever since the presidential elections cycle of 2008 I have wanted to shape the policy debate and to one day be a political actor that can craft policy. Over the last few years, I have worked in a variety of positions, but none as formative as being a summer associate at the National Taxpayers Union.
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 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.
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.
