“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, is a short story expressed through the theme of apathy, when the community feels no emotion for anyone, that a ritual is more important than a human being, mob mentality, and hypocrisy which is prevalent within the townspeople. It may help learning more about Shirley Jackson to better understand why she wrote such a horrific story like, “The Lottery.” Shirley Jackson moved into a small town, Bennington, Vermont, where she wasn’t accepted within her town which shows she was thinking how cruel people can be. Not being accepted is not the same as being stoned or killed, but it has the capacity for cruelty. Through this, Shirley Jackson is suggesting that we need to examine ourselves and our actions carefully and live our lives consciously instead of
While real life traditions are rarely so extreme, Jackson’s exaggerated fictional example emphasizes her point to great effect. By the end of the story, the audience is convinced that the town is wrong to uphold the lottery tradition, but Jackson is not really writing about a lottery; she is writing about how damaging it can
A tradition or idea that is followed and not questioned by some could potentially be dangerous or illogical. In Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery”, the dangers of blindly following a tradition is portrayed. In “The Lottery,” a village gathers around every year on June 27th to hold a lottery. Mr. Summers leads the tradition every year. This lottery is very unusual; the winner will become the loser.
this is my essay about the lottery anyways let's get started old man warner is the oldest man in the village and this old man is such a grump he has a very bad temper and his skin is very wrinkly and he has really grey hair and because of the sun he has these spots called sun spots on his arm but this old man is the best farmer in the village and he is a very traditional guy he does not like change he will get very angry if something is different for some weird reason old man warner does not want the lottery too quiet but he is a very traditional and the lottery is a tradition for everyone in the village but he's not the only person in the village other people would like the lottery to stop but old man warner wants to keep growing his crops
Shirley Jackson misleads her readers at different times throughout the story The Lottery to try and make them believe the lottery is a good thing in the story. Shirley Jackson uses the setting to mislead us into thinking the story would be happy and have a cheery ending. One example in the story is when it was ¨Clear and sunny with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day, flowers were blossoming profusely¨ in the village (1). This is a misleading because when someone portrays a nice setting it usually means a happy ending whereas Shirley Jackson put a nice setting with a bad ending. In addition to the setting Shirley Jackson uses what seems to be a normal activity to trick the readers into thinking there would be a happy ending.
To start off, a brief history of the lottery is presented to the reader, which quickly implants the idea that the Lottery is an annual event that has occurred for centuries within the village and surrounding area undisturbed. One example of this is the statement regarding how the original equipment for performing the Lottery was lost decades prior to the oldest villager's birth, thus implying a history that dates back over a hundred years. In addition, Old Man Warner states to Mr. Adams “There's always been a lottery.” These two examples establish the idea that the Lottery has been carried out for centuries in the village unchallenged.
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.
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 is something that most people see a splendid thing. But in the story “The Lottery” it is the exactly the opposite, the lottery for this village is not what you would not expect. And for two certain character the lottery is somewhat of a good slash bad thing. Old man Warner is the oldest man in the village he leaves in. He has participated in 77 lottery's.
It can be argued that no one seems to want to discontinue the long lived tradition they call “The Lottery” by how our main character’s respond. One can come to conclude that the overall idea of the story is how the residents become blind to what’s right and wrong simply because of the sake of tradition. The writer shows us how a tradition in which most would find incorrect, can become correct to those whom have practiced it all their life. Throughout history we can see how traditions has become an important role in how we live and reason today. When one thinks about the word “lottery” one would usually connect it to good things such as winnings or money, but in this lottery, the winner will be brutally murdered in a primitive ritual of stoning.
Shirley Jackson’s, “The Lottery”, carries a powerful message about environmental factors, and how these factors shape human behavior. In Jackson’s story, the people live in a rural setting. The beautiful nature surrounds the tiny village where only three hundred people reside. Here, there are no filthy streets. Yet, in such a small, claustrophobic environment, it appears the villagers cannot exist without a yearly tradition.
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is an account of a tradition gone awry. In this short story the villagers of this town have a tradition where they have a “lottery” to see who gets stoned to death. The characterization and symbolism used in the story makes the reader feel as if society has crumbled with the inhumane tradition that ultimately lost its meaning. Throughout the story, Jackson uses characterization and symbolism to imply a message to society about the meaning of tradition. Through the use of characterization and symbolism Jackson establishes that blindly following traditions can be hazardous
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
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.
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.
