ipl-logo

Tradition And Symbolism In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

1106 Words5 Pages

“Tradition becomes our security, and when the mind is secure it is in decay"(Jiddu Krishnamurti).The lottery is a story about horror and what can happen about having tradition for too long. What I think Shirley Jackson wants us to learn about this story is to not have a tradition for so long, be smart about my choices and not to do things that I know that are not good. Shirley Jackson wrote poetry and kept journals throughout her life. “Shirley Jackson was born in San Francisco on December 14, 1919. She grew up in California until 1933, when her family moved to Rochester, New York. In 1934 Jackson enrolled at the University of Rochester.”(Moss, Wilson). The villagers woke up on the day of the lottery. They all meet at the town center and …show more content…

One example of symbolism is the Black Box.”The villagers kept their distance from the black box” (Shriley, Jackson). This quote relates to the theme of tradition because of the hesitation of getting near the box makes it seem that the box might be something more than just a lottery ticket holder that it might have more value. “Although the black box is old, the villagers are unwilling to change it”(Wilson). This quote relates to my theme because the black box has been a tradition for them for a long time. Even though the box is old and worn out, they still use it. Mainly because they are used to it, and many people don't like change. This is why many traditions that are passed down are bad, and the people of that tradition might not notice, because they are used to it and don't like …show more content…

One example of irony in the book is the lottery. “The lottery was conducted , just like the all the other celebrations in the town” (Shirley, Jackson). This quote relates to the theme because this quote makes us think that the lottery is a happy and fun time of the year, that something good will happen if the person wins the lottery. But what eventually turned out was the lottery being a bad and terrible thing, and someone dying at the end.“The events of the story are related in a matter-of-fact and objective way”(Wilson). This quote relates to the theme because when you think about the lottery you think someone is going to win something, a big prize that will make the winner extremely happy, but in this story it is the opposite. The winner of the lottery doesn't win a nice prize. What the winner gets is people throwing stones at

Show More
Related
2309 Words | 10 Pages

Annotated Bibliography 1. Jackson The Lottery By: Yarmove, Jay A. Explicator. Summer94, Vol. 52 Issue 4, p242. 4p.

Read More
322 Words | 2 Pages

Usually there’s a winner in a lottery, but not in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”. This story intrigued me by it's suspenseful nature and it's chaotic events. In small town America, they come together once a year to perform an annual tradition. Mrs. Jackson demonstrates literary devices such as foreshadowing, mood, and conflict in “The Lottery”. Foreshadowing is used quite a few times in “The Lottery”.

Read More
520 Words | 3 Pages

“The Lottery” Interpretive Essay “The Lottery”, a short story by Shirley Jackson, is about a lottery that takes place in a small village. The story starts of with the whole town gathering in the town square, where Mr. Summers, the official, holds the lottery. After that, every family draws out of an old black box, and a certain family gets picked. Out of the certain family, one person gets picked as the unlucky “winner” of the lottery. In this short story, after the Hutchinson family gets drawn, Tessie Hutchinson is declared “winner” of the lottery.

Read More
593 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
227 Words | 1 Pages

The short story “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson, the plot in the story that it only gives people an account of drawing lots to determine the winner who shall be stoned to death for harvest. However, we get a deep impression of the characters and their fate after reading the story. Jackson indicated a prevalent theme, the indirect of characterization and using symbolism and irony to modify this horror story. The Allegorical story of “ The Lottery” is often regarded as a satire of human behavior and social institutions, and exemplifies some of the central themes of Jackson’s fiction, including the victimization of the individual by society, the tendency of people to be cruel, and the presence of evil in everyday life.

Read More
1191 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
480 Words | 2 Pages

“The lottery” (1948) Analysis The short story, “The lottery” by Shirley Jackson takes place in a small village. Was conducted the lottery story in 1948. In this story, the lottery is a yearly tradition that takes place in a small American Town.

Read More
909 Words | 4 Pages

For example, when the day 's described as “clear and sunny” it 's ironic because it ends with the “brutal death” of a person. The way Jackson described the day made us think it was going to be enjoyable but it showed us otherwise. Another example would be Mr. Summers’s name. His persona leads us to believe that he 's the kind man in the story

Read More
1474 Words | 6 Pages

“The Lottery” is an realism/horror story written by Shirley Jackson. The story is about some villagers of a small New England town who follow the tradition of making a lottery every year. When it comes, they like to celebrate it with the correct rules and the correct objects so they can feel more comfortable. Everyone need to take a slip of paper from a small black box, and the paper with a black dot in it means that the family is the winner, then they raffle again; Bill Hutchinson, who was the husband of the protagonist Tessie Hutchinson picked a paper with a black dot in it, that meant that Tessie was the winner of the lottery, then she starts complaining because the drawing was not conducted properly. At the end, the townspeople moved off to a cleared spot outside the town and they begin stoning her to death (Jackson).

Read More
691 Words | 3 Pages

“The Lottery’s” opening lines read: “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. ”(Jackson 309). From this line, one can conclude that Jackson is trying to portray the village as a quaint and nice place where townsfolk gather, and no harm occurs. However, this strays far from the truth. As the story continues, the gathering abruptly changes and ultimately leads the townspeople to commit violence and murder.

Read More
492 Words | 2 Pages

The Symbolism of The Lottery One big symbol that the short story is discreet about is the black box that is repeated throughout the short story symbolizes fear to adults which could affect even the most innocent. The black box appears to be the only paraphernalia that is still being used in the tradition of having a lottery. Mr. Summers is the one who is running the lottery at the time. Mr. Summers is seen as a nice man, however, when he is introduced, he is seen with the black box. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a short story that uses the black box as a symbol to convey an underlying message that when the power of a tradition is given to a person, it could lead a crumbling society.

Read More
467 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
605 Words | 3 Pages

Shirley Jackson’s “The lottery” is a story based on tradition. When hearing the word tradition, most people think of team rituals before games, or something families do together annually. However, Jackson is obviously not like most people. She builds up a fair amount of tension around this ritual that is taking place to make readers wonder what is going on. She uses many different techniques to show that sometimes, traditions are not always meant to go on forever.

Read More
926 Words | 4 Pages

This story still remains relevant in comparison to today. Simple towns people who speak to each other on a daily basis and joke around with each other all of the sudden turn around and kill one of their one. This story symbolized the change of heart within people when events go on. With various symbols, Shirley Jackson created the short story, The Lottery, to show society and what it has been and what it could be. One might even say that Jackson wanted to keep it in the mind of a ‘modern’ society that such things could happen again.

Read More
505 Words | 3 Pages

However, the townspeople just brush off the subject and nothing gets done. The reason why the villagers do not want to make a new box is because “no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box. ”1 With that reason, readers can infer that the townspeople do not want to give up their tradition. If they are reluctant on changing

Read More

More about Tradition And Symbolism In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Related Topics

Open Document