Use Of Satire In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

When most people hear the word “lottery” they think of fame, fortune, and an instantly better life. However, in some cases, a lottery may not always be as great as it seems. In a short story by Shirley Jackson, winning the lottery didn’t mean all your problems were over, rather, it meant they were just beginning. The story centers around a town that holds a lottery on June 27th of every year. Each family must draw a slip of paper, the family with a dot on their paper remains in the drawing. This continues until a single person, in this case, Mrs. Hutchinson, draws the paper with a dot on it; once this happens, the rest of the town descends upon the “winner”. Throughout this story, Jackson uses her unusual take on lotteries as a way to bring

The short story The Lottery showcases the dangers of conformity, the consequences of blind adherence to tradition, and the frailty of family bonds through the liberal use of irony and satire.

Initially, this story starts off positive as the author describes happy children, a quaint village, and a content group of citizens. However, there are quite a few instances of foreshadowing and satire that help underline the prevalence of conformity within society. For example, early on in the story, a young boy named Bobby Martin is seen gathering stones, and unusual action that reveals its satirical nature in the end. But the particularly important part is shown in the quote, “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example”. This early instance of conformity sets the tone for the rest of the story by showing how readily the people of this town will blindly follow the lead of another person. Later on in the story, Jackson uses two more examples to show how pervasive and damaging conformity can be in society. When the townspeople are

Conformity and loss of individualism are pervasive problems in society today and author Shirley Jackson addresses them with irony and relatable examples. Early on in the story, the reader sees young children following the lead of others seemingly without question. Later on, no one is willing to part with the group and take a stand against the idea of a lottery because they enjoy feeling like they belong or they fear ostracization. This happens again, in an incredibly ironic situation, when Mrs. Hutchinson's own children begin stoning her in an effort to fit in with the group around them. Reliance on tradition is also criticized in this piece when the author describes how people refuse to replace a deteriorating box simply because it is traditional. Additionally, reliance on tradition causes people like Old Man Warner to become entrenched in their viewpoints and unable to form coherent arguments. Finally, Jackson uses both irony and satire to showcase how quickly a family can deteriorate in trying times. In this case, instead of trying to protect her children, Mrs. Hutchinson tries to get her eldest daughter put in the drawing to increase her chance of survival. In another ironic twist, as the story ends, even Mrs. Hutchinson's own family is taking part in her stoning. Throughout this story,