Analysis Of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
“Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon,” (pg 52, line 260-261) sounds promising RIGHT? “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is about a beautiful nice June 27th when people are gathering around and one person is going to hell. The lottery was created was because the village had to sacrificing someone for a good harvest and now it’s just for tradition. Let’s go into detail on why the lottery was created.
In the story, Shirley secretly wrote about how a lottery helped the village grow a harvest. Let’s see where Shirley said why the lottery helped the village. There are two characters named Old Man Warner and Mr. Adams talking about a different village not doing a lottery anymore. UNTIL Old Man Warner said that there is used to be a saying, “Lottery
in June, corn be heavy soon” and “ First thing… eating stewed chickweed and acorns … There’s always been a lottery.” (pg 52, line 260-263) When they did a lottery back in , they sacrificed a person. After the lottery, their crops grown and they had a good harvest. To keep that good harvest, they did a lottery every time.
When people read the story, they get confused as to why they do the lottery every year. Why the village do it, it’s because of tradition. “Mr. Summers had been successful….substituted for chips of wood….. used for generations… easily to fit in the black box.”(pg 46, line 93-102) Rituals were used to be important to the lottery, but with the population starting to grow, they used slips of paper to fit more easily. To not upset tradition, they still used stones to sacrifice the chosen person. The lottery is just like paying taxes, except your stoning a person. “Come on… up” (pg 58, line 415-416) They don’t want to stoned the chosen villagers, but they have to because of tradition. It’s like we are in their shoes too.
In the Lottery, people just kill a person once a year because of tradition in the village. Having to kill others just to have a good life in the village is pretty ridiculous, but we are also in their shoes too. Lotteries maybe could give you nightmares, but remember, it’s called fiction.
In the story, Shirley secretly wrote about how a lottery helped the village grow a harvest. Let’s see where Shirley said why the lottery helped the village. There are two characters named Old Man Warner and Mr. Adams talking about a different village not doing a lottery anymore. UNTIL Old Man Warner said that there is used to be a saying, “Lottery
in June, corn be heavy soon” and “ First thing… eating stewed chickweed and acorns … There’s always been a lottery.” (pg 52, line 260-263) When they did a lottery back in , they sacrificed a person. After the lottery, their crops grown and they had a good harvest. To keep that good harvest, they did a lottery every time.
When people read the story, they get confused as to why they do the lottery every year. Why the village do it, it’s because of tradition. “Mr. Summers had been successful….substituted for chips of wood….. used for generations… easily to fit in the black box.”(pg 46, line 93-102) Rituals were used to be important to the lottery, but with the population starting to grow, they used slips of paper to fit more easily. To not upset tradition, they still used stones to sacrifice the chosen person. The lottery is just like paying taxes, except your stoning a person. “Come on… up” (pg 58, line 415-416) They don’t want to stoned the chosen villagers, but they have to because of tradition. It’s like we are in their shoes too.
In the Lottery, people just kill a person once a year because of tradition in the village. Having to kill others just to have a good life in the village is pretty ridiculous, but we are also in their shoes too. Lotteries maybe could give you nightmares, but remember, it’s called fiction.