Analysis Of The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Apart from the sugarcoated, fairy tale perspective we give our children and each other about are world, we have to see the true picture for the real image surrounding life. In Shirley Jackson’s story, “The Lottery”, this small quant town holds a lottery every year, in which the winner or loser, in this case, are put to death by their own neighbors in a public stoning. The people advocate this tradition to show social structure within the town, but to grasp any comprehension for a true meaning, reading between the lines of the story is a must. This story, “The Lottery”, show the traditions of this town are taken way too far. Additionally, the story clearly states intense facts which showed me Jackson’s intensions were not completely geared towards creepiness and horror, but more of a strong message for all to wake up and see problems that need to be approached, in hopes of making changes and differences in society.
The author explains, the town lottery happens once a year around spring time.
You can tell this from singing birds and blooming flowers, but a regular day in a normal looking town quickly turns and gives of a slight gloom, with an overcasting set for a satanic-like gathering. The horrific ritual ends in a bloody death. In today’s society, large cities around the U.S. which are home to beautiful places and people, which are usually maintained well throughout the year. However, there are also bad parts of cities which lie just around the corner, which usually are avoided by people who live in the nice parts of town. These sections usually get very little attention from those who don’t live there, thus making matters worse for those parts of town. Not one person seem to put up a fight, or even question the mayor of town in effort to abolish this horrible lottery. Course this is why it lasted so many years. From the story’s beginning, clearly the town’s tradition is very sacred and
special. Tessie Hutchinson, a late arrival, strolls up seemingly without any cares. The people of town along with herself jokingly say they would miss her at this year’s lottery. She comments herself, “Clean forgot what day it was” (Jackson, 864). All seem careless that in a short time, a fellow neighbor will be stoned to death. A bit of irony from Jackson comes to use, symbolizing death with the use of the old worn black box; black represented a gothic color, and the wearing of the box suggest the years this lottery tradition has lasted for. The biggest supporter and town elder, Old man Warner, a huge influence on making sure this town tradition last forever. This bring Jackson’s stories true meaning together. Are their towns or cities with similar old traditions like this in their history? “The Lottery” is sort of a wakeup call, for people to stand up and take a step forward in their beliefs. The critical review of John Walden says in the Bible, Jesus died for us. His life was taken, not because he committed a crime, but for his loyalty to God.