This is a story about a small rural village that holds its annual lottery. Families in the village participate and the lottery starts by one representative from each family pulling a piece of paper from the black box the one who gets the paper with the black spot is stoned to death as per tradition of the lottery. This world that is created by Shirley Jackson in “The Lottery” is a dystopia.…
The Lottery, a well-known short story written by Shirley Jackson and was published in 1949. Shirley Jackson creates a story filled with lots and lots of foreshadows and symbolisms, these helps building up the tension within the reader mind to question the conclusion of the story. The main focal theme of The Lottery is the danger of blindly following tradition, the author used this theme as a mirror to reflect on the society. The Lottery is worth reading because the message Jackson used to portray the modern day society about its tradition, to question for its purpose and outcomes. Throughout the story the author used a variety of techniques to bring together the whole concept of the story, some of the techniques are foreshadowing, symbolism…
In her story “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson, utilizes symbolism to underline the importance of questioning tradition. Her story, “The Lottery,” begins in a small intimate village of about 300 people. In this little village, tradition is important because it must be practiced in order to help get better crops throughout the year. The way these crops are produce is by one person getting sacrificed via stoning once every year, and that is led by Mr. Summers. Though this tradition is practiced yearly, not everyone in this village is content about the sacrificial aspect of this tradition, creating conflict in the story when Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson, the one being sacrificed, chooses to rebel against this established institution tradition. Though she…
Through her ability to display the grim reality of a small idealized town, Shirley Jackson unmasks the evil of tradition in “The Lottery.” She repeats that mindless rituals are unacceptable practices. Jackson begins her writing with, “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” (715). This first sentence gives us clues that there is not an extreme amount of emotion; it hints that the style reflects the attitudes of the villagers. The townspeople picture the lottery as normal and have no more emotion towards it than they do the flowers or the warm sunny day. The children begin collecting rocks as they are playing, and the adults…
““It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,” Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and they were upon her.” (Jackson)Even though the community is following traditions that they happen every year. The traditions are still wrong. This book has a very dark theme, and things within the community that symbol many things. The short story is also very similar to the known movie The Hunger Games.…
Change is a great and a necessary evil. Remember the old saying, “If it isn’t broke don’t fix it.”? The very meaning of this quote serves as a dangerous roadblock, which has inflicted ignorance and impeded advancement throughout human history. Events like the Holocaust in the 1900s, segregation of white and blacks during the mid-1900s, and the denial of women’s civil rights in the 1900s all serve as prime consequences of humans not willing to change. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, she use the black battered box as a way to illustrate that human kind must continue to evolve and not always conform to unethical traditions. This is important because if the town members evaluated their beliefs and did not conform to unethical traditions; traditions which subjected people to succumb to fear, perform barbaric activities, and…
Many authors usually incorporate a theme in their piece of writing. A theme is basically the subject of talk on what the author’s personal feelings are. In the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson the theme is the danger of blindly following traditions can eventually lead to you being cruel. The following theme with be supported through characterization and setting.…
Is a tradition really a tradition if it’s meaningless and hollow? The original purpose of the lottery was to make corn growth heavy, but over time it was forgotten, and just done for the sake of doing it. At first, The lottery was actually for religious purposes, and many events followed and preceded it. Then it turned into a hollow tradition nobody really cared about. “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson, turns to a less observed topic, and gives us a very good example of what many of us do today.…
The author of the short story, The Lottery, is Shirley Jackson. In the lottery, the villagers of a small town gather together on the 27th of June for the annual tradition of the town lottery, which is conducted by Mr. Summers. In which, every year they select a random person to be stoned to their death, as they are the winner of the lottery. Emphasizing the theme of the dangers of blindly following traditions. This is shown through characterization, tone and dialogue.…
Shirley Jackson’s fictitious story entitled “The Lottery” is an allegorical examination into the underpinnings of societal rituals and traditions as well as how these rituals affect both social and political cultures. Although Jackson presents her literary work as a somewhat simplistic story about a village that holds an annual lottery every summer, the themes governing the story’s plot and underpinnings delve into a deeper analysis regarding the effects and consequences of a political oligarchy on its citizens. Rooted in long-standing tradition, the lottery is conducted in a way that illustrates the hierarchy of an organization of people controlled by [misguided] ideology—albeit somewhat lost in translation over the many years—and outcome.…
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If you don’t see a problem, then there is no need in trying to fix it. This is the way things have always been done so why change it now? This is the way many people think and don’t see a problem with it. They go along with the status quo whether it is right or wrong. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson the townspeople are hesitant to refuse traditions that would be considered wrong and evil by most people.…
In Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” it is evident that conforming to society and sticking with tradition can lead to outweighing personal morals./be a burden on the lives of people. Although The Lottery was a tradition that has been occurring for years, nobody sticks up to support their morals to challenge The Lottery. Not only does The Lottery limit the rights of many, but many other expectations in their society do too.…
Are you part of the societal norm? Some people believe once a law has been passed that you may exercise you rights despite going against the societal norm. Normally, a little piece of expensive paper won’t inhibit opposition from intervening. When groups differ from us they will almost always face opposition.…
Does thoughtlessly obeying tradition justify senseless and violent murder? The setting of the story takes place in a small fictional village around the time an annual event dubbed “the lottery” is being conducted, garnering the attention of the entire community. Furthermore, the tone set in the beginning is that of a jovial and positive atmosphere sharply contrasting the disturbing ending and revelation of exactly what “the lottery” is; all the while exploring themes corresponding to the potentially harrowing effects of blindly following tradition, the fear of change and the stagnating effect it can have, and the impersonal randomness of prosecution. To summarize, due to the reasons listed above, society should be more mindful of the traditions that it faithfully upholds.…
It is often said that there is strength in numbers. While it is true that a large group of people has more power than an individual, a single person within a large group will almost always conform in some way. This weakens the individual and leads to fewer new ideas in order to maintain group status and agreement. Many times, rituals or ideas are allowed and accepted just because they are favored by a majority or have been part of that society for so long that they have become almost like a tradition. In "The Lottery", Shirley Jackson uses alarming images to guide the reader to understand the futility and foolishness of blind obedience to these rituals. The lottery “selection” emphasizes the importance of questioning what is right in front of you instead of just conforming mindlessly.…