Self-Reliance Vs. Conformity In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson
October 9, 2014
Self- reliance Versus Conformity
Think about self-reliance, or in other words, independent thoughts and why it is important for one’s identity. The consequence of an individual standing up against societal norms or an individual conforming to the norms of his or her society represent the overarching theme in both TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD By Harper Lee and THE LOTTERY By Shirley Jackson. These authors may have used different kinds of literary techniques to impart their messages in the book/story but we could still compare and contrast their literary techniques that they have used to inform their readers. The authors Harper Lee and Shirley Jackson both illustrate the overarching theme of self- reliance versus conformity to their …show more content…
audience by using setting, symbolism, and tone in their writing.
Harper Lee’s setting for To Kill a Mockingbird is itself a major character in the novel which represents the overarching theme of self- reliance versus conformity. The novel takes place in the imaginary town of Maycomb County, Alabama in the early 1930’s. This is a time when the civil war of the 1860’s and slavery still loom around in the rearview mirror. The theme is perfect according to the setting where the Negroes have their own settlement on the outskirts of white Maycomb, and they have their own church and cemetery outside the city limits. At Tom Robinson’s trial, who is African American and innocent, however is blamed of raping a white woman. The black and the white people sit separately on each side of the town square. Inside the courtroom, the whites have the good seats on the first floor while the black are up in the balcony. Other than a few people like Mr. Dolph Raymond, even though he is white he doesn’t care what the others think of him or is it’s against the social norms he still sits around the black besides him, whites and blacks in Maycomb don 't eat together, pray together, live together, or even die together. When Atticus, the narrator’s father who is a well-respected lawyer in Maycomb tries to act as if Tom Robinson has just as much right to have a fair trial as a white man, most of the white people are angry—as if human rights were a cake with a limited number of slices. However there are some people who are more disturbed that Bob Ewell is able to make the court enforce his false accusation. As Miss Maudie says: "The handful of people in this town who say that fair play is not marked White only; the handful of people who say a fair trial is for everybody, not just us… The handful of people in this town with background, that 's who they are." (239) This "handful of people" can 't save Tom Robinson, but they might as well push Maycomb—struggling all the way—just a little farther down the path to racial equality so one could at least try to stand up for what is right.
Shirley Jackson’s story The Lottery takes place in a small village square which enables the readers to think from the villager’s point of view; this also helps in expressing the theme of Self- reliance versus conformity.
Jackson further describes where the lottery takes place, “The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o’clock… there were only about hundred people, the whole lottery took less than two hours,” (1) The tradition of the lottery is a norm in the village, in which it occurs once a year. This village does not speak for itself like other villages do, for example no one questions the fact that the towns people continue with this tradition. In fact, some go as far as to speak down about the towns that have given up the lottery. Here the town shows the overarching theme of self- reliance versus conformity because some towns stand up for their right rather than sit back and not question the tradition which has no apparel …show more content…
outcome.
Harper Lee uses the idea of mockingbirds in her book, which are harmless, innocent creatures.
Therefore, killing them is a sin, because they don 't hurt anyone as Harper Lee shows in the novel to convey her message to the audience she uses two major “mockingbirds” who are Arthur Radley and Tom Robinson; they help us define the overarching theme of self- reliance versus conformity. Harper Lee describes Boo’s situation from Scout’s point of view, “When they finally saw him, why he hadn’t done any of those things . . . Atticus, he was real nice. . . .” His hands were under my chin, pulling up the cover, tucking it around me. “Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.” (284) Arthur also known as Boo Radley, an intelligent child ruined by a cruel father, is one of the books most important mockingbirds. He stayed inside the Radley place this whole time and seemed like a monster in front of the society. He never stood up for what people thought of him without truly knowing him. However, these words from chapter 31 conclude the novel. As Scout falls asleep, she is telling Atticus about the events of The Gray Ghost, a book Jem read to her which show resemblance with Boo Radley’s cause and Atticus gently notes the truth of that observation. Harper Lee uses many characters to show the major theme of self- reliance versus conformity but nothing better than Boo Radley who shows the perfect example between his innocence and the societies accusation for which he did not stand
because” You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”(34) And that’s exactly what Scout did:
A boy trudged down the sidewalk dragging a fishing pole behind him. A man stood waiting with his hands on his hips. Summertime and his children played in the front yard with their friend, enacting a strange little drama of their own invention. It was fall, and his children fought on the sidewalk in front of Mrs. Dubose’s. . . . Fall and his children trotted to and fro around the corner, the day’s woes and triumphs on their faces. They stopped at an oak tree, delighted, puzzled, and apprehensive. Winter and his children shivered at the front gate, silhouetted against a blazing house. Winter and a man walked into the street, dropped his glasses, and shot a dog. Summer and he watched his children’s heart break. Autumn again, and Boo’s children needed him. Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough. (282)
This quote from Chapter 31 is Scout’s exercise in using Atticus’s advice and thinking about the world from Boo Radley’s perspective. After she walks him home, Scout stands on Boo’s porch and imagines many of the events of the story as they must have looked to Boo. She at last realizes the love and protection that Boo has silently offered her and her older brother Jem all along. The blossoming of Scout’s ability to assume another person’s perspective sympathetically is the culmination of her novel-long development as a character and of To Kill a Mockingbird’s moral outlook as a whole. You finally get to see how you’re not standing up for what is right and true for your self makes it easier for your society to decide it for you.
Jackson uses the black box and the lottery to express her message which is the major theme. The black box is the symbol for traditional ritual, the black dot on the paper is a symbol for death and the lottery itself is a symbol for self- reliance versus conformity which is ones innocence versus the society’s traditional ritual held for many years. The origins of the lottery are murky, even Old Man Warner doesn 't know when it began. Shirley Jackson says “The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago” for the only question it brings about is than why, why is this hollow ritual performed every year? However the answer is hiding inside the overarching theme of self- reliance versus conformity, which shows that consequence of an individual standing up against societal norms or an individual conforming to the norms of his or her society. Here the person who gets the paper with the black dot is to conform to the norms of his or her society. And that’s what Jackson confirms, “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,” Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.”(7) Even though Mrs. Hutchinson stands up against societal norms her individual stand is nothing against the society’s ritual which doesn’t even have a true meaning to it now that the ways are forgotten.
Every author needs the perfect tone to make sure the message has been delivered the way they want it to be delivered. Harper Lee uses many tones as to finally convey her message to the readers. Since she uses Scout to narrate the novel she takes the advantage and starts with a very childlike, naïve, ironic, humorous, nostalgic and innocent tone as the novel progresses and every character as well as Scout develop throughout the novel the tone is also developed from childlike to adultism, increasingly dark, forbidding, and critical of society. The voice of Scout Finch narrates the story of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, and the one tone used throughout the novel is nostalgic because Scout is narrating and looking back at the past events which led to Jems broken arm and the changes in their life. In the end of the novel when Scout is standing on the Radley’s porch and she’s thinking of all the events that occurred from Boo’s perspective she does not any more use a childlike tone she seems very mature and like a person who finally found the missing piece of a long lost puzzle. And that wraps up the novel and the theme of self- reliance versus conformity because this whole time tone was of an individual, who knew as little as a mockingbird about the evil that oppose the individual standing against the norms of their society but now this individual is truly of the society. As the novel progresses Scouts understanding of the society develops as well. She finally understands that separate is defiantly not equal in Maycomb. She now knows how important the boundaries between the African American and the whites are to the society and that if you don’t want to be troubled you should keep your distance.
Shirley Jackson uses a very peaceful, calm, and tranquil to cautious and horrific tone to convey the readers the overarching theme of self- reliance versus conformity. There is no shift in the narrative voice. When the story shifts profoundly from realism to symbolism we go from reading about a small village on a sunny summer day to witnessing the villagers stoning a member of their own community; all without the slightest change in tone form the author uses. This serves to present the horror of the lottery. Even when everyone is standing there to stone Mrs. Hutchinson, the narrator seems calm and shows how the villagers are used to this one’s every year ritual. The tone is very important in a novel or short story because if the tone goes wrong your theme, message, what you are trying to peruse to the readers, has no meaning of what, understanding you want from them.
Self- reliance, or independent thoughts, are important for one’s identity because a person without self- reliance equals to a slave who has no right and the society is to decide whether the slave is worth living or not. You may call this emotional appeal but when reading a novel or a short story you find that the authors are using many literary devices to convey their overall messages or the overarching theme. Here Harper Lee and Shirley Jackson both use somewhat the same literary techniques to convey the overarching theme of self- reliance versus conformity to their audience by using setting which sometimes itself is a major character in illustrating the theme, symbolism which could be the simplest thing like mockingbird or a paper with a black dot with such deep meanings to them and tone which could through everything down In a second and pick it up the next, it could be as bright as summer or horrific as the darkest thunderstorm. It always depends on what way the author wants you to understand the theme, the lesson, the overall message. It’s the literary devices they use to get you where they want; they could make a river out of it or Sahara desert so dry you’ll want to drink it dry.
Work Cited
Lee, Harper. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. New York: Warner Books, 1960. Print.
Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. 1948. Print.
Shmoop.com. 2014.Web.13 Oct. 2014.
Self- reliance Versus Conformity
Think about self-reliance, or in other words, independent thoughts and why it is important for one’s identity. The consequence of an individual standing up against societal norms or an individual conforming to the norms of his or her society represent the overarching theme in both TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD By Harper Lee and THE LOTTERY By Shirley Jackson. These authors may have used different kinds of literary techniques to impart their messages in the book/story but we could still compare and contrast their literary techniques that they have used to inform their readers. The authors Harper Lee and Shirley Jackson both illustrate the overarching theme of self- reliance versus conformity to their …show more content…
audience by using setting, symbolism, and tone in their writing.
Harper Lee’s setting for To Kill a Mockingbird is itself a major character in the novel which represents the overarching theme of self- reliance versus conformity. The novel takes place in the imaginary town of Maycomb County, Alabama in the early 1930’s. This is a time when the civil war of the 1860’s and slavery still loom around in the rearview mirror. The theme is perfect according to the setting where the Negroes have their own settlement on the outskirts of white Maycomb, and they have their own church and cemetery outside the city limits. At Tom Robinson’s trial, who is African American and innocent, however is blamed of raping a white woman. The black and the white people sit separately on each side of the town square. Inside the courtroom, the whites have the good seats on the first floor while the black are up in the balcony. Other than a few people like Mr. Dolph Raymond, even though he is white he doesn’t care what the others think of him or is it’s against the social norms he still sits around the black besides him, whites and blacks in Maycomb don 't eat together, pray together, live together, or even die together. When Atticus, the narrator’s father who is a well-respected lawyer in Maycomb tries to act as if Tom Robinson has just as much right to have a fair trial as a white man, most of the white people are angry—as if human rights were a cake with a limited number of slices. However there are some people who are more disturbed that Bob Ewell is able to make the court enforce his false accusation. As Miss Maudie says: "The handful of people in this town who say that fair play is not marked White only; the handful of people who say a fair trial is for everybody, not just us… The handful of people in this town with background, that 's who they are." (239) This "handful of people" can 't save Tom Robinson, but they might as well push Maycomb—struggling all the way—just a little farther down the path to racial equality so one could at least try to stand up for what is right.
Shirley Jackson’s story The Lottery takes place in a small village square which enables the readers to think from the villager’s point of view; this also helps in expressing the theme of Self- reliance versus conformity.
Jackson further describes where the lottery takes place, “The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o’clock… there were only about hundred people, the whole lottery took less than two hours,” (1) The tradition of the lottery is a norm in the village, in which it occurs once a year. This village does not speak for itself like other villages do, for example no one questions the fact that the towns people continue with this tradition. In fact, some go as far as to speak down about the towns that have given up the lottery. Here the town shows the overarching theme of self- reliance versus conformity because some towns stand up for their right rather than sit back and not question the tradition which has no apparel …show more content…
outcome.
Harper Lee uses the idea of mockingbirds in her book, which are harmless, innocent creatures.
Therefore, killing them is a sin, because they don 't hurt anyone as Harper Lee shows in the novel to convey her message to the audience she uses two major “mockingbirds” who are Arthur Radley and Tom Robinson; they help us define the overarching theme of self- reliance versus conformity. Harper Lee describes Boo’s situation from Scout’s point of view, “When they finally saw him, why he hadn’t done any of those things . . . Atticus, he was real nice. . . .” His hands were under my chin, pulling up the cover, tucking it around me. “Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.” (284) Arthur also known as Boo Radley, an intelligent child ruined by a cruel father, is one of the books most important mockingbirds. He stayed inside the Radley place this whole time and seemed like a monster in front of the society. He never stood up for what people thought of him without truly knowing him. However, these words from chapter 31 conclude the novel. As Scout falls asleep, she is telling Atticus about the events of The Gray Ghost, a book Jem read to her which show resemblance with Boo Radley’s cause and Atticus gently notes the truth of that observation. Harper Lee uses many characters to show the major theme of self- reliance versus conformity but nothing better than Boo Radley who shows the perfect example between his innocence and the societies accusation for which he did not stand
because” You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”(34) And that’s exactly what Scout did:
A boy trudged down the sidewalk dragging a fishing pole behind him. A man stood waiting with his hands on his hips. Summertime and his children played in the front yard with their friend, enacting a strange little drama of their own invention. It was fall, and his children fought on the sidewalk in front of Mrs. Dubose’s. . . . Fall and his children trotted to and fro around the corner, the day’s woes and triumphs on their faces. They stopped at an oak tree, delighted, puzzled, and apprehensive. Winter and his children shivered at the front gate, silhouetted against a blazing house. Winter and a man walked into the street, dropped his glasses, and shot a dog. Summer and he watched his children’s heart break. Autumn again, and Boo’s children needed him. Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough. (282)
This quote from Chapter 31 is Scout’s exercise in using Atticus’s advice and thinking about the world from Boo Radley’s perspective. After she walks him home, Scout stands on Boo’s porch and imagines many of the events of the story as they must have looked to Boo. She at last realizes the love and protection that Boo has silently offered her and her older brother Jem all along. The blossoming of Scout’s ability to assume another person’s perspective sympathetically is the culmination of her novel-long development as a character and of To Kill a Mockingbird’s moral outlook as a whole. You finally get to see how you’re not standing up for what is right and true for your self makes it easier for your society to decide it for you.
Jackson uses the black box and the lottery to express her message which is the major theme. The black box is the symbol for traditional ritual, the black dot on the paper is a symbol for death and the lottery itself is a symbol for self- reliance versus conformity which is ones innocence versus the society’s traditional ritual held for many years. The origins of the lottery are murky, even Old Man Warner doesn 't know when it began. Shirley Jackson says “The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago” for the only question it brings about is than why, why is this hollow ritual performed every year? However the answer is hiding inside the overarching theme of self- reliance versus conformity, which shows that consequence of an individual standing up against societal norms or an individual conforming to the norms of his or her society. Here the person who gets the paper with the black dot is to conform to the norms of his or her society. And that’s what Jackson confirms, “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,” Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.”(7) Even though Mrs. Hutchinson stands up against societal norms her individual stand is nothing against the society’s ritual which doesn’t even have a true meaning to it now that the ways are forgotten.
Every author needs the perfect tone to make sure the message has been delivered the way they want it to be delivered. Harper Lee uses many tones as to finally convey her message to the readers. Since she uses Scout to narrate the novel she takes the advantage and starts with a very childlike, naïve, ironic, humorous, nostalgic and innocent tone as the novel progresses and every character as well as Scout develop throughout the novel the tone is also developed from childlike to adultism, increasingly dark, forbidding, and critical of society. The voice of Scout Finch narrates the story of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, and the one tone used throughout the novel is nostalgic because Scout is narrating and looking back at the past events which led to Jems broken arm and the changes in their life. In the end of the novel when Scout is standing on the Radley’s porch and she’s thinking of all the events that occurred from Boo’s perspective she does not any more use a childlike tone she seems very mature and like a person who finally found the missing piece of a long lost puzzle. And that wraps up the novel and the theme of self- reliance versus conformity because this whole time tone was of an individual, who knew as little as a mockingbird about the evil that oppose the individual standing against the norms of their society but now this individual is truly of the society. As the novel progresses Scouts understanding of the society develops as well. She finally understands that separate is defiantly not equal in Maycomb. She now knows how important the boundaries between the African American and the whites are to the society and that if you don’t want to be troubled you should keep your distance.
Shirley Jackson uses a very peaceful, calm, and tranquil to cautious and horrific tone to convey the readers the overarching theme of self- reliance versus conformity. There is no shift in the narrative voice. When the story shifts profoundly from realism to symbolism we go from reading about a small village on a sunny summer day to witnessing the villagers stoning a member of their own community; all without the slightest change in tone form the author uses. This serves to present the horror of the lottery. Even when everyone is standing there to stone Mrs. Hutchinson, the narrator seems calm and shows how the villagers are used to this one’s every year ritual. The tone is very important in a novel or short story because if the tone goes wrong your theme, message, what you are trying to peruse to the readers, has no meaning of what, understanding you want from them.
Self- reliance, or independent thoughts, are important for one’s identity because a person without self- reliance equals to a slave who has no right and the society is to decide whether the slave is worth living or not. You may call this emotional appeal but when reading a novel or a short story you find that the authors are using many literary devices to convey their overall messages or the overarching theme. Here Harper Lee and Shirley Jackson both use somewhat the same literary techniques to convey the overarching theme of self- reliance versus conformity to their audience by using setting which sometimes itself is a major character in illustrating the theme, symbolism which could be the simplest thing like mockingbird or a paper with a black dot with such deep meanings to them and tone which could through everything down In a second and pick it up the next, it could be as bright as summer or horrific as the darkest thunderstorm. It always depends on what way the author wants you to understand the theme, the lesson, the overall message. It’s the literary devices they use to get you where they want; they could make a river out of it or Sahara desert so dry you’ll want to drink it dry.
Work Cited
Lee, Harper. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. New York: Warner Books, 1960. Print.
Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. 1948. Print.
Shmoop.com. 2014.Web.13 Oct. 2014.