Preview

Summary Of Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery'

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1048 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary Of Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery'
THE LOTTERY

A short fictional story published by Shirley Jackson The Lottery was originally published in the magazine The New Yorker in 1948.
On one clear sunny morning in a village of 300 it was the day of June 27, The Lottery Day. It was held at the town square by the post office and the bank. This village was a farming village. The time they held this was anytime they wanted. On this special day people gather around the town square and the kids collect rocks. During this day Graves and Summers set it all up. They prepare slips for each family. Now it is time to draw to see who wins and they call the head of the family which is the father to come and draw. When every head of their family has drawn they open their cards. If the head opens
…show more content…
In the first place, there was paper you had to draw with. The leaders of The Lottery folded slips of paper and one had a black dot on it. If they did not have this they wouldn't have anything to draw with and nothing to see if you won The Lottery or not. Another reason is, Little Davy was givin rocks to throw at his own parent. Little Davy was given rocks to throw at his mom and he had to participate or he would have to pay a consequence. It was his own parent even if you don’t want to kill your mother you still have to help. This matters because he is basically killing his mother and his whole family has to participate. Lastly, there was a black box. The black box was to hold the slips of paper. The box has also been around for many many years and it is very old. This matters because it tells the viewer that The Lottery has been going for a very long time. All in all, there are many similarities in the short story The Lottery and the movie The …show more content…
First, the short story tolled more detail then the movie did. Second, there was more excitement in the short story then there was in the movie. Like when Bill did not draw the dot the second time through he was happy and so were the kids. Lastly, the short story was more understanding. It was more understanding because it talked about how people were complaining and hoping that they did not draw the black dot card. There was more suspense in the short story then there was in the movie. In conclusion, the short story was better than the movie The Lottery in several

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    1.The dark ending was not a typically lottery but throughout the story methods of foreshadowing was used by the author, Shirley Jackson. Characters throughout the story fear the lottery nervously but the dark suspicions are confirmed when “Tessie Hutchinson shouted to Mr. Summers. "You didn't give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair!"”(Jackson 5). Tessie instead of being excited for winning the lottery is extremely against winning which confirms that the lottery is nothing to be excited about. Jackson begins the story picturing the town as a the children were playing around as if nothing horrible was about to happen.…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the other story “The Lottery”also uses some symbolism. One example is in one part of the story the box was black.Black can represent death.Another example…

    • 383 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There are similarities and differences of “The Lottery” of the short story and The Lottery video. “The Lottery” has two different types of things a short story and a Short film over The Lottery. One similarity is that the boys still gathered up the rocks and put them in a big pile. Another difference is that when they carried the stool out it was a four legged stool instead of a three legged stool. A similarity is that Old Man Warner still warned them about giving up the lottery.…

    • 175 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Omelas Vs Lottery

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages

    “The Lottery” begins with a community portraying an uneasiness in each person’s actions because a certain event takes place the same day, every year, casting a shadow on everyone’s lives on that day. Every person will select a slip of paper from a box and the person with the slip that has a black dot on it will be stoned to death, quickly, with stones that people have already stacked in a pile. The pile is an accumulation…

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson many of the beliefs in the story are giving the lottery a bad meaning. In this story The Lottery is a huge event of stoning winners of the lottery. Many of the lottery winners think maybe the drawings are very unfair. Normally the first thing that comes to a persons mind when they think about the lottery is a large sum of money, in the story “The Lottery” it is not the same. This story makes the readers mind wonder and see two aspects of the story, for what they think “The Lottery” is and what it really meant to them. In the story one of the main characters Tessie Hutchinson felt the lottery was unfair and decided to protest. Old Man Warner and also Mr. Summers are pretty much on the same…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Overall Shirley Jackson discusses the movement of the setting, the unusual foreshadowing, and the outermost symbolism in "The Lottery" to give an overall point of view of the story.…

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This story gives the lottery a bad reputation. The first thing that comes to mind is winning a sum of money or goods. In the beginning, the story suggests that the people are going to draw for a prize. Instead they are drawing to see who will be stoned to death. This is part of the irony in the story along with the day is described as being a sunny summer day, flowers blossoming and the grass richly green. This suggests that a happy event is getting ready to take place. The people of the town are reluctant to give up the lottery. As everyone starts to gather in the town square there is talk how other towns have…

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The author, Jackson uses symbols to explain the true meaning behind the lottery; she uses names and objects to explain the story. The black box symbolizes death and the tradition itself, even though the box is deteriorated the people from the village refuse to replace it, just like the tradition, it is antique and it doesn’t make much sense but people is willing to follow it blindly. The names from the people also hold an important meaning. Jackson uses symbolic names to indicate what type of lottery is being…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Lottery” may be somewhat deceiving from it’s title and can lead you in the wrong direction if you are not careful to notice the foreshadowing signs that is typical in Shirley Jackson’s stories. In “The Lottery” she gives two signs that are hidden deep into words that you, the reader, have to break up. She uses actions by her characters, and characters names. She leaves one more clue that is not in the story, but that fills her own life.…

    • 513 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In conclusion, the paradox of the lottery is that the readers wanted the story to be positive from the beginning so badly that they skipped over the many bits of irony and symbolism within the story. Jackson was so careful with her wording that she made endless ways to interpret the meaning of this story, whether the readers realized it or…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The short stories, “The Lottery” and “Charles”, have notable differences in writing styles. “The Lottery”, is a story about chance. Will you be lucky enough to live for the day? “Charles” is about Laurie, who is starting Kindergarten and wants attention from his parents. In both short stories, the author, Shirley Jackson, described the characters, the themes, and the situations to create an illustration for the reader.…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Lottery is a short story written by Shirley Jackson in 1948, yet still, leaves a mark on any person who gets their hands on it today. The story starts out by setting an enjoyable atmosphere at the beginning of summer. The community gathers and the story almost fulfills the reader’s idea of a perfect town activity. However, the story has a sharp twist at the end that leaves the reader in shock. Jackson wrote the story to leave an impact and whom how quickly human nature can change. Shirley Jackson shows the duality of human nature in the characters of the children, Tessie Hutchinson, and Mr. Summers.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Business Etiquette

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The main theme in the story “The Lottery” is to expose the bondage life that people are living with in the name of tradition. It is a brutal tradition that people do not seem to see how inhuman it is. The day starts in the morning at around ten o’clock with children coming in first followed by the men and finally the women. It is so disturbing to see a pile of stone in a corner as…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The horror that I felt when looking back upon this story, was only amplified by rereading it, knowing what the ceremony actually would entail. The unsuspecting reader begins the story thrown into a lovely summer seen in a quaint village. Details about children attending school, men and women chatting, lull the reader into contentment. Once the reveal is made, tiny, once insignificant details cast the story in completely new light, an awful one. This contrast between the relive happiness of the beginning, and the grimness at the end heightens the aspect of horror.…

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays