Preview

The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Character Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
431 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Character Analysis
Most people believe the lottery is a win but in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson it is exactly the opposite. In this short story a small town of villagers stone to death one of their own, once a year, for the sake of crops. There are several characters the reader encounters that play significant roles in the story, such as Mrs. Delacriox and Mr. Summers.
Mr. Summers, a “round-faced, jovial man”, is essentially the mayor of the small village. He puts all his time and energy into the town’s activities. He is diligent and runs the coal business. “He has no children and his wife is a scold.” Mr. Summers enjoys assisting around town, keeping the tradition of the lottery alive. His overarching goal is to remain doing the lottery. Tessie Hutchinson,

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
  • Powerful Essays

    Thesis/Essay Map Statement: Through the names of the characters used, the ritualized use of a scapegoat, and the actions of the women in “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson symbolistically foreshadowed the unforeseeable ending and portrayed the culture of rural America.…

    • 2906 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    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…

    • 201 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before arriving on my first day of instruction, I believed that my argumentation skills were at a reasonable level and as a result I was not going to learn an abundance in English 2, critical thinking and writing. However, this was not the case. I quickly realized that the pathos, ethos and logos of which was introduced to me in high school, had long lost their meaning and subsequently found myself in the deep end of the swimming pool, once again. With that being said, through learning these concepts, planning for the subsequent tasks and writing the assigned essays, I acquired a substantial amount of knowledge which is widely applicable.…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The policeman is a round character in this story. He is not your stereotypical policeman as he had given many candy bars to Jackson Jackson over time. He knew that Jackson Jackson needed to go to the detox center but did not force him to. Officer Williams’ internal conflict is that he shows signs of favoritism toward Jackson Jackson. For example, he was kicking Jackson Jackson in the ribs without knowing it was him. Once he found out it was Jackson Jackson, he offered to help recover the regalia and gave him money. He wants to help Jackson Jackson as much as he can in hopes that Jackson Jackson makes the right choices. The irony is that he contributed thirty bucks so that Jackson Jackson can recover the regalia yet he knew that Jackson Jackson…

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the short story “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson uses symbolism to describe how being oblivious towards the meaning a tradition can lead to dangerous consequences. The box used in the lottery symbolizes an old tradition that the villagers follow. Though “the original paraphernalia for the lottery has been lost long ago” (pg195) and “the villagers [have] forgotten the ritual” (pg201), “they still [remember] to use stones” (pg201) during the execution portion of the lottery. However, the villagers do not know how this started; they just know that “there’s always been a lottery” (pg198), even before Old Man Warner was born. This shows how the villagers are blindly following a tradition that involves the death of a person without knowing why…

    • 238 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Even though a small village made seem peaceful, and a good place to raise a family, it is not always what it seems to be. The reader is about to enter a world with ritualistic ceremony and religious orthodoxy in "The Lottery."…

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In modern times, the lottery is generally acknowledged as a set of fantastic prizes that people vie to win; however, in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the exact opposite is true. Jackson transforms this rather innocuous-sounding practice to a dark, perverse town ritual in a shocking twist that leaves the reader hungry for more details. Jackson conveys her message that tradition is not always best with her omission of details, use of foreshadowing and abrupt ending.…

    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “ The Lottery”, written by Shirley Jackson, shows the corruption in a village whose people treat life with insignificance. Through the use of literary devices, Jackson portrays how practices in traditions can be barbaric;ultimately, resulting in persecution.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The crowd was quiet. A girl whispered, "I hope it's not Nancy"; not every winner of a contest receives a favorable prize (Backpack Literature 242). When reading the beginning of the fictional short story The Lottery, the title leads the reader to assume that one of the characters in the story will become lucky. The author reveals the hidden theme towards the ending when the story’ true meaning becomes apparent. The author Shirley Jackson gives the reader subtle symbolic hints that the small New England town has a ritualistic nature. When the reader reaches the ending of The Lottery; all of Shirley Jackson’s signals begin to come together similar to puzzle pieces. The reader realizes the irony in the story because the winner of the annual…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 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

    What is a symbol? A symbol is defined as person, place, or thing that suggests more than a literal meaning. In “The Lottery” there are 2 main symbols that really come to the reader’s attention. “The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. The story occurs on the morning of June 27th. It was a clear and sunny day in a village of about 300 people. All of the villagers began to gather into the town square to participate in a lottery run by Mr. Summers, who officiates at all the big civic events. When the children first arrive they begin to collect stones until their parents call them to order. Just as Mr. Summers begins to assemble the villagers Mrs. Hutchinson, the wife of Bill Hutchinson, arrives.…

    • 732 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

    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