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The Mood In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

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The Mood In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
Shirley Jackson, author of “The Lottery”, choice of character actions, setting and plot events contribute to different moods throughout the story. The peaceful mood at the story’s beginning, followed by the gradually building tension, and the shocking end at the story’s conclusion demonstrate mood changes in the short story. In the beginning of the story, the mood is happy and cheerful; this is portrayed through the setting. It states “The morning of June 27 was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day.” This statement describes a nice summer day and made me feel which made the mood happy which led to think that the story was going to have a great ending. It gave the impression that the village is conducting a normal …show more content…
This creates a tense, apprehensive mood because we don’t know why the people are choosing nervously. This makes us as readers use the characters actions presented by the author to create a mood of tension. At the end of the story the plot events make the mood shocking, when we finally discover the outcome of the lottery. It states “Tessie Hutchison was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her” This would be very shocking to a reader. When first glance at the title, The Lottery, one would think of someone winning a lot of money. In this story, the villagers are risking your life by picking a ticket. This was very shocking because readers would never think people would go to this extent to get a good harvest. In Conclusion, Shirley Jackson’s shift and misdirection of moods within "The Lottery" greatly adds to the reader’s enjoyment and involvement with the story. The cheery atmosphere at the beginning of the story gives the reader a feeling of happiness and warmth. Before long, as the tension rises, suspicion grows inside the reader and makes one wonder what is truly happening. The dreadful conclusion finally leaves the reader with a shocking

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