Irony in “The Lottery” Irony‚ generally described as expressing something different from or opposite to a literal meaning‚ is used as an underlying theme in Shirley Jackson’s short story‚ The Lottery. As an age-old tradition‚ the lottery is one in which a single person in the town is randomly chosen‚ by a drawing‚ to be violently stoned by friends and family. The main example of irony throughout the story resides within the fact that the word lottery suggests that the winning villager is going
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The Irony in ’The Lottery ’ Shirley Jackson wrote the story ’The Lottery. ’ A lottery is typically thought of as something good because it usually involves winning something such as money or prizes. In this lottery it is not what they win but it is what is lost. Point of views‚ situations‚ and the title are all ironic to the story ’The Lottery. ’ The point of view in ’The Lottery ’ is ironic to the outcome. Jackson used third person dramatic point of view when writing ’The Lottery. ’ The
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Irony in “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” offers an almost classic study of irony of situation: the reader expects a celebration; she gets a stoning. Such a reversal is the work of careful planning by the author. The reader expects the lottery to be a celebration of some sort because Jackson describes the setting‚ details the activities of the townspeople‚ and refers to the lottery itself in terms that belie the outcome of the event. First‚ Jackson establishes a setting which suggests
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The title‚ “The Lottery” is ironic for this story because during a lottery a person usually wins a prize. Wining a lottery is normally considered positive. When someone wins a lottery‚ that person is thrilled and extremely happy. Although in the story wining the lottery is not a positive thing because the person that wins the lottery would face a painful death. The only thing that the winner of the lottery would get is pain and grief‚ as the villagers would hit her with stones. The description in
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great suspense and irony that Shirley Jackson tells the story of a lottery in a small town. The result of the lottery is also left open to be interpreted by the reader. All this could not be done without the use of the third person objective point of view in which the story ‚“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson‚ is told. Shirley Jackson uses situational irony as well as verbal irony to keep the readers on their toes and especially to keep the ending a surprise. Achieving this irony would be very difficult
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titled The Lottery written by Shirley Jackson is an interesting story with an unpredictable ending. The story tells us about a tradition in a small town which is held every year. The tradition is called ‘the lottery’ where the ‘winner’ will be stoned to death. Actually it is a horrible tradition‚ but in the story it is considered usual‚ and even acceptable in the society. There are several irony that we can see in the story according to that ‘scapegoat’ tradition. One of the irony is the atmosphere
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The Lottery When you hear the word lottery‚ you probably think of winning a large sum of money before being stoned to death. "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson brings this horrible idea to life. While the overall mood of the story depicts a typical day in a small rural town‚ through great use of imagery and irony the reader is set up for an unusual ending. Shirley Jackson uses a great deal of imagery to set the mood of the story. At first glance the reader gets a visual picture of a pristine‚ tranquil
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"The Lottery" Violence and human cruelty are two horrible things that occurred a long time ago and continue to be an ongoing issue in our society today. Everyone has either experienced‚ been apart of‚ or witnessed these awful acts at least once in their lifetime. Author Shirley Jackson coveys both violence and human cruelty in her well known short story "The Lottery". "Jackson’s The Lottery" states‚ "The date of the lottery‚ its location‚ and the symbolic or ironic names of its characters all
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“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson In “The Hunger Games‚” the district really never has a say so on that is selected‚ but yet everyone gathers to watch. Similarly in “The Lottery” villagers gather to select a ticket to find one villager to be stoned to death. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson‚ the events of the narrative seem to suggest that traditions are a normal part of society. However a close look at the use of irony and foreshadowing demonstrate the lack of normalcy in the community. The tension
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story “The Lottery”‚ is famous because it is an unexpected macabre ironic story written by Shirley Jackson‚ who suffered from mental and physical illness. The lottery is famous activity of the town. Like a normal lottery‚ the community gets together and participate once a year. Although it sounds nice‚ the winner of that lottery is murdered. With the use of irony‚ Jackson gives a fine and happy story‚ a horrific twisted end. Irony begins before we begin to read‚ because we associate lottery with something
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