Time Worn Tradition:A Comparison of Values in Eudora Welty ’s "A Worn Path" and Shirley Jackson ’s "The Lottery"Families and society pass on traditions as a way of spreading certain knowledge or ways of life from generation to generation. People often consider traditions to be ancient‚ and therefore of the highest integrity and moral meaning. But what do you do when these traditions seem to fall short over time? It is the responsibility of every individual to choose for themselves what ways of life
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The lottery is a short story that cruelly documents the annual sacrifice of an unlucky townsperson. The majory of the story is the process of selecting the townsperson being sacrificed. This process is called the lottery. Jackson uses an abundant amount of symbols throught her story which perfectly convey the inhuman tradition that is the lottery. The two main symbols Jackson uses are the townspeople’s names‚ and the objects used to conduct the lottery. The names assigned to the townspeople play
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What I feel after reading the Lottery Shirley Jackson’s lottery is really an interesting and unique story indeed and it is unlike any other boring literary stuff I read. In fact‚ I think it is the best story I have ever read so far. It not only has a strong and clear story setting but also has an intrigued plot. All of the characters and objects in the story have their distinctive meanings and characteristics. For example‚ Mr. Summer plays the role as the innovator because he suggested replacing
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Stories THESIS: The two short stories‚ "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson and "The Rocking Horse Winner" by D. H. Lawrence both use symbols to help the reader understand the theme of the story; however the themes of both stories were completely different‚ one about love the other the lack of love. In "The Lottery" and "The Rocking Horse Winner" both authors use symbols to help convey the central message of the story to their readers. In "The Lottery"‚ Jackson uses the black box to symbolize the villagers
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Introduced in the fifteenth century‚ characterization is still used today in most movies‚ books‚ and theaters to make stories unique and add a certain edge. In “The Lottery”‚ a small town holds a drawing every year; the ‘winner’ gets stoned. No one questions this practice because they are very faithful in their tradition and have never been taught otherwise. “The Lady and the Tiger” also includes a very chilling mood where the King determines if an accused person is guilty or innocent depending
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for the traditional annual lottery. The officiator‚ Mr. Summers‚ begins the ominous unnecessary lottery that customarily selects an innocent villager to be stoned to death. Although the real purpose of the lottery is to commit murder‚ Mr Summers seems to be void of any moral compass as he sports a white shirt and blue jeans signifying his purity to the situation as if he is Pontius Pilate washing his hands at the trial of Jesus. Assuming the role as head of the lottery for many years‚ Mr. Summers
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were all the towns people gather together in the town’s square. A lottery is being held during late June; all the children who had just gotten out of school are collecting and piling stones. Then after‚ the men gather at the square‚ followed by the women‚ they call to their children over to stand with each other. All families are accounted for except for Mr. Dunbar and Tessie Hutchinson. Mr. Summers‚ who is in charge of the lottery‚ is now able to proceed with the event. He has a black wooden box
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important element to develop themes in stories. The magic behind motifs is that depending on how the author uses it they can help develop different themes in different ways. As seen in “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe‚ “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor‚ where three different authors use death that can be interpreted to develop different themes. In “The Cask of Amontillado” the theme revenge can be perceived with Montresor’s wishes
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The Lottery The story takes place in a small village‚ where the people are close and tradition is paramount. A yearly event‚ called the lottery‚ is one in which one person in the town is randomly chosen‚ by a drawing‚ to be violently stoned by friends and family. The drawing has been around over seventy-seven years and is practiced by every member of the town. Shirley is very natural to the characters and the event. We don’t get any information about what she thinks about the situation‚ and she
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The Lottery The specific details Jackson describes in the beginning of “The Lottery” set us up for the shocking conclusion. In the first paragraph‚ Jackson provides specific details about the day on which the lottery takes place. She tells us the date (June 27)‚ time (about 10 A.M.)‚ and temperature (warm). She describes the scene exactly: there are flowers and green grass‚ and the town square‚ where everyone gathers‚ is between the bank and post office. She provides specifics about the town
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