The Ritual of “The Lottery” It is often said that there is strength in numbers. While it is true that a large group of people has more power than an individual‚ a single person within a large group will almost always conform in some way. This weakens the individual and leads to fewer new ideas in order to maintain group status and agreement. Many times‚ rituals or ideas are allowed and accepted just because they are favored by a majority or have been part of that society for so long that they
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Dakota Dunn Response paper for The Lottery ENGL 1020 24 April‚ 2014 Why do humans have an obsession with death and pain? Looking back‚ history is littered with stories of people being murdered in cruel ways. Think back to Nero‚ Emperor of Rome. Or remember the stories of the Catholic Inquisition. In more recent years‚ people hear stories of torture and killing in China and the Middle East. Even the bombing of the Boston marathon falls under these tragedies. There is no doubt that humans
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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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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. Jokes and idle conversation is made just as the ceremony begins‚ making The Lottery seem run-of-the-mill‚ a chore. That is when the horror began. The annual slaying of a human being was turned into a chore for these people‚ that disgusted me‚ filled me with a rampant sense of injustice. Life is not valued in that society‚ it can’t
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Phillip Warren Averett University 30 March 2014 Professor Buksar‚ MA It is very easy to understand why Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” caused controversy at the time it was first published in 1948; which was shortly after World War II. The story may have been seen as an attempt to look at traditions that have become questionable. In “The Lottery” Jackson attempts to compare real world traditions that are no longer relevant‚ with those of the story by displaying what happens when
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the fabric of their lives. This one sentence really exemplifies how society fails to learn and understand why they repeat a pattern of behavior. In the story‚ one generation after another neglected to take care of the “paraphernalia” (138)‚ of the lottery and as the years passed “the ritual had been allowed to lapse.”(138) It also appears that over time the reasoning behind the annual gathering of the villagers was
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the Short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson‚ the author uses symbolism in many ways. Symbolism is used to personify a meaning that is different than its literal in this story. Jackson uses symbols to show us that the lottery and its true traditions are falling apart. The utter disrepair of the black box‚ and stool‚ and the changing of the ballots symbolize the breakdown of the original tradition of the lottery. First‚ the condition of the black box emulates how the lottery is slowly becoming
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The “Lottery” is about is about how a women or a girl whatever you want to call her‚ she won the lottery and people didn’t think it was fair so they stoned her to death. A good thing to think about in life is to treat people the way you wanted to be treated. That is always a good thing to remember. In the story people like to be treated with respect they don’t like to be treated like “Trash” as people say. In the story is people are being disrespectful to one another one of the other people would
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The story “The Lottery” has a theme just as any other great story. The author used many different aspects through the story to make one larger theme overall. The theme of this story‚ is about how the world is full on pointless violence that leads nowhere‚ as well as how current times seem to still follow the bible. These aspects include the characters‚ imagery‚ as well as various symbols. This story tends to refer to the bible quite often. One example of the story referring to the bible
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Literary Response: The Lottery The Lottery‚ by Shirley Jackson‚ is a compelling story about the human race and how it is affected by its surrounding traditions. When the 27th of June arrives‚ a village is overtaken by a two hour lottery‚ which includes the picking of stones‚ a black box and ends in a fight for the “winners” life. One of the prominent themes in this story is human hypocrisy. Although most of the characters are shown through their words and actions‚ one particular person stands out:
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