Shirley Jacksons The Lottery Essay - 1165 Words

â€Å"The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it† (Twain). The Lottery begins during the summer. A small, seemingly normal, town is gathering to throw the annual â€Å"Lottery†. In the end, the townspeople—children included—gather around and stone the winner to death, simply because it was tradition. The story reveals how traditions can become outdated and ineffective. â€Å"I suppose, I hoped, by setting a particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my own village to shock the storys readers with a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives† (Jackson). As humans develop as a race, their practices should develop with them. Shirley Jackson develops the†¦show more content†¦The box is very similar to traditions. They both grow old. Each year it becomes more useless, and deteriorates with time. The next symbol in â€Å"The Lottery† are th e stones used to murder Tessie. They symbolize murder. â€Å"Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use the stones† (Jackson). The stones were used by the ancestors, who were more barbaric the further back they go. â€Å"Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones† (Jackson). In the lottery, the children participate in the murder. They even select the smooth stones, which will cause a slower, more painful death. Although they are living in a seemingly sophisticated period in time, they still commit this barbaric action for no other reason than because it is tradition, and they see no wrong in doing so. They will blindly follow the tradition just as their parents had, and they will pass the tradition off to their children. â€Å"Mob psychology rules their actions. Though they appear to be sane, sen sible individuals, when the time of the lottery comes, they abandon their rational nature and revert to the instincts of the herd† (Mazzeno). A stoning is a crowd generated death. By using stones for theShow MoreRelatedShirley Jacksons The Lottery736 Words   |  3 Pagesjudge a book by its cover† could not be truer than with Shirley Jackson’s short story, â€Å"The Lottery†. Jackson’s title for the short story is in fact ironic leading the reading to assume the story to be cheerful and jolly, an assumption that could not be more wrong. â€Å"The Lottery† is about an annual lottery draw in a small town in New England. A tradition that has continued to be practiced for seventy years by the townspeople. This is not the lottery as we know it consisting of money, but the opportunityRead MoreShirley Jacksons The Lottery572 Words   |  3 PagesShirley Jacksons The Lottery   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Shirley Jacksons The Lottery is an excellent example of an allegorical short story. In this story, the reader learns of a towns lottery that takes place once a year, every year. It has been a tradition in this small rural town for many years and the villagers never question these activities, they just blindly go along with it. But what the reader doesnt know is just what kind of prize the winner is going to obtain. Jacksons use of symbolism is shownRead More Shirley Jacksons The Lottery 946 Words   |  4 PagesShirley Jackson is said to be one of the most â€Å"brilliant and influential authors of the twentieth century.† â€Å"Her fiction writing is some of the most important to come out of the American literary canon.† (http://shirleyjackson.org/Reviews.html) Jackson wrote many short stories and even some books. They are more on the dark, witchlike side, however. Kelleher explains that Jackson stated in some interviews that she practiced magic. No one really knows if she was serious while practicing witchcraftRead MoreShirley Jacksons The Lottery888 Words   |  4 Pagesactually provides the foundation of a work, and this is the case in Shirley Jacksons â€Å"The Lottery.† In essence, Jackson has something disturbing to say about humanity and the force of tribal ritual. To that end, she creates a world that is itself wholly symbolic, even as there are smaller elements of symbolism within it. She also develops suspense based very much on the expansive symbolism of the environment. In â€Å"The Lottery,† Jackson gives evidence of how symbolism may be utilized to make aRead More Shirley Jacksons The Lottery Essay947 Words   |  4 PagesShirley Jacksons The Lottery   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The setting in a story helps to form the story and it makes the characters become more interesting. There are three main types of setting. The first is nature and the outdoors, second is objects of human manufacture and construction and the third is cultural conditions and assumptions. These three things help the reader to understand the characters better in Shirley Jacksons The Lottery;.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Lottery; is started out by being described as TheRead MoreIrony In Shirley Jacksons The Lottery863 Words   |  4 PagesCaleigh Bishop English 101 October 10, 2017 Formal Essay I The Many Instances of Irony in â€Å"The Lottery† In Shirley Jackson’s short story â€Å"The Lottery,† she uses many examples of irony. Irony is the use of words that are the opposite of their usual meaning or what is expected to happen. The use of irony plays an important role in delivering Jackson’s sarcasm. The author holds our attention all throughout the story and builds our suspense by using irony with the characters and events that take placeRead MoreAnalysis Of Shirley Jacksons The Lottery954 Words   |  4 Pagesthe authors message. Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† displays a masterful usage of literary elements to better convey Jackson’s general purpose, such as through the deep symbolism and underlying theme; however, Jackson’s true provocation of emotion is accomplished through her quintessential use of point of view. The objective point of view is indispensable within â€Å"The Lottery† because of the creation of suspense, drama, and irony. To begin with, the first reason why Jackson’s objective point of viewRead MoreAnalysis of Shirley Jacksons The Lottery490 Words   |  2 Pages In Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery,† the theme of the story is dramatically illustrated by Jackson’s unique tone. Once a year the villagers gather together in the central square for the lottery. The villagers await the arrival of Mr. Summers and the black box. Within the black box are folded slips of paper, one piece having a black dot on it. All the villagers then draw a piece of paper out of the box. Whoever gets the paper with the black dot wins. Tessie Hutchinson wins the lottery! Everyone thenRead MoreAnalysis Of Shirley Jacksons The Lottery1303 Words   |  6 Pagespowerful force (qtd. in AZQuotes). In Shirley Jacksons chilling story The Lottery, a town celebrates a special custom of stoning people to death every year. Jackson perfectly depicts a possible event that may occur from blindly following tra dition without evaluating the purpose or usefulness of it in the first place. Jackson’s use of plot, theme, and symbolism reveal the evil reality of blind faith, tradition, and their consequences. Initially, Jackson’s twisted plot reveals the infinite, viciousRead MoreResearch Paper on Shirley Jacksons â€Å"The Lottery†1141 Words   |  5 PagesShirley Jacksons â€Å"The Lottery† is a short story about the annual gathering of the villagers to conduct an ancient ritual. The ritual ends in the stoning of one of the residents of this small village. This murder functions under the guise of a sacrament that, at one time, served the purpose of ensuring a bountiful harvest. This original meaning, however, is lost over the years and generations of villagers. The loss of meaning has changed the nature and overall purpose of the lottery. This ritual