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The theme that I perceive in “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson was cruelty, besides, humanity and the result of what can happen when traditions are follow incorrectly. Knowing the truth about society and traditions is crucial and can save many from following in the wrong lead. The lottery, which was an odd ceremony, violently murder, people annually, without a just cause. The theme that I perceive in “The Necklace”, by Guy De Maupassant, is self-indulgence and egotism. Marry to a clerk who was unable to give her a decent (luxury) life due to scarcity; Mathilde can only imagine those beautiful and expensive things start to develop a life of self-indulgence and pride. While exercising the concept of self-indulgence, she envy her rich friend
“The Lottery” is a short story about an event that takes place every year in a small village of New England. When the author speaks of “the lottery” he is referencing the lottery of death; this is when the stoning of a village member must give up his or her life. The villagers gather at a designated area and perform a customary ritual which has been practiced for many years. The Lottery is a short story about a tradition that the villagers are fully loyal to and represents a behavior or idea that has been passed down from generation to generation, accepting and following a rule no matter how cruel or illogical it is. Friends and family become insignificant the moment it is time to stone the unlucky victim.
Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery', is a story that is filled with symbolism. The author uses symbolism to help her represent human nature as tainted, no matter how pure one thinks of himself or herself, or how pure their environment may seem to be. The story is very effective in raising many questions about the pointless nature of humanity regarding tradition and violence. 'The Lottery' clearly expresses Jackson's feelings concerning mankind?s evil nature hiding behind traditions and rituals. She shows how coldness and lack of compassion in people can exhibit in situations regarding tradition and values. Jackson presents the theme of this short story with a major use of symbolism. Symbolism shows throughout the setting of 'The Lottery,' the objects, the peoples actions, and even in the time and the names of the lucky contestants.
Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" presents conflict on more than one level. The most important conflict in the story is between the subject matter and the way the story is told. From the beginning Jackson takes great pains to present her short story as a folksy piece of Americana. Slowly it dawns on us, the terrible outcome of what she describes.
The title, “The Lottery” is significant because each villager’s life is at risk because there is no discrimination towards whom is chosen, nor is that person being punished for a crime. The story is about innocent victims involved in foolish traditions. Deaths of innocent people can be blamed on the culture a person is surrounded by. If we grow up in a society where violence is a usual occurrence, then it can be assumed that a person’s values are adapted to that style of living.
“The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson is about a town coming together to hold a lottery. The twist being the winner of the lottery gets stoned to death by the town members. No one really know why their town and the ones surrounding it keep the practice going. But no one stops the ceremony they just know it is an event that happens every year for the past seventy seven years. Through the characters and the ritual of the lottery Jackson demonstrates how people blindly follow their traditions without knowing their history.
There are some things we as society will do without ever questioning why, for instance wishing on a shooting star into to get some good luck. Why do we do it? No one really has an answer for it, we just do. Traditions are something that is passed from generation to generation, even if we have no backing for what we do, we just know its “good” and its “tradition” so its apart of us. Shirley Jackson mocks our way of blindly following certain traditions. Characteristics of Jackson’s story create a parallel with Catholicism, by harping on our fear of change but our ability to manipulate what we want from our traditions and the basis of Catholicism’s belief of the innocence in children. Jackson uses friendly language among the villagers and in presentation of the lottery to illustrate the lottery as an event similar to square dances, Halloween programs, or any other welcomed, festive event (Jackson 365). This kind of speech does not prepare the reader for the dreadful ending, the reader might think the winner is receiving a prize or something of that manner and it is not tell the very end that the reader realizes the winner’s prize is death by their own friends and family. Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" was written to create an intentional parallel to Catholicism encouraging us to open our eyes and question our blind faith to follow traditions.
In Shirley Jackson’s “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 then closes in on her and stones her to death. Tessie Hutchinson believes it is not fair because she was picked. The villagers do not know why the lottery continues to exist. All they know is that it is a tradition they are not willing to abandon. In “The Lottery,” Jackson portrays three main themes including tradition, treason, and violence.
Shirley Jackson's “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 is no longer a humble sacrifice that serves the purpose of securing the harvest but instead is a ceremony of violence and murder only existing for the pleasure found in this violence.
The shock value of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is not only widely known, but also widely felt. Her writing style effectively allows the reader to pass a judgment on themselves and the society in which they live. In “The Lottery” Jackson is making a comparison to human nature. It is prominent in all human civilizations to take a chance as a source of entertainment and as this chance is taken, something is both won and lost.
The author of “The Lottery” wrote this story “to shock the story’s readers with a graphic demonstration of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives” (Jackson 211). This story reflects human behavior in society to show how although rules, laws or traditions do not make sense, people follow them. Throughout the story the three main symbols of how people blindly follow senseless traditions were the lottery itself, the color black, and the hesitation that people had towards the prize.
Within the first few lines of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" we are faced with such adjectives as clear, sunny, fresh and warmth. She goes on to paint a picture of small children just out of school for the summer, as the townspeople gather for the annual Lottery. This leads us to believe that the rest of the story is as cheery as the summer day initially described. We as the readers are virtually unaware of the horrible senseless events that lie ahead. Through the use of symbolism Shirley Jackson reveals the underlying decay of ethics that results from an empty ritual followed by narrow-minded people.
In "The Lottery" Shirley Jackson fills her story with many literary elements to mask the evil. The story demonstrates how it is in human nature to blindly follow traditions. Even if the people have no idea why they follow.
Some people in life are never satisfied with the experience given throughout their lifetime. In Guy De Maupassant’s short story “The Necklace,” Madame Mathilde Loisel is burdened by the middle-class life she is living and yearns for a life of luxury and delicacy. Mathilde is ungrateful of her life and her loving husband who helps her replace a lost necklace she selfishly borrowed from a friend in a vain attempt to be the prettiest woman at the ball.
Often, we paint a fairytale view of life for ourselves and our children. Sometimes, an author paints a frightfully realistic picture of life and forces us to reconsider the fairytale. In Shirley Jackson’s story, "The Lottery," a town each year conducts a lottery in which the winner or looser, in this case, is stoned to death by his or her own neighbors. The tradition is supposed to uphold social structure within the town, but in order to comprehend the true meaning of the story you must be able to read between the lines. "The Lottery" is a story about a town that has let its traditions go too far. Also, it is clear that the story contains eye-opening facts that lead me to believe that the author’s intentions were not to write a horror story, but rather cry to all to stop and realize we have problems that we can and should approach, that can make a difference in many people’s lives in our society.
A clear sunny day immediately turns dark with a glimpse of a sinister surprise. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a twisted tale that takes place midsummer in the early twentieth century. A small village of three hundred conducts a heinous ritual once a year which in consequence results in a loss of their community. Members of the village are reluctant to let go of the tradition of the lottery. Symbolism within “The Lottery” illustrates a transformation of the community values.