The Lottery Rhetorical Analysis

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Jesus of Nazareth, the King of Parables and all things righteous, was an advocate for those persecuted unjustly. In the book of John, a story of mercy and self-revelation breaks the norm when Jesus spoke up for a prostitute, stereotyped as one of the “worst” sinners during that time. The Pharisee’s had the intention to stone the prostitute because they followed the Old Law given by Moses declaring to stone those who have committed sexual sins, but Jesus comes out of the crowd of people and says, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first,” and quickly enough all of the Pharisees dispersed (NJKV, John 8:1-11). Similarly, The Lottery is a short story that also invokes thoughts about self-revelation, mercy, and the stoning …show more content…

Yet surely a general meaning does emerge” (Brooks and Warren, 74). The Lottery often uses irony and symbolism in the characters and the plot to create an analytical point of view for the reader. This method of writing causes the reader to inquire about the true purpose behind the assumptions made; In other words, this purposeful style of writing allows the reader to “put the two and two together” to not only question the story, but to also question ourselves as if we were in the story.
Jackson’s plot in The Lottery does not give a huge climax or even resolution to show the reader where the flow of action might be heading, rather she leaves it simple to allow the reader to make inferences based off general psychology. The story being titled “The Lottery” associates itself with something good or rewarding, but then reflects a major usage of irony as you continue reading and discover that the lottery is actually a very terrible thing. Irony is then reflected again when sanctification of a cruel act. The cruel act of stoning an innocent human out of a random drawing annually has b the

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