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Sample Literary Analysis Essay about Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”
Literary elements of the lottery by shirley jackson
Literary criticism of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
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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.
There are several glimpses of the future that are represented by symbols such as the black box. The black wooden box represents the darkness of death, and the condition of the box suggests a transition in thought of the villagers. The box becomes exposed when we see that “the black box brew shabbier each year; by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color”(Jackson, 1). The color of the box is symbolic of death, since it is worn at funerals. Black also correlates to an evil presence, which is present throughout the story. The boxes form indicates that the villagers are beginning to evolve and develop. Helen Nebeker reveals that the age of this tradition may be much older than have thought with “its prehistoric origin is revealed in the mention of the original wood color” (102). The suggestion of a prehistoric origin displays the villager’s current mindset. They are tired and bored with this tradition. Some villagers are extremely irritated that this tradition must continue, but at the same time many people want the tradition to go on. The thought that the tradition is beginning to get old is implies when we see “the present box has been made from pieces of the original and is now blackened, fa...
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Ultimately the community is distraught and confused on whether or not they should continue with this outrageous tradition. The condition of the box, along with the stones and three legged stool are all representations of their tradition, but the villagers are ready to develop and evolve from this. Many villagers are ready to move on, but are afraid to be vocal about their opinions due to the possible repercussions from the rest of the community.
Works Cited
Hill, William J. The Three-personed God: The Trinity as a Mystery of Salvation. N.p.: Catholic
University of America, 1982. Print.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” The Lottery and Other Stories. New York: Farrar, 1991. 291-302.
Nebeker, Helen E. American Literature. 1st ed. Vol. 46. N.p.: Duke UP, 1974. Print.
Yuhan, Zhu. "Studies in Literature and Language." Ironies in The Lottery 6 (2013): 35-39. Web.
“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.
Each and every day we face life with the chance that we may not make it through the day. The black box in “The Lottery” symbolizes the fact that we are mortal beings and just as easy as not we may die any given day. “Mr. Graves had selected the five slips and put them in the box, and he dropped all the papers but those onto the ground, where the breeze caught them and lifted them off.” (259) Automobile accidents, cancer, heart attacks, any number of things could happen to anyone any time as easy as the slips of paper fell into the box. The slips falling into the box and the wind blowing the others away symbolizes how random life really is with respect to death. Live your life full and pray the wind blows for you.
“The Lottery,” written by Shirley Jackson in 1948, is a provoking piece of literature about a town that continues a tradition of stoning, despite not know why the ritual started in the first place. As Jackson sets the scene, the villagers seem ordinary; but seeing that winning the lottery is fatal, the villagers are then viewed as murders by the reader. Disagreeing with the results of the lottery, Tessie Hutchinson is exposed to an external conflict between herself and the town. Annually on June 27th, the villagers gather to participate in the lottery. Every head of household, archetypally male, draws for the fate of their family, but Tessie protests as she receives her prize of a stoning after winning the lottery. Jackson uses different symbols – symbolic characters, symbolic acts, and allegories – to develop a central theme: the
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Americans day after day live much of their lives following time-honored traditions that are passed down from one generation to another. From simple everyday cooking and raising children, to holidays and other family rituals, tradition plays a significant role in how they go about their everyday lives. In Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Lottery," the citizens of a small farming town follow one such tradition. A point is made regarding human nature in relation to tradition. The story begins on a beautiful summer afternoon.
Everyone has their own way of solving problems; however, ritual is a form that people doing one thing in the same way. It defines as “the prescribed form of conducting a formal secular ceremony.” However if the meaning of ritual is mistaken, the consequence could be unpredictable." The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson gives us a lecture about a tortuous ritual. The story takes place in a small village with 300 citizens, they gather for a yearly lottery which everyone should participate. The story leads to a horrific ending by people forgetting the concept of ritual.
The black box represents virtually the only part of the original ritual that has been preserved since the lottery began. It is there not only to hold the papers that will be drawn, but also to represent to the townsfolk the tradition. The black box is constructed of pieces of the original box, a link to the time when the purpose of the lottery was clear. Most of the old custom has been forgotten: wood chips have been replaced with paper slips, and on one can remember the recital and ritual salute that had previously been part of the lottery; but the o...
Shirley Jackson?s insights and observations about society are reflected in her shocking and disturbing short story The Lottery. Jackson reveals two general attitudes in this story: first is the shocking tendency for societies to select a scapegoat and second is the idea that communities are victims of social tradition and rituals.
Tradition is huge in small towns and families and allows for unity through shared values, stories, and goals from one generation to the next. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” carries that theme of tradition. The story follows a small town that performs the tradition of holding an annual lottery in which the winner gets stoned to death. It (tradition) is valued amongst human societies around the world, but the refusal of the villagers in “The Lottery” to let go of a terrifying long-lasting tradition suggests the negative consequences of blindly following these traditions such as violence and hypocrisy.
As far as symbolism in objects, the most prominent and often mentioned is the “black box” from which the names are drawn from (Jackson 573). The box itself represents the townspeople's fate; being black in color refers to their impending death. After many years of use the box is in very poor shape and described as “shabby” (Jackson 573). In that sense, the splintering of the wood and chipping of the paint is parallel to the falling apart of the tradition since what was once a high honor is now a dreaded consequence. Jackson's mentioning of replacing the old wood chips with slips of paper symbolize the increasing loss of tradition and emerging new ways.
By further description of the author, the items involved in the ritual and the villagers’ specific reactions to changing them further downplay the conventional nature of the lottery. Even though the “original paraphernalia for the lottery has been lost long ago” (Jackson 134), the townspeople still use the worn down, old black box for drawing out the slips of paper. The box is older than the oldest man in town, Old Man Warner, but no one dares to discuss the replacement of the black box. Conjuring up a brand new box is discouraged as “no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (Jackson 134). Brief lighting is shown on what the box represents which is motivated by the suggestion that the current box contains pieces of the original box used by the founders of the village. The black box is almost a symbol of tradition in a way that “it is based on a story, is passed down from generation to generation, changes very slowly over time, but nevertheless is believed to serve an important function within the community” (Michelson).
In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, tradition is seen as very high and something to be respected not to be messed with. Although, the lottery has been removed from other towns, the village where the story is set in still continues to participate in the lottery. It is almost as if the other towns realized the lack of humanity in the tradition. However, the village still continues with the lottery even though the majority of the ritual has been lost or changed. The oldest man in the village complains about how the lottery is not what it used to be. There are hidden messages in “The Lottery” that reflects today’s society that the author wants to make apparent and change, such as, the danger of blindly following without any knowledge, the randomness
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 black on the box itself is a universal symbol that represents death. The black box also represents a platform of life or death for each individual townsperson at the lottery and holds the tragic and evil acts of murder that has been practiced in the past and the future ones. According to James M. Gibson’s, “An Old Testament Analogue for “The Lottery”", the three-legged stool represents the Christian Trinity that consists of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The three-legged stool holds the box that represents death and has the fate of every individual that lives in the town inside of it. According to Kurt J. Fickert’s, “Dürrenmatt’s “The Visit” and Job, The Lottery the Christian Trinity has a significant meaning to the story because they manipulate the religion to support the murdering of an innocent civilian, making it a normality to stone someone to death for religious
Winning vast amounts of money can make anyone slaphappy, but unfortunately this type of wager won’t be discussed in Shirley Jacksons “The Lottery.” Jackson catches the reader’s attention by describing a typical day by using words such as “blossoming, clear and sunny skies” to attract the reader into believing a calm and hopeful setting which eventually turns dark. In this short story Jackson tells a tale of a sinister and malevolent town in America that conforms to the treacherous acts of murder in order to keep their annual harvest tradition alive. Jackson exposes the monstrosity of people within this society in this chilling tale. She allows the reader’s to ponder and lead them to believe that the lottery is actually a good thing; till she implements foreshadowing, to hint at the dreadfulness behind the lottery and its meaning. My goal in this paper is to discuss why Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a portrayed as a horror story, and the importance the townspeople used to glorify ritualistic killings, to appease to an unseeable force in return of good harvest for the upcoming year.
Thesis: After a long period of time passes people forget the true meaning of their traditions by slowly disregarding as the years pass.