There are an uncountable number of ideas to write about for stories. Authors may choose to write about the same general idea or many during their career. These ideas may be fictional, realistic, or a combination of both. Combining a realistic issue or idea with a fictional story may be used to point out a controversial issue in society. This may put forth an idea about the situation making one think about it. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” and Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” portrays this fictional view on issues in society; whether having happened, happening, or could happen. Certain elements may be used to show this, one being symbolism. Specific elements may be analyzed to reveal comparison or contrast.
The background of authors may bring important insight into their stories. Jackson was born in 1916, during the time where society was sexist against women.
The setting of a story puts forth an expectation as it is read. Both of these stories portray a seemingly perfect place, but with one vital flaw. In the beginning of “The Lottery,” by Jackson, it begins with portraying a beautiful day, “the morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day” (Jackson 237). The beautiful day starts the reader off on a happy note, unsuspecting to what will come. The lottery is seen as happy time, the possibility of winning money or something else of value. This is not a traditional lottery. Amy Griffin says in her article “Jackson’s The Lottery,” that “the lottery represented a grave experience” (Griffin 45). In a seemingly peaceful town, the lottery comes once a year to decide who will die as a sacrifice. The death will sustain the town’s seemingly perfect state. The setting p...
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Shirley Jackson takes great care in creating a setting for the story, The Lottery. She gives the reader a sense of comfort and stability from the very beginning. It begins, "clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green." The setting throughout The Lottery creates a sense of peacefulness and tranquility, while portraying a typical town on a normal summer day.
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In conclusion, the use of symbolism, irony and setting in the Lottery is very evident, the author indirectly implicates the true darkness within the human heart. The Lottery remains relevant in society today because the overall vagueness of the city allows this story to be true to all people around the world. The short story shows us that humans are evil enough to follow traditions blindly, even if they cause pain and death in loved ones we know. Jackson also centers a lot of symbols and irony on religion and how they affect our culture and decisions. In this the reader can learn that sometimes it’s better for a person to follow his moral compass, and not just blindly follow his evil heart, and the evilness of others.
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What thoughts come to mind when you think of "The Lottery?" Positive thoughts including money, a new home, excitement, and happiness are all associated with the lottery in most cases. However, this is not the case in Shirley Jackson’s short story, "The Lottery." Here, the characters in the story are not gambling for money, instead they are gambling for their life. A shock that surprises the reader as she unveils this horrifying tradition in the village on this beautiful summer day. This gamble for their life is a result of tradition, a tradition that is cruel and inhumane, yet upheld in this town. Shirley Jackson provides the reader’s with a graphic description of violence, cruelty, and inhumane treatment which leads to the unexpected meaning of "The Lottery." Born in San Francisco, Jackson began writing early in her life. She won a poetry prize at age twelve and continued writing through high school. In 1937 she entered Syracuse University, where she published stories in the student literary magazine. After marriage to Stanley Edgar Hyman, a notable literary critic, she continued to write. Her first national publication “My Life with R.H. Macy” was published in The New Republic in 1941but her best-known work is “The Lottery.”(Lit Links or Reagan). Jackson uses characterization and symbolism to portray a story with rising action that surprises the reader with the unexpected odd ritual in the village. While one would expect “The Lottery” to be a positive event, the reader’s are surprised with a ritual that has been around for seventy-seven years , demonstrating how unwilling people are to make changes in their everyday life despite the unjust and cruel treatment that is associated with this tradi...
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The setting in the beginning of The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, creates a mood of peacefulness and tranquillity. The image portrayed by the author is that of a typical town on a normal summer day. Shirley Jackson uses this setting to foreshadow an ironic ending.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery”. Literature an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. 4th Compact ed. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Longman, 2005. 211-218.
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