“In this village, where there were only about three hundred people, the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o'clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner” (Jackson). In life, many people are hesitant to change the way they do things, as a rule saying ‘We've always done it this way. Why change now?’ Defenders of the status quo have utilized this rationality down through the ages. In Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery,” the follow-the-crowd villagers are reluctant to reject antiquated customs that might be thought of by most people, disturbing and/or evil. Jackson's use of characters in the short story, allows for a better perception of how immoral the tradition is. She uses this concept to allow her audience to imagine a reality that they would not want to live in or be a part of. The term ‘community’ is ironic in this short story, as shown by the characterization, the setting and the central ritual. The villagers in "The Lottery” represent the dangers of blindly following acknowledged and a...
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.
In conclusion, Jackson’s story is one warning of the dangers of blindly following tradition and the randomness of prosecution. The author indirectly hints to the true nature of the lottery through the use of objects, settings, and symbolism. The residents of the village learn from a young age to essentially disregard reasoning when carrying out the Lottery in order to preserve tradition. Throughout the story, the villagers do not dare cross the line of questioning the ritual because that is all they know. Just like in real life, most do not question the significance of tradition until it is often too late. The lottery is an extreme example of what can happen if traditions are not examined critically by new generations.
Yearly rituals are accepted by most people and the reasons behind the celebrations are unknown to most people. Americans practice different annual traditions such as Fourth of July, Easter egg hunt, Halloween, Veterans Day and more. Likewise for Shirley Jackson, a wife, mother, and author of six novels, two memoirs, and a collection of short stories including “The Lottery.” Jackson’s short twisted story, “The Lottery,” portrays a ritual almost as old as the town itself, especially for the fact that there’s no remembrance from the villagers or the oldest man, Old Man Warner, the real reason for the ceremony. Jackson’s story describes a brutal custom in a small village that punishes the winner of the lottery; however, Jackson uses irony, characters and symbolism to support her story. Jackson’s purpose in The Lottery is to demonstrate that conformity can be helpful in some situations but damages those who choose not to conform.
Everything may not be what it seems in Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery”. Within the story there are many reoccurring themes, ranging from the townspeople inability to establish bonds to the Jackson’s displaying how easily humans will engage in behavior that is otherwise frowned upon once given an excuse. The most prominent of these themes is the loyalty the townspeople hold towards various items and rituals in their lives. The townspeople hold the utmost loyalty towards their tradition of the lottery. The second most noticeable theme is the lack of ties within the community. At the beginning of the Lottery some of the fragile community ties are evident it becomes obvious how easily they are broken. The final and most important of themes is how readily and without reserve the town members participate in a murder they have reclassified as a sacrifice. These themes are the most important within the Lottery because all of them are alluded to on more than one occasion.
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.
Shirley Jackson develops her theme that people blindly follow traditions even if morally wrong in her short story, “The Lottery”, through the use of irony. The lottery is said to be conducted by Mr. Summers, the same person that conducts the Halloween program and the square dances. The ceremony ends quickly so the citizens can be done in time for lunch. “That was done pretty fast, and now we’ve got to be hurrying a little more to get done in time” (Jackson). This exemplifies Mr. Summers’ eagerness to finish quickly so he and the other citizens do not miss their afternoon meal. “The ‘lottery’ is conducted at ten in the morning so that the villagers could get home for lunch and it is "conducted" by Mr. Summers, who has the time and energy to devote to "civic activities" (Timko). Mr. Timko is explainin...
By the end of the stories, readers can infer the lottery is not a cruel game the village enjoys, but a sacrifice to bless themselves with good crops of corn. In conclusion, it is determined that the theme of this story is the importance of tradition to small towns. Children are taught at a young age how to prepare for the lottery, elderlies participate in the lottery only to complain about how important it is, and the town setting helps readers imagine what kind of time period the story occurs in. Authors are available to use vast amounts of literary elements in their stories. Although, only a few can be tied together to express the moral of their story. Setting, character, and symbolism are used to show the theme of the importance of traditions in Shirley Jackson’s “The
Shirley Jackson is an amazing writer who provides a twist on her story. One of her most popular works is “The Lottery.” While some readers are on the edge of their seats, fully interested, others question if what is happening in the story is really happening somewhere in the world at that moment. Shirley Jackson takes an interesting approach to writing such a dark story. “The Lottery” is about an annual ceremony where a town member gets sacrificed. Once the person is stoned to death the townspeople reassure themselves that they will get a plentiful number of crops that year. Although some of the people in the town would like to get rid of the Lottery, they are not allowed to because without it they would not have a good harvest. The town was run by blind obedience and the people knew nothing other than the yearly lottery. Blind obedience is people following what they are told to do because it is all they know. They are blinded to the corruptness of what they are doing because it is all that they have ever been exposed to. Although the main event in the story is very gruesome, every little detail has some symbolic meaning behind it. Each of these symbols is also positive which contrasts the
Should tradition be a rational for committing irrational actions in life? In Shirley Jackson's story "The Lottery", Shirley Jackson really poses the question of whether or not tradition should be a rational for committing irrational actions in life and emphasizes the point of traditions potential effect of controlling one's actions on the basis of whatever traditions that a person values. "The Lottery" is a story where the day starts out as a nice day but as the day is lived through, the result of the outcome of the village's lottery is that Tessie is stoned to death in regards to the village's tradition. Shirley Jackson does not like the lottery and its outcome by the tone she uses in the story, her description of the characters and the symbols
Even through the times, traditions have remained a constant for the human race. They can be as gruesome as the Aztecs practicing human sacrifice to as simple as saying the pledge of allegiance every day. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a chilling story about the reoccurrence of an abhorrent ritual that takes place on a sunny morning. The people of this village demonstrate fear over straying from conformity and thus have the ignorance that sprouts from never trying new things. Through this short story the author portrays this fear and ignorance the human race has through her casual narration, euphemistic dialogue and morbid events.
“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.
Dear the author of “The Lottery” I think we should stop doing the town’s annual lottery. Although it's a tradition I think it getting really old. I think it isn't right for people to get stoned because of a tradition. I also think is wrong because nobody wants to die or get hurt for a tradition. Another reason why I think we should stop doing the town’s annual lottery is that people don't want to do it.
"The Lottery," a short story written by Shirley Jackson, is a tale about a disturbing social practice. The setting takes place in a small village consisting of about three hundred denizens. On June twenty-seventh of every year, the members of this traditional community hold a village-wide lottery in which everyone is expected to participate. Throughout the story, the reader gets an odd feeling regarding the residents and their annual practice. Not until the end does he or she gets to know what the lottery is about. Thus, from the beginning of the story until almost the end, there is an overwhelming sense that something terrible is about to happen due to the Jackson's effective use of foreshadowing through the depiction of characters and setting. Effective foreshadowing builds anticipation for the climax and ultimately the main theme of the story - the pointless nature of humanity regarding tradition and cruelty.
Shirley Jackson was a criticized female writer that wrote about US’s scramble for conformity and finding comfort in the past or old traditions. When Jackson published this specific short story, she got very negative feedback and even death threats. In the fictionial short story, The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, a drawing takes place during the summer annually in a small town in New England. In this particular work, the lottery has been a tradition for over seventy years and has been celebrated by the townspeople every year. In detail, Richard H. Williams explains in his “A Critique of the Sampling Plan Used in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery””, he explains the process of how the lottery works. “The sampling plan consists of two
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.