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The lottery critical analysis
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Symbolism in a Doll's House Essay
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Many various forms of literature have been part of our society for centuries. Their purpose is to entertain and enlighten us in some way, and everyone has their own interpretation and response to them. Throughout this class there have been several writings that I have enjoyed. The short story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the poem “Mirror” by Silvia Plath, and the dramatic play “A Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen are just a few of my favorites. Many of the readings left me perplexed and bored, but not these three. They each gave me something to ponder. The short story “The Lottery” was very intriguing to me. When I first began reading it I thought that it was a story of happiness and new found prosperity. After a while I discovered …show more content…
Poetry is supposed to make you feel and think something when you read it, and this poem did just that for me. It was the one poem that I could really relate to. When I gaze into a mirror I do not always like the reflection staring back at me because I am getting older. This poem portrays woman who can see how she has aged whenever she looks into a mirror. She is searching […] for what she really is (11). The mirror does not notice her aging though. It only sees her as she is with “no preconceptions” (1). Many may think that the woman is vain, but I feel that she is more insecure than anything else. There is so much pressure on woman today to look younger. This poem tells me that I should think more like the mirror when I look into it, and stop being so judgmental of …show more content…
From the very start I had an adverse reaction to the way Torvald treated Nora. He was very controlling over her, and often spoke to her in a demeaning manner as if she was a child. I was compelled to read this play because I wanted to know what would happen if and when Torvald discovered Nora’s secret. He taunts her about the money she spends, and questions her about eating sweets that he doesn’t think she should. He refers to her as a “spendthrift” (Ibsen 1107), and speaks as though she is required to get permission to spend money. His reaction to learning the truth about what she had done was quite harsh. He was so angry that he did not give her any chance to explain herself. He was very unreasonable until the moment when he learned that her transgression would not become public, and his honor and reputation would remain in tact. All that mattered to him was “saving the bits and pieces, the appearance” (Ibsen 1148). He believed that his forgiveness was all she would need, but it was his understanding and protection that she was looking for. I applaud her decision to leave him so that she can gain her independence. What she needed most for her happiness was to be free from his
In the play, the audience sees it from Nora’s perspective. Nora is Torvald’s little squirrel, his little, insignificant squirrel. Nora is worthless to Torvald and she only realizes in the end how foolish she is to think that he will
When Nora decided to leave her marriage behind this ended up being a turning point in Torvald’s attitude to Nora. While at first he was convinced that she would not really go calling her actions insane and childish, he is now taking what she says seriously and even offering to change for her. This shows that there is a part of Torvald that does perhaps truly love Nora. Although Torvald doesn’t want her to go, the fact that he agrees to give her his ring and not argue with her shows that he finally respects her wishes and ability to make decisions for herself.
In the Overview of ‘The Lottery’ written by Hicks, states that the lottery gives the people the disturbance that people feel the need for in life (Hicks). Sun Journal says that “"The Lottery ' ' is considered one of the most haunting and shocking short stories of modern American fiction” (Sun Journal). The story was originally published in The New Yorker in 1948 and after the story was published several people wrote letters and called The New Yorker expressing their disgust, consternation, and curiosity”(Sun Journal). In The Lottery: Overview Martin states, that““Mr. Summers, Mr. Graves—seems mundane, until the reader comes to realize that one of the members of the close-knit community is about to be stoned to death by the other residents.
“The Lottery” is a short story by Shirley Jackson, first published on June 26, 1948. The story was initially met with negative critical reception due to its violent nature and portrayal of the potentially dangerous nature of human society. It was even banned in some countries. However, “The Lottery” is now widely accepted as a classic American short story and is used in classrooms throughout the country.
“The Lottery” is a story written by Shirley Jackson. By looking at the title you may think about money prize. In this story takes the readers expectation to another level. By the two words of the title there is no way the reader did not get hook to reading this story. In “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson, uses symbolism, irony, and imagery.
Kennedy, X J., and Dana Gioia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Sixth ed. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers, 1995. Print.
Nora and Torvald lack one of the key elements needed to make a marriage work. Good communication allows you to better understand your partners needs and to unite as a team to solve problems or comply. When Torvald got sick and the only thing to save his life was to move to the south; Nora found a way to procure the money and forged her father’s signature to obtain the loan. The most heroic action of her life is an unforgivable crime in the eyes of society. Nora has kept this a secret from Torvald. “A man who has such strong opinions about these things! And besides, how painfully and humiliating it would be for Torvald, with his manly independence, to know that he owed me anything! It would upset our mutual relations altogether; our beautiful happy home would no longer be what it is now.”(12) To pay back the loan, Nora has worked without her husband’s consent, staying up late nights copying, to earn money and saving a bit from what Torvald gives her. “Whenever Torvald has given me money for new dresses and such things I have never spent more than half of it; I have always bought the simplest and cheapest things.”(13) Without trust, honesty can never be obtained. There was poor communication throughout their entire marriage and only at the end, after eight years of being married d...
Torvald is the typical husband of the time of the play. He tries to control his wife and expect her to submit to him. He manipulates her through many different ways. First, he calls her pet names such as "little lark" (3) and "squirrel" (4) and speaks to her in a condescending tone, as if she is a child. He then tries to control her habits so he will not let her eat sweets or spend too much money. In fact, all the money she gets comes from him. He demands that she is subservient and treats her as almost a dog later on in the play. At the end, when Nora's secret is out, he lashes out at her and kicks her out of the house. When he wants her back after he realizes that he will no longer get into trouble for what she did, she does not want to come back, he finally realizes that she does not love him anymore and that his manipulation of her is over. This leaves him in a pickle because he now has to take care of his children without Nora, hardly a good position for him.
“The Lottery” was quite disturbing to read. It is an very unusual story that has an ending that will have you baffled. You will want to reread certain parts to see if there is anything thing that you could have missed. The title of the short story is also misleading. In most cases the lottery is a good thing. People don’t win punishment and lotteries don’t hurt them. But in this story it does just that. The author did a great job of telling how anyone and everyone can follow tradition blindly. It is dangerous not to have a mind of your own and to just follow the crowd even if you don’t understand on agree on why something is happening.
Towards the ending of Act III, Torvald heavily berates Nora after he learned of Krogstad’s loan scandal. He makes an extreme statement about gender roles as he furiously scowls, “ I am in the power of the man without scruples” immediately following with, “And I am brought so pitifully low all because of a shiftless woman” (221). He makes a drastic claim that once again, men are superior to women. Torvald, who places his pride before others claims to have a “godly” power over all others, including Nora. He claims that he can do as he pleases without hesitation while Nora is supposed to follow Torvald’s notions. However, Nora has committed an immoral sin which jeopardizes Torvald’s reputation; hence he calls her a “shiftless woman”. Later on, when Torvald realizes that Krogstad has pardoned them once more, he exclaims, “I shouldn’t be a proper man if your feminine helplessness didn’t make you twice as attractive to me” (223). This hyperbole contradicts the first one as he tries to show his remorse for Nora after learning of the pardon. He desperately tries to convince Nora that he has completely forgiven her, despite claiming that she was nothing more than an inconvenience to him. It is evident that Torvald uses hyperboles to oppress Nora as well as to beg to gain back her love and
Nora was wife of Helmer and a mother of 3 children. They lived in a house where their nurse Anne-Marie took care of the children and Helene which was their maid took care of the house work. Nora was a stay at home mother and would occasionally take on little jobs in order to make ends meet. Nora has lived her whole life as a puppet. Her life has always been controlled by someone else; first by her father and then by her husband Helmer. “Her whole life is a construct of societal norms and the expectations of others” (Wiseman). “Nora’s father would force his beliefs on her and she would comply with them lest she upset him; she would bury her personal belief under Papa’s. According to Nora, Torvald was guilty of the same things” (Wiseman). Nora has always lived her life according to the beliefs of someone else. She didn 't know how to live life any other way because this is how she was raised. She felts trapped in the life she lived because she knew no other way of living besides her current lifestyle. Due to Nora being controlled her whole life she seemed childish and lacked knowledge of the world outside her house. At the end of the story Helmer decides to show his true colors once his future was threatened. This made Nora realize that she does not love her husband nor does he love her, and decides that is not the life she wants to live. “Helmer: You talk like a child. You don 't know anything of the world you live
Lastly, the amount of deception and dishonesty between Nora and Torvald would have broken the marriage even without Krogstad’s extortion plot. Both Nora and Torvald are living in a world of lies, and both of them are not honest with each other and themselves. In the beginning of the play, Torvald and Nora are portrayed to be a perfect couple with a perfect life. Nora is seen returning home after a day of shopping and is greeted lovingly by her husband. Even though they seemed to have had some financial troubles in the past, Torvald just received a new job as a bank manager and everything seemed to be alright, but behind the scenes nothing was alright.
Nora engages in a mutually dependent game with Torvald in that she gains power in the relationship by being perceived as weak, yet paradoxically she has no real power or independence because she is a slave to the social construction of her gender. Her epiphany at the end at the play realises her and her marriage as a product of society, Nora comes to understand that she has been living with a constr...
The title of the story, “The Lottery” illustrates irony when knowing the true essence of the title.
As the play goes on, Nora seems to transform from her delicate little character into something much more. At the end of act one, Krogstad goes to Nora for the recollection of the money she had borrowed from him. "You don?t mean that you will tell my husband that I owe you money?" (21). Since Nora was wrong in doing so socially, she could not tell Torvald or anyone else about her problem. Not only would that affect their social standard but also Torvald's ego, which inevitably would happen anyway. After Krogstad threatens to expose Nora for forging her father's signature, she realizes that no matter what she does Torvald was going to know the truth. The flaw with...