Death. The. It’s a scary thing to think about, especially how it can happen to anyone at any time, no matter the circumstances. This is how it is in both The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Throughout their stories, Mrs. Mallard and Mrs. Hutchinson are the main characters who go through many emotions. While Mrs. Mallard’s story is about a dead husband and Mrs. Hutchinson’s about a lottery, it's unexpected in both “The Story of an Hour” and “The Lottery” how the main characters are suddenly killed, and though they have different contexts, their death scenes help to develop a similar aspect of their stories: Mrs. Mallard’s death, as well as Mrs. Hutchinson’s both, contribute to the development of their stories' themes. Given …show more content…
Mallard received the news regarding the supposed death of her husband, she was overwhelmed with grief. A little later, she went to her room, alone. As she sat alone in her room, she realized that her husband's death might be an opportunity to be free. “She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free!’ The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body” (Chopin). Mrs. Mallard’s quick shift in emotion indicates how she feels she will benefit from the absence of her husband. She says “Free, free, free!” because now, she can focus on herself rather than on her husband with a life of possibilities and live away from the oppression of her marriage. If Mrs. Mallard had just thought about it differently, her life could have been very different. After staying in her room, thinking, Mrs. Mallard leaves and heads downstairs with her sister, Josephine. As they walk downstairs, they hear someone opening the front door. “It was Brently Mallard who entered. When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease–of the joy that kills”
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'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.
In Shirley Jackson’s "The Lottery," what appears to be an ordinary day in a small town takes an evil turn when a woman is stoned to death after "winning" the town lottery. The lottery in this story reflects an old tradition of sacrificing a scapegoat in order to encourage the growth of crops. But this story is not about the past, for through the actions of the town, Jackson shows us many of the social ills that exist in our own lives.
In "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson, there are a series of traditions the story revolves around. The characters in the story don't seem to follow their traditions anymore. The story begins by explaining how the lottery works. The lottery takes place in many other towns. In this town it takes place on June 27 of every year. Everyone within town would gather at the town square, no matter what age. The black box is brought out and each head of the household pulls a small paper out of it. Only one of the papers will not be blank, it will have a black-penciled spot that is put on by the owner of the coal company. The black spot will send someone, from the family who chose it, to death. This is decided by a draw. The family member who pulls out the spotted paper will be stoned to death. After a long period of time, people forget the traditions by slowly disregarding as the years pass.
Shirley Jackson raises numerous community issues in her story, The Lottery. Throughout the story, an underlying theme of unfair fortune concerning families is addressed along with conformity in society, creating great interest for readers. These issues are extraordinarily present in today’s society in varying means. They stand as tremendously pressing matters and highly examined at great length in the media and popular culture. Today, in the United States, we face an enormously large and mounting wealth gap and unaccepting attitudes. In the United States, many families face imbalanced wealth distribution and others face great shunning of their beliefs.
Literary Analysis The Lottery, written by Shirley Jackson, is a short story taking place in a small town about a yearly Lottery. Every year, one person from each town is randomly selected to be stoned to death by the other villagers. Jackson uses symbolism with objects and actions to reveal the actual purpose and intentions of the Lottery.
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson was written in 1948. The story takes place in a village square of a town on June 27th. The author does not use much emotion in the writing to show how the barbaric act that is going on is look at as normal. This story is about a town that has a lottery once a year to choose who should be sacrificed, so that the town will have a plentiful year for growing crops. Jackson has many messages about human nature in this short story. The most important message she conveys is how cruel and violent people can be to one another. Another very significant message she conveys is how custom and tradition can hold great power over people. Jackson also conveys the message of how men treat women as objects.
Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" uses a black box as a symbol to convey an underlying message that "when communities don't question tradition it may lead to negative outcomes for individuals in the community. In page 27 line 27 "Mr.Summers began talking again about a new box the black box grew shabbier each year by now it was no longer completely black In some places they are faded or stained. This evidence reveals a new box which will be used each year. This means that tradition will go on and on starts with babies and the children than adults.
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.
Katelyn DeLong Dr. Jennifer Topale Research and Composition 200 2 April 2024 Dystopia vs. Utopia The world is forever changing and everything is possible, but given the choice of a society where one person is stoned to death every year or a society where everyone is identical to each other, which do you choose? “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is about a town with about 300 people, and every year the citizens look forward to an event called the lottery. The lottery involves one male from each household choosing a slip of paper which determines if their family will be chosen. If chosen, each family member chooses a slip of paper and whoever has the black spot is stoned to death. “The New Utopia” by Jerome Jerome is based on socialism where every citizen is equal and the same.
Dear The New Yorker editors, There has been a huge controversy over The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Thus I felt the need to share my thoughts with you on the matter. My personal reaction of the story was shock. The story itself had quite a few hints and foreshadowing of the outcome, however the way the town and occasion was described caused a bit of a contradiction.
The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson was written in 1948. The Lottery is about a village that has their annual Lottery every year. The purpose of The Lottery is to ensure enough rain to have a good corn crop the following June. They believe that if they do not do this, then they will begin to have hard times. The towns Old Man Warner sums this up "Pack of crazy fools, listening to young folks, northing's good enough for them.
So, while Mrs. Mallard sits in her room she began what this death really means to her. After thinking for a minute, she begins to say “free, free, free! (Chopin 235). ” She is realizing that she is not under her husband any more.
Thesis: Shirley Jackson’s usage of irony, characters, and plot portray the stories theme of the dangers of unconsciously following tradition.
The lottery is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. The author lived from 1916 to when she died in 1965. The story was published in June of 1948 in an issue of “The New Yorkers”. When I first read this story I thought it was talking about the kind of lottery we have today. I quickly realized that was not the case, but that it was about system where someone is sacrifice for the sake of the crops. The lottery was actually not necessary but was a tradition that they kept following. The crops would have grew even if they had not sacrifice someone.