The people of the village commenced making their way to the ceremony called, “The Lottery,” an annual toxic ritual where the “winner” faces an untimely death. The Lottery commences by having the entirety of families gather together in the town square. The male of the family is called up to receive a slip of paper.. If the slip was blank, then, the family would be safe. However, if a family had a black dot, then that family would draw again to see who would have to be put to death. Mr. Summers, the man who devotes his time to create civic activities such as The Lottery, has the honor to call out each family member. As the drawing continues, Mrs. Hutchinson was named the dreaded winner. She protests that the lottery is not fair, but the townspeople …show more content…
are uneager to adopt a new ritual, feeling that it would corrupt the conformity in society. In “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson executes explicit imagery by devising a society that uses inhumane methods for renewal of toxicity.
The author conveyed the theme by utilizing characters who are apprehensive of going against the standard ritual and adopt a state of conformism. The townspeople pursue along with what authorities state as an ordinary task in order to enhance a civil society. The townspeople are too stuck in the scheme that The Lottery is a standard activity that they consequently don't realize some leading effects which may be only demoting the act of being humane. Near villages have already refrained from performing The Lottery, but in this particular small town, they decided to stick with the ruthless tradition. As Mr. Adams, a town's member explains to Mr. Warner that some places have given up The Lottery. Mr. Warner quickly exclaims,”Pack of crazy fools. Listening to the young folks, nothing good enough for them. Used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon. The first thing you know we’d all be eating stewed chicken weed and acorns. There’s always been a lottery”. This quote signifies that the town is cutting down members to conserve food. In addition, Mr. Warner thinks the other villages would be better off adhering to the annual
Lottery. In order to refine the theme, the author uses a composite of imagery. The black box that has been the custom for ages is finally diminishing, the townspeople don't want to obtain a new one. Similarly, the members don't want to compose a contrasting ceremony that promotes peace instead of one that gives displeasing effects. The tradition has become a burden the people have to follow, the engaging crowd often participating has only been slowly decrementing. The following quote displays, “The original pamphila for the lottery had been lost long ago and the black box being rested, had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town was born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition was represented by the black box”(The Lottery). Finalizing the emergence of the theme, the author used the character's sarcastic dialogue to show how the townspeople didn't think of Mrs. Hutchinson as a high authority. The theme materializes when Mrs. Hutchinson arrived at the Lottery late. The townspeople proclaimed, “in voices just loud enough to hear across the crowd, here comes your missus Hutchinson and, Bill she made it after all”(The Lottery). This quote indicates that the townspeople called her out to be the deadweight of the town. This gave Mr. Summers and his accomplices the conclusion of who will be this year's winner. And the stones started to fly.
“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.
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.
The setting of the story helps to magnify its impact on the reader because it is set in a small town similar to the one many of us may know of, and that is symbolic of everything that we consider to be right in America. The story begins on a wonderful summer day in a small town. The author describes the day as very joyful but strikes a contrast between the surroundings of the town and the atmosphere of the people gathered in the square. The atmosphere is sober, where the adults ?stood together, away from the stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather then laughed."(268) This, in just the third paragraph, is a indication through symbolism of the townsfolk?s sober mood that something was amiss. The setting for the lottery also takes place in the same place as the square dances, the teen-age club, and the Halloween program.(268) This unifies our lives with those of the story sense we can relate to those types of events, and is symbolic in showing that even though this dastardly deed happens here that it is still the main place of celebration. Showing how easy it is for us, as human beings, to clean our conscientious by going back to a place that, on June 27, is a place of death and make it a place of delight.
In Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" symbols are used to enhance and stress the theme of the story. A symbol is a person, object, action, place, or event that in addition to its literal meaning, suggests a more complex meaning or range of meanings. (Kirszner & Mendell 330) The theme of the story is how coldness and lack of compassion can be exhibited in people in situations regarding tradition and values. That people will do incredibly evil and cruel things just for the sake of keeping a routine. Three of the main symbols that Shirley uses in the story is the setting, black box, and the actual characters names. They all tie together to form an intriguing story that clearly shows the terrible potential if society forgets the basis of tradition. The story also shows many similarities between the culture of the village, and the culture of Nazi Germany. How blind obedience to superiors can cause considerable damage to not only a community, but the entire world. Symbolism plays a large role in "The Lottery" to set the theme of the story and make the reader question traditions.
In almost every story, one can find symbolism throughout the text to help the reader better understand what the writer wants the reader to takeout from his/her story. Symbolism is something that must be analyzed and explored to experience a deeper meaning to the story. Sometimes, symbolism throughout a story may not be noticeable when first read, but going back to analyze the text can add a deeper meaning to words and can also help to enhance the meaning behind the story line. In some instances, symbolism can leave a reader to ponder what the writer is trying to express with the symbolism used in the story; for symbolism can be interpreted differently and can have many layers of meaning to it. Some good examples of short stories that use symbolism to extend the meaning behind the story line are “The Lottery,” “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” and “The Jury of Her Peers”.
In “The Lottery” Shurley Jackson portrays a small village as a normal place to live. In this small town there is this lottery that happens once a year in the towns square. On this special day, Jackson describes kids being kids playing with one another, and women gossiping bringing this sense of normalcy to what is happening as this story goes on. Mr. Summers, the man who oversees the lottery, is described as the head figure of the village by Jackson. Mr. Summers runs the civic duties of the town and is responsible for making sure that the Lottery is run smoothly. As the lottery is taking place, the reader is constantly thinking what happens when a person is selected from the black box. Jackson maintains
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a chilling tale of a harsh ritualistic gathering conducted by people of a small village. The word lottery would typically remind someone of a drawing to win a cash prize. A better comparison to the story would be the lottery used to select troops for the Vietnam War; a lottery of death. Another would be the human sacrifices the Aztecs willingly made long ago.
box. We do not always enjoy change, even if it might prove beneficial to us.
The short story “ The Lottery ” the author Shirley Jackson uses symbolism and imagery to develop a theme the brings forth the evil and inhumane nature of tradition and the danger of when it’s carried out with ignorance.
Every year, the lottery is held, and every year a person is killed. Each villager neglects to acknowledge the unjustness of the lottery and continue to participate because of the tradition it represents in their society. The lottery was a cultural tradition passed down from the very first settlers of the village. It makes up a huge part of the village’s history and culture. The villagers pay recognition to their culture by continuing the tradition of the lottery even though the lottery is not morally right. On page 93 it states, “There was a proper swearing-in of Mr. Summers by the postmaster, as the official of the lottery; at one time, some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year… There had been, also, a ritual salute, which the official of the lottery had had to use in addressing each person who came to draw from the box…” This quote shows the tribal-like rituals and traditions associated with the lottery. Through the years, some of the rituals of the lottery were lost, but the main elements of the lottery remained the same. The idea behind the lottery was that the ancestors, of the villagers, believed that human sacrifice would bring in good harvest. This led to the development and continuation
Jackson begins to give the reader some clues that something bad is going to happen at the end of the story. For example, in paragraph three Jackson describes the interactions between the men as they begin to gather in the square, “They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed.” In this quote, Jackson foreshadows the negativity associated with the stones by the distance she places between the stones and the men. Also, the fact that they smile instead of laugh shows that they cannot fully enjoy themselves given the present circumstances. Though Jackson foreshadows the end of the story with the distance she puts between her characters, the stones, the stool, and all other things associated with the lottery, she also pulls her readers into thinking it is an ordinary story by her use of the vivid description of setting and characters.
There are many short stories that exploit the human nature, and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is no exception. This short story takes place in a small town that has a tradition of having a lottery draw every year. However, no one would have expected that the winner of the lottery would actually be a loser. The man of the family goes up and draws a paper for their family, if the paper has a black scribble in the middle of it, that person’s family was chosen. Then, everyone in that family, excluding daughters who were married, drew a paper. Whoever drew the black scribbled paper would have “won.” In this case, Mr. Hutchinson drew for their family and got the black scribbled on paper. Immediately, Mrs. Hutchinson started complaining, which was strange, who would complain about winning? Of course, everyone in that family of five drew a paper. Mrs. Hutchinson ended up drawing the paper that was scribbled on, and her “prize” was that everyone in the town would now pelt her with a bunch of pebbles or stones.
In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, we see the picture of a model town that, like most Southern Baptists, are stuck in their ways. What they refer to as the Lottery is an annual process, occurring on June 27th, in which each head of household will choose a slip of paper out of a box and the “winner,” well, doesn’t really win. In fact, the so called winner of the first round of the lottery wins his whole family a trip to the box for one more turn! The next person, no matter the age, that picks the paper with the mark on it, is stoned by the entire town. It’s preposterous to actually think people would enjoy this yearly ceremony, but they do. Throughout the story we see three different standpoints on this gruesome tradition that is embodied by Old Man Warner, Mr. Summers, and the younger adults and kids. All of the people go along with the tradition and some even look forward to it, however when it happens to them they cry, “It isn’t fair.”
You would never think that happiness can be good and bad at the same time, In “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson uses imagery to support this idea.
Throughout the course of human history, people from a variety of cultures have crafted their own cultural, religious, and familial traditions based on communal beliefs. To this day, people from around the world continue to carry out rituals from hundreds of years ago that their ancestors held to be both beneficial and necessary in maintaining a thriving society. These practices, however, have the potential to be malicious and harmful to society. As one of the most famous short stories in American literature, The Lottery provides the reader with a tale about the practices of a small, fictional town that holds an annual lottery each year. Through Shirley Jackson’s use of irony, symbolism, and setting in The Lottery, I found the main theme to