Irony In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

THE LOTTERY by SHIRLEY JACKSON

It is strange that rational people are able of barbarity when that barbarity is allowed by the majority or by society. Irony is the element of literature use from the title to the end of the short story “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson. When I read the title, I thought about a reward, a prize that someone could win or lost in a bet or a game. I notice that the dramatic point of view and the situational irony contribute to the irony. To create objectivity and move the action forward, the narrator use dramatic point of view. In this sentence “The children had stones already. And someone gave little Davy Hutchinson few pebbles.” (Shirley Jackson 12) creates probably an emotional reaction among reader; even

Hutchinson Children had stoned their own mother.

The third person point of view allows the end of the story to be ironic. Situational irony is also used through the story. The narrator describes the environment “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day. The flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (Shirley Jackson 1) by those words, the readers think that the journey is a special day, or at least a normal journal as it used to be. The fact that Mrs. Hutchinson went late to the even because she “clean forgot what day it was” (4) and the fact that she “…looked out the looked out the window and the kids was gone, and then I remembered it was the twenty-seventh and came a-running." (4) Keep the reader in a way that the lottery is something important that anyone would not want to miss. The process of the lottery is ironic because everyone must be there not for having the same opportunity to win a prize, but to be drawn at random to be stoned. How Mrs. Hutchinson who comes late at the lottery could said “You didn't give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair!”(8) When her husband is chosen is ironic. However, Mr. Summers accepts ironically; to restart the process of random

only with Hutchinson Family’s member. Mrs. Hutchinson agrees, so she willingly put herself in this disadvantage. Mrs. Hutchinson fully accepts this barbarous lore till she is the one selected to be stoned. She screams again that the procedure is no fair. Likewise for her, the lottery is ironic. A savage murderer is orchestrated and is carried out by all citizen because is a ritual law in the village and that have to be respected.
Instead of experienced a dramatic ironic, I experience a humoristic irony. During the class period exam, I had to write a test for computer science subject. When the writing test ended, one of my friends Simplice and I were heading to take the bus. Along the way, he asks me how solve my the algorithms exercises, I told him, he bursts out laughing when he made fun of me because he told me "you've missed all of them, you will have a zero’. So I asked the solution. He give me the solution f the exercise versus him, I was convince that I did every exercise in a wrong way. He asks to my boyfriend who passed through the same question he asked me before. Simplice laugh sarcastically and mocked us. My boyfriend and I knew that we will fail the class and our friend will pass. Two weeks later, the results are displayed on the bulletin board. I went to look the bulletin board. Some of my classmates were there and laughing, I thought may be because of their grade, when I asked why there are laughing, all in chorus said “Simplice grade”. I head to the bulletin board not to look my grade first, but Simplice grade, he got a zero. I laughed and mocked him; I didn’t have a pass grade, but mine wasn’t a zero.

A DRAMA OF OUR TIME BY FERNANDO SORRENTINO
The story is about a teacher who noticed a presence of a woman in front of his balcony. The woman pleased him and he decided to communicate with her. In order to get her attention he begins gesturing wildly. The tone used to describe how the teacher tries to communicate is humorous. He said” I sent her a big, pompous wave which demanded a response. Indeed, she waved back. After such greetings, the usual thing is to strike up a conversation” (Sorrentino 2). Situational irony raised when the teacher use gestural language and the lady maybe she know who her admirer was asking for or maybe not. The teacher said “I raised my right-hand index finger to my ear and made the rotational movement that, as everyone knows, meant I wanted to call her on the telephone. Sinking her head into her shoulders and opening her hands, the young woman indicated, again and again, that she didn't understand.” That situation make the teacher get anger by insulting and wondering at the same time” (sorrentino 2). Finally he got her phone number. Ironically, when he calls, it’s a man who picks up the phone and asks, “"Who's there?" added the booming voice, with a touch of anger and impatience.” At that time he realized that he doesn’t have the name of the lady, he hesitated “Uh . . . With the girl . . .” (Sorrentino 3) that is hilarious, how could you want to talk to someone you don’t know the name and that the phone number you got is from that person?. The teacher doesn’t discourage, find the name of the girl and call back. It was the same man again on the phone who is telling him that Castelucci left 5 years ago. The teacher decided then, to turn in derision the situation by calling him Castelluci. The man on the phone got angry and started insulting the teacher. It is the teacher who was supposed to get angry, but here, is the man, Castelucci who hasn’t any interest in the deal who get angry.
One day, I got in trouble with one of my classmate. He insulted me and said that I am ugly and toto. When someone insulted you “toto” that means you’re nothing but stupid. Calmly, I ask her to repeat what she just said, she did, I said “Good job, I love an obedient child like you,” that sentence makes her get angrier and she was ready for fight, I add, “the Toto is you”. Ours classmates went to separate us and ask what the deal; the deal? I couldn’t have answer, I was amazed so I stated that she probably had nightmare.