The scientist Albert Einstein once said, "The world as we created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking." Changes occur when one take action. However, before doing that, one must change the way they think. Shirley Jackson must have taken this into consideration when she wrote "The Lottery", one of her best known story. The latter follows the story of the villagers of a small town that use scapegoating as a way to purge the town of its sins. Jackson uses symbolism, characterization and tone to show that blindly following a tradition can lead to irreparable consequences.
First, the author uses symbolism to represent the unwillingness of the villagers to change. The black box that the conductor,
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Mr. Summers, uses illustrates perfectly what the villagers take about quitting the lottery. Mr. Summers sets up the equipment by putting the black box on a three-legged seat. "The villagers keep(pt) their distance"(78) as if they are scared of the object. Instead of challenging it, the inhabitants stand by and watch the box that they so refuse to change for it is part of the ritual even though it is now "no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original color, and in some places faded or stained"(78). The town's tradition is useless considering the fact that the inhabitants have forgotten the reason why they do it. Just like the black box, the lottery is "stained" and old. When the box is not being used, it is said to be "put away, sometimes one place or another; it had spend one year in Mr. Graves's barn and another year underfoot in the post office, and sometimes it was set on a shelf in the Martin grocery and left there"(78). The practice has become vague and insignificant. If someone brings up the subject of changing the box, it would just "fade off without anything being done"(78). Changing the box would mean giving up the tradition. To reinforce her idea, Jackson uses the black spot on the paper to show the darkness and obscurity that lays on the village. The spot symbolizes the deathly outcome of the ritual, and the box symbolizes the practice they refuse to banish. Second, Jackson makes use of characterization to portray the submission the villagers have to the tradition.
The old box is said to be as old as the oldest man in the village. The Old Man Warner is completely against the idea of giving up the lottery. During the lottery, Mr. Adams tells the man that some villages think of quitting the tradition. Warner is outraged by this, and he calls these people a "pack of crazy fools"(80). He talks about going back to a prehistoric live if they are to let go of the ritual. It is unimaginable for him to not do this every year since "there's always been a lottery"(80). He grew up believing that scapegoating is a good thing that should be done for everyone's sake. He is in complete denial for he has been believing in this since he was young. The Old Man sees "nothing but trouble in" putting aside the practice, and let it be gone forever. He puts the blame of this ideas on the "young folks". The younger villagers are the ones of question the lottery, and wonder if they would not be better off without it. He thinks that "nothing's good enough for them"(80). To him, it is already "bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody"(80) as this matter is to be taken seriously. His stubbornness does not end there. It is the "seventy-seventh year he has(I) been in the lottery"(80) and nothing has happened to him. For sure, he has never been the person to have the black spot of their piece of paper. In addition to that, he wants …show more content…
the other inhabitants to have the same opinion has him, and to follow him. He tells the others, "Come on, come on, everyone" as they are about to kill Mrs. Hutchinson. He is trying to teach the younger ones what has been thought to him. He blindly follows this barbarian ways even though "it's not the way it used to be"(81), and it has fatal consequences. Lastly, the tone used in the short story illustrates the unchangeable mind of the villagers.
Throughout the text, the tone passes from calm to disturbing. At the beginning of the story, the atmosphere is pretty peaceful. June 27th is just like any other day of the summer; "clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer-day"(77). School is over so the kids can play as much as they want. They have fun gathering stones when the men of the village began to come. At that moment, the atmosphere changes and becomes a bit gloomy. The men walk and talk together, but "their jokes are(were) quiet and they smile(d) rather than laugh(ed)"(78). As they take place, their wives come wearing "faded house dresses and sweaters"(78). Doesn't that ring a bell? The clothes of some of the women are just like the tradition : faded. The gloomy atmosphere gives place to a stressful one. The lottery makes the villagers feel so nervous that they hesitate to help Mr. Summers put up the equipment. That’s normal since their fates will be decided as soon as they pick a slip of paper. "The people had done it so many times"(79) that they do not really listen to the explanations given by the conductor. Finally, the tone becomes disturbing at end when it is revealed that Mrs. Hutchinson has the black spot. The villagers do not remember the ritual properly, but “they still remember(ed) to use the stones”(78). They seem happy to be able to stone someone. The lottery gives the inhabitants the opportunity
to kill someone. If they were to give up their tradition, they would not be able to justify their cruel act. Therefore, they do not want to quit doing it.
The next theme used by the author to inspire a feeling of despair in this story is the randomness of persecution. By making the villagers draw these slips of paper once a year would provoke a feeling of hopelessness. Because they know that no matter what they do one day they may be subjected to this brutal death. And it woul...
In The Lottery, year after year, even since Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was a child, the same ritual has gone on. It is as if the community never learns from its previous mistakes. As long as no one in the town speaks up about such a twisted yearly event, nothing is ever going to change. If Martin Luther King or Malcolm X wouldn’t have raised their voices against the prejudice that they had experienced their entire lives, we might still be living in a segregated world, which was once thought to be “okay.” This is similar to The Lottery, in which the townspeople are brainwashed into believing that this ritual is normal. For example, Old Man Warner is outraged when he hears that the north village might give up the lottery, calling...
By further description of the author, the items involved in the ritual and the villagers’ specific reactions to changing them further downplay the conventional nature of the lottery. Even though the “original paraphernalia for the lottery has been lost long ago” (Jackson 134), the townspeople still use the worn down, old black box for drawing out the slips of paper. The box is older than the oldest man in town, Old Man Warner, but no one dares to discuss the replacement of the black box. Conjuring up a brand new box is discouraged as “no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (Jackson 134). Brief lighting is shown on what the box represents which is motivated by the suggestion that the current box contains pieces of the original box used by the founders of the village. The black box is almost a symbol of tradition in a way that “it is based on a story, is passed down from generation to generation, changes very slowly over time, but nevertheless is believed to serve an important function within the community” (Michelson).
for summer break, letting the reader infer that the time of year is early summer.
When we are introduced to the lottery, we see the traditions that are currently observed. These include the townspeople gathering in the square, the children gathering rocks and making piles of them. A black box is the current receptacle for the lots to be drawn: 'The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put to use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born.' (Jackson 367).
As old man Warner said, "There 's always been a lottery” (Jackson 4). This shows that the villagers have a lack of ability to change over time. No person in the town would stand up and say that this violent ritual was absurd, making them all out to be hypocrites just as Tessie was. Instead of doing so, one villager, Mr. Adams, comments that other towns around them were giving up the lottery, as if to suggest their town should do so as well. In reply old man Warner said, "Pack of crazy fools” (Jackson 4), and then, "Listening to the young folks, nothings good enough for them” (Jackson 4). Old man Warner can in a sense be seen as a symbol of the town and their lack of change. He disapproves of anything that isn’t what he views as a traditional social practice. Old man Warner’s quick defense of the lottery implies that he sees change as an attack on himself and his beliefs. Blindly following tradition can cause the rejection of non-conformity in a society, even those traditions that are full of
In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” irony is an underlying theme used throughout the story. The setting is introduced as a “clear and sunny” day, but ends with the brutal death of a housewife (715). The two people who essentially run the town, Mr. Graves and Mr. Summers, also have ironic names. In addition, the characters and the narrator make ironic statements throughout the story.
The fascinating story of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson has symbolism throughout the text that reveals how every man is for himself and how society as a whole is flawed. Although individual characters in the story seem to aspire to want to change the tradition in their society, they very quickly go back to their human instincts of survival of the fittest. Interesting enough, the black box symbolizes the tight tradition the society follows even though it is not the original box, “The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago…” (52). The black box is a powerful
The lottery consists of a black box full of blanks pieces of paper and one marked piece of paper. The person who draws the marked piece of paper is the one who endures the horrible fate of being stoned. This black box is very significant because it an s symbol of tradition. Just like tradition, it has been used for many years. Because it symbol in this story is the black box, which is used in the lottery process. . The box is a symbol of tradition and just like tradition; it has been used for many years. “ There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the first people settled down to make a village.” It is old and needs to be replaced with a new one but none ...
The time of day of the town plays a significant role in the expression of apathy in humans as it foreshadows the town’s impatience in completing the lottery. The residents desired to “finish quickly” and get home in time “for noon dinner.” The people of the town cares not for the victim, but their next meal, emphasizing their lack of value they hold for human life. The decision of the townspeople to forget the chants and recitals but carry on with the killing foreshadows the true nature of the town’s residents. The townspeople remembers the “ritual salutes” and a “tuneless chant” that was once part of the tradition that has “changed with time.” However, their continuous acceptance of the killing shows the barbaric side of the townspeople. Foreshadowing the stoning at the end of The Lottery shows the willingness of the townspeople to actively participate in a ritual that goes against human nature. The townspeople “gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles” and then, “they were upon her.” The use of foreshadowing shows how prepared the people are to kill, and how normal and insignificant the killing was to them. Jackson uses foreshadowing to explain the underlying nature of cruelty found in
The townspeople seem to have mixed emotions about the lottery; they fear it yet on a very barbaric level they enjoy it. By standing "away from the pile of stones," and keeping their distance from the black box, the villagers show their fear of the lottery (Jackson 863). However, once they find out who is going to be stoned, Tessie Hutchinson, they seem to actually enjoy the stoning. One villager picks up a stone so big she can barely carry it; someone even gives Tessie’s youngest son a few pebbles to throw at his mother. Their overall attitude about the stoning is summed up by the phrase "and then they were...
Every word that leaves Old Man Warner? Mouth reeks of tradition. He never stops criticizing new ideas about the lottery, the way it is run, or complaining about how things have changed for the worse, etc., etc. When Mr. Adams tells him that the residents of a neighboring village are considering doing away with the lottery, he says they are?a pack of crazy fools?. ? After the Hutchinson family draws for the second time and he can hear people whisper about who they hope drew the spot, he is quick to point out?It?s not the way it used to be, people aren?t the way they used to be. ?
One of the most controversial short stories in its history is “The Lottery”, written by Shirley Jackson. The Lottery takes place in a sunny, beautiful day in an unnamed town. All of the villagers are gathering around to collect there slips of paper in order to see who won the Lottery. At the end it turns out that the prize for the winner is getting stoned to death. Shirley Jackson was known to make her stories have an unexpected turn of events. After all she was a very mysteries person whom many people believed that she fooled around with witchcraft. Other than that she was just another typical shy human being with amazing writing skills. For instance, she was able to come up with the idea of “The Lottery” as she was walking home pregnant,
Would you believe that there was once a village where everyone would partake in a terrible event, but think it was innocent because of how they blindly followed a tradition? The short story, “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson communicates this theme by showing how the villagers participate in a lottery every year. In life, there are people who follow tradition because the have to, or they are used to following without question. The author, Shirley Jackson was born on December 14, 1916 in San Francisco, California. In 1937, Shirley Jackson attended Syracuse University where she began to write short stories. She was famous for the short story, “The Lottery,” and her best seller novel, “The Haunting of Hill House”. Shirley Jackson was famous for writing in a supernatural genre. Later on, she married a Jewish man and moved into a conservative neighborhood. She died on December 14, 1916 in North Bennington, Vermont. “The Lottery” is a profoundly ironic story where the winners really lose. The village has its own unique lottery. The winner of the game has a card with a black dot. This means the surrounding villager will stone them to death! Shirley Jackson develops her theme of the danger of blindly following tradition in her short story, "The Lottery" through the use of symbolism, mood, and irony.
“Although everyone appears to agree that the annual lottery is important no one seems to know when it began or what its original purpose was” (Introduction) This is made clear when in the story it says that the reason the tradition had started was lost years ago. It is also made clear when the box is being describe as an old rugged looking thing and “Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (Jackson). In the story it also says that so much of the original tradition has been lost or discarded that Mr. Summers who symbolizes a leader who has frighten amounts of power, was able to slip in chips of wood instead of paper into the box (Jackson). Mr. Summers is in charge of the lottery it is even up to him to but the black dot on the paper that decides who will be stoned. The power that Mr. Summer has serves as a symbol of humans blindly following tradition because no one ever challenged Mr. Summers whether it be to figure out or stop the lottery or even to challenge why he is the one in power. Instead the town’s people feel sorry for him because he has a nagging wife and no children. Jackson never explains why Mr. Summers has all this power. Mr. Summers is a bit ironic to because of his last name summers. When someone thinks of summer they think