Ivan's Greed In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

1027 Words3 Pages

A seemingly ordinary life of a once happy couple, suddenly turns into a life full of despair and regret. It only takes one small trigger incident to spark a dramatic chain of events, and in the case of the couple, the trigger incident is the lottery ticket. The anticipation of escaping the reality of an ordinary life to a life full of lavishness becomes a dream for Ivan and Masha. The aspiration of being financially stable and living a lavish life is a goal for almost any middle-class family, which certainly has become the case for Ivan and his wife. Despite being financially stable, the thought of even having lots of money makes Ivan greedy, becoming the reason for his own downfall. This downfall leads to emotional tragedies, and separations. …show more content…

Despite the constant reminders that Masha gives to Ivan, he ignores it. Ivan’s imaginations and hopes reach a point where, if by any chance he does not win the lottery, he will fall into sadness and grief. This eventually does become true when he reads the numbers in an attempt to agitate his wife. The revelation of the truth does not benefit any of the characters in the story. Instead, Ivan certainly wants to hang himself. The “Damnation takes my soul entirely! I shall go and hang myself on the first aspen tree!” (307). The cause of the late revelation was no one but Ivan himself, he self-sabotages himself to a certain point where he becomes the reason for the problem created. This shows Ivan’s refusal to face the reality, which leads to his downfall. Ivan’s desperateness with the lottery signifies his wanting to escape the reality of his regular, daily life, putting him into denial to face the fact that he did not win the lottery. Hence, he will have to still live his ordinary life even though he is quite satisfied with it. All in all, “The Lottery Ticket” has a tragic storyline as shown through its structural

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