Literary Analysis Essay On The Lottery

Literary Analysis of “The Lottery”

In the small town known as Bennington, Vermont, tradition is everything. Readers can infer that the author uses allegory to mirror the draft of World War II. Bill Hutchinson and his family are forced to participate in the annual game of chance that will be spectated by the entire town. When his wife, Tessie, “wins” the drawing, the reader is left to analyze whether the game is truly fair or not. “ The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a short story brimming with literary elements such as imagery, foreshadowing, and irony that teaches the reader about conformity and the long-term effects of old traditions.

The first example of imagery used in the story can be found in the opening sentence of the first paragraph. The author describes the setting as a normal, warm and happy day in a civilized town. “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.”(Jackson, 261.) The author then continues to describe how everyone gathers together in the town square. The children play while the adults huddle and gossip. The author is painting the perfect

picture for the reader as if the lottery is actually something that the characters would want to participate in and win. It is, to a degree; reverse dramatic irony because although the characters know what is happening, the reader does not know what is coming. The author normalizes a jubilant, content theme so that the reader cannot suspect a dismal ending.
An example of foreshadowing appears when old man Warner and the other men are discussing surrounding towns that have banned the lottery. Warner clearly has strong feelings about the subject and even calls the younger generation fools for having changed their tradition. “”Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.”” (266.) Old man Warner is telling readers that the lottery is not just an activity to this town. It is some moderate form of a sacrificial process for good fortune of the town crops. This is the first clue to figuring out that the lottery is not what it seems.
Irony is represented through the way that Tessie tries to get out of being the winner of the drawing.

When Bill draws the winning ticket, Tessie says that he did not have enough time to pick the one he truly wanted. “”You didn’t give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair.””(p.266, line 40) She then exclaims that her daughters should be added into the drawing even though they were already set to draw with their husbands. “”There’s Don and Eva.””, “”Make them take their chance!”” In the ending, Tessie is ultimately the “winner” of the drawing. Her fate is to be stoned to death as a sacrifice for the crops. It is ironic that if someone else would have had this same fate, Tessie would probably have gone with the crowd and would not have thought twice about

it.
Through imagery, foreshadowing, and irony, Shirley Jackson does a great job in demonstrating how anyone can follow the crowd but it is not as easy as being in the spotlight when it comes to tradition. It is evident by the conclusion of the story that no one really wants to participate in the lottery except the older patrons in the town yet everyone follows along every year. Not one person would dare to stray from or disagree with the conformity that is already in place in the town because they know that they may not succeed if they did. They are afraid that maybe their families will not have good fortune or their friends will shun and reject them. They may even just become the next sacrifice without having a chance in the drawing. This story is a lesson on how we should not follow behind whoever thinks they are the leader because we are scared of what may happen. If only they would have asked a few questions like why are we doing this and how does this benefit or hurt our society, many lives would have been spared from the lottery. This story is important because it is also a good example of how we should not just take traditions as they are because things that would have worked one hundred years ago may not work in our modern society.