Shirley Jackson uses various literary elements such as extended metaphors, vivid imagery, and ironic scenes to provide essential insights as to why traditional values are held on the highest pedestal in the village. In “The Lottery,” Jackson demonstrates traditional beliefs, that are held solely because of tradition itself, are destructive to society, as illustrated through the stoning of Mrs. Hutchinson, the winner of the lottery.
Directly in the beginning, Jackson paints a descriptive, utopia-like village, where “the flowers were blossoming profusely, and the grass was richly green.” This powerful use of imagery provides the starting point for the fabrication of an ideal village with perfect, traditional families. Next, as people gather and converse in the
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town square, “[the women] greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip as they went to join their husbands,” exemplifying a conservative and ideal families, as the woman are gossiping and sticking with their husbands. With this serene setting, the foundation of tradition is created. The lottery ritual has been in the town for an extremely long time.
As described, the box from which the lottery is played has been used so heavily, repairs were frequent. Moreover, “the black box had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born,” extensively illustrating how ancient and important this ritual is. The lottery itself consists of the men of the family stepping forward and randomly selecting a slip of paper from the black box. Continuing, the man who draws the slip with a black dot then has his entire family at stake. The whole family must reselect from the black box at random, and whoever selects the slip with the black dot again is stoned to death. Because this process is completely random, it symbolizes the random persecution in society due to tradition. After the Hutchinson family is chose, Mrs. Hutchinson is ultimately chosen to be stoned. She then insists that “this is not fair! This is not right!” because she was randomly selected. Therefore, the lottery is a metaphor for the random persecution in society that is inevitably unfair, which directly relates to the theme by having the village people stick to tradition, with no regard to the violence it
brings. The ideal, traditional family is contrasted by the violence and betrayal that is necessary to finish the lottery. To comply with the tradition, everyone must stone Mrs. Hutchinson. A townsperson even “gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles,” who is the son of her. This intentional ironic twist juxtaposes this conventional town with the violence necessary to fulfill the requirements of the lottery. Conclusively, the concept of family betrayal helps to develop the theme by creating a tradition practiced annually by a society that everyone obliviously follows, even though it involves killing an innocent person. “The Lottery” effectively represents the persecution of innocent people because of traditional values continuously being utilized. The tranquil imagery and the creation of a nuclear family immediately surrounds the short story with tradition. In addition, the lottery in of itself is an important ritual in the town, along with the black box, holding imperative significance to the townspeople. Finally, having Mrs. Hutchinson’s son partake in the murdering exemplifies the violence permitted by tradition. Shirley Jackson effectively fabricates the theme of traditional beliefs, held because of tradition, are harmful to society through these literary elements.
Shirley Jackson wrote many books in her life, but she was well known by people for her story “The Lottery” (Hicks). “The Lottery” was published on June 28, 1948, in the New Yorker magazine (Schilb). The story sets in the morning of June 27th in a small town. The townspeople gather in the square to conduct their annual tradition, the Lottery. The winner of the lottery will stoned to death by the society. Although there is no main character in the story, the story develops within other important elements. There are some important elements of the story that develop the theme of the story: narrator and its point of view, symbolism, and main conflict. The story “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, argues practicing a tradition without understanding the meaning of the practice is meaningless and dangerous.
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).
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.
for summer break, letting the reader infer that the time of year is early summer.
“ The Lottery”, written by Shirley Jackson, shows the corruption in a village whose people treat life with insignificance. Through the use of literary devices, Jackson portrays how practices in traditions can be barbaric;ultimately, resulting in persecution.
Tradition is huge in small towns and families and allows for unity through shared values, stories, and goals from one generation to the next. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” carries that theme of tradition. The story follows a small town that performs the tradition of holding an annual lottery in which the winner gets stoned to death. It (tradition) is valued amongst human societies around the world, but the refusal of the villagers in “The Lottery” to let go of a terrifying long-lasting tradition suggests the negative consequences of blindly following these traditions such as violence and hypocrisy.
Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery", is a story that is very colorful with symbolism and underlying themes. Centrally, there is a heavy emphasis on following blind traditions no matter what the consequences are, and Utopia and perfect society seem to be the goal of the community where the story is set. Harold Bloom argues that Jackson Hit a universal nerve and suggests that the shock effect achieved by Jason "depends upon tapping into the universal fear of arbitrary condemnation and of sanctioned violence (Bloom, 9). In response to readers being upset, Jackson responded that "she wanted to graphically dramatize the 'pointless violence' in people's lives to reveal the general inhumanity to man (Friedman, 64). "The Lottery", is about blind obedience
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.
In “The Lottery”, Jackson wrote about a special tradition of a small village. June 27th was warm and sunny, and it gave the impression like nothing could possibly go wrong. Everyone knows the lottery as an exciting thing, and everybody wants to win, but this lottery is unlike any other. This lottery was actually the tradition of stoning of an innocent villager; that year it was Tessie Hutchinson. Though the horrific ending was not expected, throughout the story Jackson gave subtle hints that this was not an average lottery. Jackson foreshadowed the death of Tessie Hutchinson with stones, the black box, and the three legged stool; she showed that unquestioning support of tradition can be fatal.
...this situation to be a truth in any city in the world. So in this Jackson shows how setting is used to magnify the darkness in all of human hearts.
In conclusion, Shirley Jackson used many literary devices throughout the entire story. In “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson, uses symbolism, irony, and imagery to appeal to readers that read this story. Other literary devices such as characterization were identified in this story but the three that were elaborated on were the ones that stood out. The emphasis on religious traditions and symbols make “The Lottery” one the darkest and most mysterious
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.
...d the setting. “The Lottery” remains applicable in our culture today. The story in of itself epitomizes tradition, the undisputed traditions that survive not just in the culture of “The Lottery.” “The Lottery” strongly demonstrates the collective mindset of Mr. Hutchinson and the rest of the villagers who contributed in the stoning of his own wife. Oftentimes people lose their distinctiveness, and are often peer-pressured into doing something that they do not want to do. When analyzing the text, Mr. Hutchinson went from clowning with his wife to slaughtering her in a short period of time exemplifies how recklessly individuals can have a change of heart. In the end, the tradition needed to be changed by the victim, Mrs. Hutchinson, but then it was too late and the tradition lives on even though it is not the best of traditions by stoning another individual to death.
(Jackson, 1). Jackson wants the readers to believe that the town was ordinary and innocent, but ends with a shocking ending of a terrible stoning.