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Literary devices in the lottery shirley jackson
Literary devices in the lottery shirley jackson
Essays on symbolism in literature
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Thesis: Shirley Jackson’s usage of irony, characters, and plot portray the stories theme of the dangers of unconsciously following tradition. I. Jacksons use of irony show the theme of the dangers of unconsciously following tradition. A. The title of the story, “The Lottery” illustrates irony when knowing the true essence of the title. 1. The title of the story represents irony when the true essence of the title is completely different from what the reader might think it to be. 2. At first glance the title “The Lottery” could be seen as an opportunity to win something of value. Once read title is deceptive and dark with the titles true essence being the winner of the lottery ‘wins’ the loss of his or her life. B. Tessie indicates irony when …show more content…
In the story Tessie Hutcherson screams “it isn’t fair! It isn’t fair!” when trying to save her-self from the stoning. 2. The irony in what Tessie Hutcherson screams is that even though she means it, if it were to be someone else unlucky enough to get picked Tessie would surely be in the mob of towns people ready to stone the ‘winner’. II. Jackson’s use of characters also shows the theme of how people are blind to the harmful effects of tradition. A. The Hutcherson children illustrate how even that people are blinded by the dangers of tradition. 1. In the story the Hutcherson children a relieved and laughing when they finding out they’re not the ‘winners’ of the lottery even though either their mom or dad are going to die. 2. This illustrates how people can be so blinded by the dangers of tradition because even though their mother or father are going to die they’re blinded by selfishness when only caring that they got saved. B. All of the town’s people also illustrate how people are blinded by the harmful effects of tradition. 1. In the story no one remembers as to why they stone innocent citizens. 2. This memory loss from the towns people illustrate that even though they have forgotten why they stone they have not forgotten how to
Jackson, Shirley.. "The Lottery." Trans. Array Literature, An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing. . Seventh. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson, 2013. 250-256. Print.
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.
Magill, Frank N. "Shirley Jackson." Critical Survey of Short Fiction. Salem Press, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 1981. 1668-1674.
Mr. Summer states, “Now I’ll read the names- heads of families first- and the men come up and take a paper out of the box. Keep the paper folded in your hand without looking at it until everyone has a turn. Everything clear (568)?” Given that today’s lottery winners receive money, a reader might assume winning in this short story would be a good thing. The men held the slips over papers nervously in their hands. After a long, breathless pause, Mr. Summers says, “All right, fellows (568).” The head of the family opens the slip of paper and the terrible fate awaits the winner. The winner was the Hutchinson family. Tessie Hutchinson instantly states, “I think we ought to start over… I tell you it wasn’t fair. You didn’t give him enough time to choose. Everybody saw that (571).” The reader may still not understand what the prize is or may be confused on why each family member now needs to draw a slip of paper from the old black
When asked if there was anyone else in the household, Tessie claims, “There’s Don and Eva... Make them take their chance” (Jackson 5). By volunteering her daughters, that are married and thus draw with their one families, Tessie shows that she would rather have a family member be stoned to death than herself. She is also set out as a hypocrite because she does not complain when any other family is picking slips (if another family had picked the slip she would have stoned someone else to death), she only questions the lottery when her family is the one that has to choose. She cried out multiple times, “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right” (Jackson 8), questioning the fairness of the tradition after she is the one chosen to be stoned to death. Tessie finally sees outside of the bubble that everyone in the village is in. It is here that we see that violence is acceptable until it becomes
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.
In Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery,' irony is a major theme. This story is about a town full of elitist snobs that are stuck on their tradition of a lottery, even though it is a grim ritual and rather detrimental to the people in the town. The characters are honoring a tradition that is handed down to them from former generations. The reader is led through the outwardly normal and charming little village, and is taken on a ride of ironic horror as they slowly grasp the annual fate of one the village?s inhabitants. The title ?The Lottery? implies a contest with a winner of some kind, like a sweepstakes. When in reality the winner is actually the loser or person that will die by stoning. At the beginning of this story, the main character, Mrs. Hutchinson, is in favor of the lottery. The atmosphere of the town is casual yet anxious. Mrs. Hutchinson arrives late because she ?clean forgot? what day it is. This seems quite impossible to any reader that anyone would forget a day like lottery day. Her procrastination is reasonable but her excuse is lame. Mrs. Hutchinson complains that her husband, Bill, ?didn?t have enough time to choose.? And that the results of the drawing were not fair. In these statements, she is implying that the other villagers had more time to choose, and in fact given an advantage over the Hutchinson family. In reality, time had little to do with the drawing of the ?slips of paper.? As soon as they hold the second drawing, Mrs. Hutchinson is chosen. This is the climax of irony of this story. Mrs. Hutchinson is chosen for the lottery. She is shocked and astounded, having believed that she couldn?t possibly be chosen for the lottery. She begs or mercy, but the townspeople are strict with keeping to their traditions and her pleas of mercy fall on deaf ears and she is stoned to death.
Typically, when someone thinks of a lottery they think of something positive and exciting but contrary to this idea in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, the connotation has an entirely different meaning. As the story begins, readers lean towards the belief that the town in which Jackson depicts is filled with happiness and joy. “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 247) We soon realize that this notion is far from the truth. As the townspeople gather in the square for the annual lottery, which sole purpose is to stone someone to death by randomly pulling a paper out of a black box with a black dot on it, it is learned
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery" is all about how an old tradition as the lottery exceeds our expectations. First by giving us the readers the believe that the price of the lottery would be something great. Making us questioning the results and why to do this with no explanation at the end. Teaching us how traditions are that don’t make sense are killing because Society is clinging to this traditions and practices.
In Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery”, she begins setting up conflict from the very first sentence. Jackson starts off by setting a beautiful scene of a clear and sunny day with green grass and blooming flowers as the backdrop for a horrific process, the lottery. The lottery is a long-standing tradition in the town and causes the members of the community to choose the love of family and friends or to conform to society expectations. The tradition is so entrenched that the community blindly accepts the lottery and allows a ritual murder to occur year after year. Through this tradition, Jackson sets up conflict in many different ways throughout the story.
The title of the story is “The Lottery” and the title is very ironic. When looking at the title readers may think there is a character who is about to become rich and have a better lifestyle. There is a lot more that is happening than what the title expects you to think. Another example of irony is the setting of the story. “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. With such a beautiful and nice day going along with nice weather you would not think that death would end up occurring. At the end of the story when Mrs. Hutchinson is chosen for the lottery, it is ironic that it does not upset her that she was chosen. Tessie was really upset because of the way she is chosen she shows this by saying “It isn’t fair it isn’t right”. (5) Jackson use of irony gives the readers reason to think and expect the
The title of the story plays a role in how Shirley Jackson used some literary elements to help mask the evils and develop the story. The title “The Lottery” serves as an allegory. When people think of the lottery majority of people associate it with something good like the New York State Lottery where you can win some money. In the story it is used as a way to pick someone to be killed. In the story everyone gathers in the town square and the town’s people draw family names until a black dot is one the slip of paper. Which
“The Lottery” has many elements involved in it, and all of them shape the story into what it truly is. Without the heavy symbolism of the black box, the three-legged stool, and the stones, the short story would lack depth. Without the many themes of society and class, tradition and customs, hypocrisy, and family, the story would lack all of its deeper meanings. Within “The Lottery”, the two most important elements of fiction are theme and symbolism, and it is hard to imagine the story any other way.
Through the use of irony and a combination of an indifferent tone and an unknown, impassive narrator, “The Lottery” reveals the barbarism of human nature that results from blindly trusting and following traditions.
When one thinks of a lottery, they imagine winning a large sum of money. Shirley Jackson uses the setting in The Lottery to foreshadow an ironic ending. The peaceful and tranquil town described in this story has an annual lottery, and you can’t possibly guess what the “prize” is…