Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

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Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery is an effective and unsuspecting horror story told through her elaborate set up with the environment and characters that build up to create a shocking ending. The setting of a small village and its people on a regular summer day leads me to believe that there is nothing to be weary of. This impression follows throughout the story, which makes the ending come much more of a surprise and it isn’t at all what I had anticipated it to be. Jackson creates an unexpected outcome of the town’s long-held tradition through the use of connotation, foreshadowing, and suspense. With the title of The Lottery, I immediately have a position reaction and an assumption of what the story would be about. Usually when I hear about …show more content…

As this is a yearly tradition, the villagers already know how the lottery is set up and what is to be expected. None of them act up against the ritual, despite knowing that their lives are on the line. Even Old Man Warner is quite nonchalant about this lottery being his seventy-seventh time. It is not until after the papers have been drawn that the atmosphere of the village takes a sudden turn. What I expected to be a reaction of joy and excitement, Tessie Hutchinson lashes out against her husband being the winner. At this point, the mood becomes unsettling and eerie. The crowd is completely silent, with the exception a little girl hoping it’s not one of the children who is chosen. With no remorse or hesitation, the crowd gather their heavy stones as Tessie cries foul play. As the lottery goes on, Jackson begins to make me question why one would be enraged about winning as I assumed that the prize is something to be sought after. Jackson effectively creates suspense by not revealing directly revealing the true intentions of the lottery. Even at the end it is not explicitly stated how and why Mrs. Hutchinson is killed, the imagery of the townspeople gathering around her with rocks lets the reader create their own idea of how it pans out. It leaves the reader to their own imagination as to what the lottery really signifies to the village and their reasoning as to why they must continue this deadly

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