The Everlasting Tradition of the Lottery
In Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery,” Jackson uses the third-person objective to tell the tale of an anonymous village with a dark secret. By telling the story through an unknown narrator, Jackson is able to accord the reader with an unbiased and detailed description of the village’s performance of an annual ritual on June 27th. The realistic and unbiased description allows the reader to connect to the overall theme that people do not want to rid of tradition because they fear a dreadful outcome. Jackson provides the characters with limited knowledge on the origin of the lottery, allowing the reader to draw his or her own inferences. All the while, Jackson provides details about other villages
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who have withdrawn from the lottery illuminating justification of why the anonymous village is in favor of the lottery. By using third-person objective, Jackson provides limited knowledge to her characters, and uses realistic descriptions to create the overall theme. Although the characters are unaware of the lottery’s origin, they are still in favor of preserving the tradition because they fear parlous outcomes.
For instance, the lottery official, Mr. Summers, frequently suggests creating a new box; however, “no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (565). The black box’s solely purpose is to hold the slips for the villagers to take, yet the villagers are against the diminutive change. In addition, Mr. Adams revealed that the north village conjectures about withdrawing from the lottery, but Old Man Warner claims “[n]ext thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves … [and] eating stewed chickweed and acorns” (569). Despite the fact that the lottery existed before Old Man Warner was alive—whom is the oldest man in the village—he firmly believes that eliminating the lottery is “nothing but trouble” (569). He is convinced that without the lottery, villages will become uncivilized as if they were Neanderthals. The fact that Old Man Warner is the oldest man in the village could hold the reason why the villagers fear the parlous outcomes of eliminating tradition. He has the most experience with the lottery and he is a strong supporter of it. As the Hutchinson family chooses their slips, Old Man Warner distinctly says “[i]t’s not the way it used to be … [p]eople ain’t the way they used to be” (572). This suggests that people have become ambivalent about the scheme of the lottery; however, because it is the longest tradition known, they refuse to eradicate it. Because Jackson limited the characters’s knowledge on the lottery’s origin, the characters refuse to rid of the
tradition. The narrator creates realistic descriptions, in which the reader is able to make a life-like connection with the theme. The setting is set as a typical day that any individual would witness: the morning was “clear and sunny,” “the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (564). The narrator then brings attention to the children playing, the landscaping conversations between the men, and the women calling out to their children. The narrator does not forget to introduce every individual’s name, including the proper pronunciation: “Bobby Martin … and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix—the villagers pronounced this name “Dellacroy” (564). The narrator creates a scene that the reader can easily relate to. Because the ending of the story is barbarous and ruthless, Jackson needed to build a scene in which the reader could partially understand why they sustain the tradition. The setting similarity to the real world allows the reader to believe that such a tradition could happen in reality. Jackson conveyed that all traditions are practicable in the real world, and people will take part in such traditions, regardless if they know the reason for it or not. Shirley Jackson uses third-person objective to create an overall theme that people do not want to rid of tradition because they fear a dreadful outcome. The third-person objective sets a realistic scene from an outside perspective in order for the reader to relate to the story. The narrator also recounts the first and last names of the characters, and the conversations between them. Each conversation revealed the necessity of keeping a rather barbaric tradition because they cannot imagine their lives without it. The lottery has been the foundation of their village for over 77 years, and Old Man Warner insures that they preserve the ritual to keep the village from becoming uncivilized.
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.
Shirley Jackson?s insights and observations about society are reflected in her shocking and disturbing short story The Lottery. Jackson reveals two general attitudes in this story: first is the shocking tendency for societies to select a scapegoat and second is the idea that communities are victims of social tradition and rituals.
"The Lottery," a short story written by Shirley Jackson, is a tale about a disturbing social practice. The setting takes place in a small village consisting of about three hundred denizens. On June twenty-seventh of every year, the members of this traditional community hold a village-wide lottery in which everyone is expected to participate. Throughout the story, the reader gets an odd feeling regarding the residents and their annual practice. Not until the end does he or she gets to know what the lottery is about. Thus, from the beginning of the story until almost the end, there is an overwhelming sense that something terrible is about to happen due to the Jackson's effective use of foreshadowing through the depiction of characters and setting. Effective foreshadowing builds anticipation for the climax and ultimately the main theme of the story - the pointless nature of humanity regarding tradition and cruelty.
A gathering of neighbors on a bright sunny day may seem like a fun, summer picnic; however, Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” proves this setting to be something more malevolent. Jackson builds suspense in the short story by withholding any explanations and does not reveal the true tradition of the lottery until the first stone hits Tessie’s head. She disguises small but certain indicators that something more ominous will happen in the story. It is only after the fact readers understand them as clues of doom. By excluding information until the last possible moment, she builds suspense and creates a shocking, powerful conclusion.
“ 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.
As old man Warner said, "There 's always been a lottery” (Jackson 4). This shows that the villagers have a lack of ability to change over time. No person in the town would stand up and say that this violent ritual was absurd, making them all out to be hypocrites just as Tessie was. Instead of doing so, one villager, Mr. Adams, comments that other towns around them were giving up the lottery, as if to suggest their town should do so as well. In reply old man Warner said, "Pack of crazy fools” (Jackson 4), and then, "Listening to the young folks, nothings good enough for them” (Jackson 4). Old man Warner can in a sense be seen as a symbol of the town and their lack of change. He disapproves of anything that isn’t what he views as a traditional social practice. Old man Warner’s quick defense of the lottery implies that he sees change as an attack on himself and his beliefs. Blindly following tradition can cause the rejection of non-conformity in a society, even those traditions that are full of
Shirley Jackson’s “Lottery” satirically creates a society that puts the importance of tradition above even the life of the members of the community, as indicated by Old Man Warner’s response to Mr. Adams stating, “‘[O]ver in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery.’ Old Man Warner snorted. ‘Pack of crazy fools … Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them … There’s always been a lottery,’ he added petulantly” (413). Here Old Man Warner defends the tradition of their society, though notably without justifying the tradition. Rather, he focuses on the people of other villages and the tradition as self-evident, both logical fallacies. The first argument he makes in favor of continuing to have a lottery is an ad
In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, tradition is seen as very high and something to be respected not to be messed with. Although, the lottery has been removed from other towns, the village where the story is set in still continues to participate in the lottery. It is almost as if the other towns realized the lack of humanity in the tradition. However, the village still continues with the lottery even though the majority of the ritual has been lost or changed. The oldest man in the village complains about how the lottery is not what it used to be. There are hidden messages in “The Lottery” that reflects today’s society that the author wants to make apparent and change, such as, the danger of blindly following without any knowledge, the randomness
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Americans day after day live much of their lives following time-honored traditions that are passed down from one generation to another. From simple everyday cooking and raising children, to holidays and other family rituals, tradition plays a significant role in how they go about their everyday lives. In Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Lottery," the citizens of a small farming town follow one such tradition. A point is made regarding human nature in relation to tradition. The story begins on a beautiful summer afternoon.
The black box of the lottery represents the loyalty of the town to traditions. Despite the state of the black box, which is splintered and becoming shabbier each year, the townspeople make no move to replace it. For example, “Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done” (Jackson par 5). While on the other hand they did away with some the other traditions such as the official formally addressing each person who pulled and the wood chips, they cling tightly to the black box. The townspeople see the black box as a way to hold on to the past because supposedly it is made with pieces from the original box (Jackson par. 5). The main tradition they are holding onto is the Lottery i...
Symbolism is used heavily in “The Lottery”. One of the first symbols revealed in the short story is the Black Box, used by the townspeople as the raffle box. “The black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner . . .was born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (Jackson). The Black Box stands as a symbol for the lottery itself and tradition of all types. Although it may be difficult to “upset” or change parts of traditions that have been practiced for ages, it is necessary to do so to grow as people. “Another symbol in the story is the black box. Although it is old and shabby, the villagers are unwilling or unable to replace it, just as they are unwilling to stop participating in the lottery” (Wilson). The...
Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" uses the third-person dramatic point of view to tell a story about an un-named village that celebrates a wicked, annual event. The narrator in the story gives many small details of the lottery taking place, but leaves the most crucial and chilling detail until the end: the winner of the lottery is stoned to death by the other villagers. The use of the third-person point of view, with just a few cases of third-person omniscient thrown in, is an effective way of telling this ironic tale, both because the narrator's reporter-like blandness parallels the villagers' apparent apathy to the lottery, and because it helps build to the surprise ending by giving away bits of information to the reader through the actions and discussions of the villagers without giving away the final twist.
Even through the times, traditions have remained a constant for the human race. They can be as gruesome as the Aztecs practicing human sacrifice to as simple as saying the pledge of allegiance every day. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a chilling story about the reoccurrence of an abhorrent ritual that takes place on a sunny morning. The people of this village demonstrate fear over straying from conformity and thus have the ignorance that sprouts from never trying new things. Through this short story the author portrays this fear and ignorance the human race has through her casual narration, euphemistic dialogue and morbid events.
Shirley Jackson’s famous short story, “The Lottery,” was published in 1948 and remains to this day one of the most enduring and affecting American works in the literary canon. “The Lottery” tells the story of a farming community that holds a ritualistic lottery among its citizens each year. Although the text initially presents audiences with a close-knit community participating in a social event together on a special day, the shocking twist at the work’s end—with the death of the lottery’s “winner” by public stoning—has led to its widespread popularity, public outcry and discussion, and continued examination in modern times (Jackson). One potential critical theory that can be applied to Jackson’s “The Lottery” is the reader-response approach. This analytical lens is a “theory ... that bases the critical perspective of a text on ‘the reader’ and his or her personal interpretation” of that text (Parker 314). Reader-response criticism was coined by literary critic Louise Rosenblatt in the mid-20th century. It soon served as a cornerstone of literary movement in the 1960s and 1970s that later became intrinsic to the study of other schools of literary thought today. In using reader-response theory to examine “The Lottery” in a contemporary context, one might perform reading surveys and metacognitive questionnaires to determine whether the short story still proves resonant and thought-provoking. Therefore, just as “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson evoked an explicit and even fierce reaction in the past, so too does the use of reader-response criticism today help reveal that the short story may still hold the ability to sustain both its rising tension and surprising turn at the end.
Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, "that over in the north village they're talking of giving up the lottery." Old Man Warner snorted. "Pack of crazy fools", he said. "Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them. Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore, live that way for a while. Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' First thing you know, we'd all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There's always been a lottery," he added petulantly. "Bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody. Some places have already quit lotteries." Mrs. Adams says, "Nothing but trouble in that." Old Man Warner says stoutly, "Pack of young fools. Seventy-seventh year I been in the lottery. Old Man Warner said as he went through the crowd. Seventy-seventh time." (Jackson 4). The quote proves my thesis because it shows how the villagers do not want to change tradition. Mr. Warner is demonstrating the attitude held by the villagers when he says he has been in it for seventy seven years. He has been in the Lottery for a long time. He does not know any better. They feel the need to stick to what has been handed to them throughout