The Lottery: A Sinister Yet Surreal Representation of Human Weakness and Hypocrisy

881 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The lottery by shirley jackson argument book analysis

Shirley Jackson, an American author and novelist, was popular in her time for her peculiar sense of mystery and horror. Her fictitious short story “The Lottery” is nothing short of sinister, yet surreal representation of human weakness and hypocrisy. Her clever use of consistently humorous and friendly language to narrate an act of evil does ‘pack a punch’ for the readers; especially, the final revelation of the fate of the apparent winner can make one feel ‘sick to the stomach’. Jackson has applied carefully toned language, vivid imagery for graphic dramatization and carefully crafted characters, to attain the complete effect of a mysterious horror story with an underlying message that people can be hypocritical and are not always what they seem to be.

The story is set in a small village which has a general aura of merriness denoted by the use of positive words such as “sunny”, “warmth”, and “blossoming” (Jackson). Through the use of ordinary and friendly language, the author creates a simple and serene environment where children tend to break into “boisterous play” and women “exchange bits of gossip” (Jackson). Throughout the beginning there is a constant portrayal of a normal village life, where everyone knows everyone and family members have typical names. The specifics of the date and time of “The Lottery”, along with the friendly conversations exchanged between the villagers is misleading. It is not until the very end that the winner’s fate is discovered; death, by friends and family. This is the most significant irony in the entire story.

As the story progresses, among the ordinary and merry atmosphere develops a subtle presence of evil, which makes the readers uncomfortable. This is masterfully achieved in numero...

... middle of paper ...

...alize the irony; just when she rebelled for her beliefs, fate dawned upon her.

“The Lottery” in a way applies to current society in general. Individuals show keen interest in other’s circumstances without any particular reason. Man is definitely blind and the sense of humanity and moral obligation is mostly impaired, until they are the very victims. Although, the realization that “It isn’t fair” will set in, it may be too late for many. According to Jackson, she received response letters which were "bewilderment, speculation and old-fashioned abuse" (Friedman) which simply proves her theory in the current society. It is sad and happens all the time!

Works Cited

Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.”

Classic Short Stories, http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lotry.html

Friedman, Lenemaja. "Social Evil: The Lottery," Shirley Jackson. Twayne Publishers, 1975

Show More
Related

  • Similarities Between Charles And The Lottery

    626 Words  | 2 Pages

    Set against the backdrop of the contemporary American societies, “Charles” and “The lottery” are arguably two of the finest short stories written by Shirley Jackson; one of the most popular and talked about writer of horror/mystery genre in the mid-nineteenth century. The lottery is a descriptive story about a horrific ritual that take place in a small town ,and Charles is a narrative story about the lies of a bad child. Like her other notable works, these two stories effectively showcase her mastery in dramatic irony and candidly uncover the contemporary social reality while still having the several similarities and differences shared in between them based upon the writing style, main theme of the story , and the way how each story concludes.

    Read More

  • analysis the lottery

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Foreshadowing in Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    "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.

    Read More

  • How Does Jackson Create Suspense In The Lottery

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Shirley Jackson Criticism

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    While humor wasn’t what made her famous, but it allows her readers to witness another side to her writing. Opposite to her humorous family stories, her accomplishments and legacy of subtle horror and psychological suspense continue to seep into modern stories, movies, and media. While her themes have long been expressed through literature, she brought a new perspective to horror, especially through “The Lottery”, which was as famous as it was controversial. The use of subtle shock, unimaginable twists, and an incomplete ending allowed her to provoke a severe reaction from her readers. Despite the criticisms and questionable popularity of her works during her lifetime, we can appreciate Shirley Jackson’s additions of psychological suspense and the faults of human nature to the horror

    Read More

  • Allegories In The Lottery

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Lottery,” written by Shirley Jackson in 1948, is a provoking piece of literature about a town that continues a tradition of stoning, despite not know why the ritual started in the first place. As Jackson sets the scene, the villagers seem ordinary; but seeing that winning the lottery is fatal, the villagers are then viewed as murders by the reader. Disagreeing with the results of the lottery, Tessie Hutchinson is exposed to an external conflict between herself and the town. Annually on June 27th, the villagers gather to participate in the lottery. Every head of household, archetypally male, draws for the fate of their family, but Tessie protests as she receives her prize of a stoning after winning the lottery. Jackson uses different symbols – symbolic characters, symbolic acts, and allegories – to develop a central theme: the

    Read More

  • Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    906 Words  | 2 Pages

    Why would a civilized and peaceful town would ever suggest the horrifying acts of violence can take place anywhere at anytime and the most ordinary people can commit them. Jackson's fiction is noted for exploring incongruities in everyday life, and “The Lottery”, perhaps her most exemplary work in this respect, examines humanity's capacity for evil within a contemporary, familiar, American setting. Noting that the story’s characters, physical environment, and even its climactic action lacks significant individuating detail, most critics view “The Lottery.” As a modern-day parable or fable, which obliquely addresses a variety of themes, including the dark side of human nature, the danger of ritualized behavior, and the potential for cruelty when the individual submits to the mass will. Shirley Jackson also addresses cruelty by the citizen’s refusal to stand up and oppose “The Lottery.” Violence and cruelty is a major theme in “The Lottery.”

    Read More

  • Essay on Shirley Jackson's The Lottery - Evils of Society Exposed

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    "The Lottery" is "symbolic of any number of social ills that mankind blindly perpetrates" (Friedman 108). The story is very shocking, but the reality of mankind is even more shocking. Isn’t it funny that Jackson gives us a description of our nature, and not only do we not recognize it for what it is , but it shocks us.

    Read More

  • Dehumanity In The Lottery, By Shirley Jackson

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    Set in 1948 and published in The New Yorker, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson describes a village ritual of sacrifice. Contrary to the positive feeling associated with the word “lottery,” the story strikes fear into the readers’ hearts as the winner is stoned to death. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” uses symbolism and genre conventions of a classic dystopian story to show the different ways in which human cruelty can occur.

    Read More

  • The Horror of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

    1176 Words  | 3 Pages

    Winning vast amounts of money can make anyone slaphappy, but unfortunately this type of wager won’t be discussed in Shirley Jacksons “The Lottery.” Jackson catches the reader’s attention by describing a typical day by using words such as “blossoming, clear and sunny skies” to attract the reader into believing a calm and hopeful setting which eventually turns dark. In this short story Jackson tells a tale of a sinister and malevolent town in America that conforms to the treacherous acts of murder in order to keep their annual harvest tradition alive. Jackson exposes the monstrosity of people within this society in this chilling tale. She allows the reader’s to ponder and lead them to believe that the lottery is actually a good thing; till she implements foreshadowing, to hint at the dreadfulness behind the lottery and its meaning. My goal in this paper is to discuss why Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a portrayed as a horror story, and the importance the townspeople used to glorify ritualistic killings, to appease to an unseeable force in return of good harvest for the upcoming year.

    Read More

  • Literary Elements In The Lottery

    1209 Words  | 3 Pages

    In "The Lottery" Shirley Jackson fills her story with many literary elements to mask the evil. The story demonstrates how it is in human nature to blindly follow traditions. Even if the people have no idea why they follow.

    Read More

  • The Lottery and Human Behavior

    1674 Words  | 4 Pages

    “The Lottery” is a story which shows the complexity and capability of human behavior. Something immoral, like stoning a person to death once a year, is a normal occurrence. The main character, Tessie Hutchinson, is the victim of the lottery. Tessie is a character with a number of seemingly good characteristics, yet her surrounding culture rejects these characteristics. The majority of the people in the village has opposite attitudes and beliefs in comparison to Tessie’s. These attitudes and beliefs reflect her personal desires which quickly struggle against the culture’s expectations. Tessie is unlike the other villagers; she is initially indifferent to the lottery indicating her desires are unrelated to the lottery. Upon winning the lottery, Tessie changes and her personal desires to survive and reject the lottery emerge in her selfishness and outspoken personality. These struggles against the village’s expectations are shown through the culture’s emphasis on tradition and small town ties.

    Read More

  • Theme of the Unexpected in The Lottery

    1832 Words  | 4 Pages

    What thoughts come to mind when you think of "The Lottery?" Positive thoughts including money, a new home, excitement, and happiness are all associated with the lottery in most cases. However, this is not the case in Shirley Jackson’s short story, "The Lottery." Here, the characters in the story are not gambling for money, instead they are gambling for their life. A shock that surprises the reader as she unveils this horrifying tradition in the village on this beautiful summer day. This gamble for their life is a result of tradition, a tradition that is cruel and inhumane, yet upheld in this town. Shirley Jackson provides the reader’s with a graphic description of violence, cruelty, and inhumane treatment which leads to the unexpected meaning of "The Lottery." Born in San Francisco, Jackson began writing early in her life. She won a poetry prize at age twelve and continued writing through high school. In 1937 she entered Syracuse University, where she published stories in the student literary magazine. After marriage to Stanley Edgar Hyman, a notable literary critic, she continued to write. Her first national publication “My Life with R.H. Macy” was published in The New Republic in 1941but her best-known work is “The Lottery.”(Lit Links or Reagan). Jackson uses characterization and symbolism to portray a story with rising action that surprises the reader with the unexpected odd ritual in the village. While one would expect “The Lottery” to be a positive event, the reader’s are surprised with a ritual that has been around for seventy-seven years , demonstrating how unwilling people are to make changes in their everyday life despite the unjust and cruel treatment that is associated with this tradi...

    Read More

  • The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson

    3169 Words  | 7 Pages

    The story of “The Lottery” is a dark tale that gives the reader a window into a community blighted by an tradition propagated by ignorance; sending a message that reverberates with many events, ideas, and observations throughout the annals of time. Written by the great Shirley Jackson, this fable exemplifies how delusion and illogical thinking led to the terrifying and morose ending of Tessie Hutchinson's existence. Shirley Jackson was well known in her lifetime, but not necessarily as the literary master she is hailed as today. Jackson had great interest in the culture of witchcraft, and deeply incorporated this knowledge into one of her first short stories: “The Lottery.” While this influence greatly improved the haunted tone of the story, it also spawned various rumors regarding Shirley Jackson herself, being a reclusive bookish woman interested in the dark arts. However, just as the “witches” of Salem were mercilessly murdered for ambiguous reasons, so too was Tessie Hutchinson. Shirley Jackson saw the reflection of these poor souls within our very lives, and channeled their sorrowful essence into a meticulous story that is as moving as it is disturbing.

    Read More

  • The Lottery Character Analysis Essay

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, the author is able to entertain and enlighten the readers. The interesting and profound topic of the story is partly the reason for drawing the readers in; however, the clever characterization of Tessie and the anonymous setting help to make the story more relatable as well as force the readers to feel sympathy for the characters. Although a story about a town devouring a member of its community is horrifying, there is a large meaning. Jackson effectively uses “The Lottery” to warn the readers of the dangers of the group. Shirley Jackson describes the characters in “The Lottery” in a way that readers can relate to each of them in some way, yet she makes one character stand out from the start of the story.

    Read More

More about The Lottery: A Sinister Yet Surreal Representation of Human Weakness and Hypocrisy

Open Document