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Analysis of 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson
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“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson portrays a capitalist society in which the children subconsciously mirror the adults in relation to the distribution of power in a hierarchal manner. Throughout this hierarchy, established by inheritance, it is evident that the children have expectations concerning their roles and responsibilities in society, in which their behavior and actions should appropriately reflect their social standing. This is apparent at the first mention of children within the story, where we notice Bobby Martin collecting stones “and the other boys soon follow[ing] his example” (1). The children imitating the actions of Bobby Martin, the son of one of the most powerful man in their village, exemplifies their ability to fathom their
In the short story “The Lottery”, the children remain ignorant of the actual detrimental consequences that ensue from the lottery due to the use of indoctrination teachings from higher authorities. This is first indicated when the children assemble around the town square with Bobby Martin’s pockets “already stuffed… full of stones, and the other boys soon follow[ing] his example, select[ing] the smoothest and roundest stones.” (1) The children are clearly aware of the social hierarchy within the town as they all follow Bobby Martin’s actions rather than pursue their own beliefs and values. This habitual action is a result of the indoctrination teachings that have been inculcated within every child. Because everyone else has accepted the long
“The Lottery” is a satire that is meant to shock and provoke readers with the prospect that societal contentment and tradition can evoke the emersion of illogical and harmful actions. The author, Shirley Jackson, understands that the proper use of symbolism and character archetypes is followed by a more impactful story. “The Lottery” opens with children who are out of school for summer break “[on a clear and sunny… day.” (Jackson, 1948, p. 221). Such an innocuous, familiar scene, might elicit from the reader nostalgic, whimsical memories of childhood play. Appropriately, the children in this story represent the innocent, susceptible future generation of the town. They do not seem to fully fathom the severity of the lottery or the abhorrent nature of the violence associated with the town’s traditions. For this reason, the reader most likely develops an expectation that this story will be a pleasant and optimistic one that takes place on a beautiful sunny day and involves the laughter and tomfoolery of young happy kids.
The limits of obedience to authority is an overall good idea and. In the short story, “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, supports the thought that blind obedience will only lead to bad things. Authority does not have to be a person; it can be an item or belief. Obedience to authority can lead to the destruction of that group and groups should never blindly follow anything, especially when they feel as if it is wrong. Obedience should be regulated and only occur when the demand of authority is rational and reasonable.
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.
In the story, The Lottery, there are many signs of duality of human nature. Many of the characters appear to be affected by the lottery at first, but towards the end their feelings start to change. Tessie, Mr.Summers, and Mrs.Delacroix all show two sides of humanity and they all generally appear to be good natured people, but are they really?
Traditions are usually passed on from parent to child at an early age. In the opening lines of "The Lottery," Shirley Jackson reveals the tradition of the lottery and how all of the villagers conform to the ritual of a human sacrifice. “The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o’clock…” (Jackson 373) shows how the citizens of the village are used to the tradition of always gathering for the lottery. The children in “The Lottery” were stuffing their pockets with stones before all of the parents had arrived, " Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones" (373). This illustrates that the children were taught what to do in the event of the lottery and by being prepared it shows t...
Groupthink, the joining of individual rationals in an effort to arrive at a functional decision making strategy within a faction. “In many cases, people will set aside their own personal beliefs or adopt the opinion of the rest of the group”, Many seem to believe that this concept is the source of all solutions, others refer to it as a source of controversy. The “Lottery” a story written by Shirley Jackson and a movie entitled The Village portray different interpretations of groupthink and readers/viewers are exposed to its meaning and its effects on people whether involved or uninvolved. Its pros and cons, its moral and immoralities, and lastly its outcomes whether good or bad.
“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
In "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson, there are a series of traditions the story revolves around. The characters in the story don't seem to follow their traditions anymore. The story begins by explaining how the lottery works. The lottery takes place in many other towns. In this town it takes place on June 27 of every year. Everyone within town would gather at the town square, no matter what age. The black box is brought out and each head of the household pulls a small paper out of it. Only one of the papers will not be blank, it will have a black-penciled spot that is put on by the owner of the coal company. The black spot will send someone, from the family who chose it, to death. This is decided by a draw. The family member who pulls out the spotted paper will be stoned to death. After a long period of time, people forget the traditions by slowly disregarding as the years pass.
By reading “The Lottery”, the violent behavior can be seen when the lottery is about to begin. For instance, the little boy “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones” getting ready to throw them at the person who had drawn the piece of paper(Jackson, 1). Not only does the author put violence in the hand of one child, but she puts violence in the hands of many more children. As an illustration, since Bobby Martin had stuffed stones in his pockets “the other boys soon followed his example” with no hesitation(Jackson, 1). The children seem very calm about
Since the dawn of civilization, humanity has always dealt with the class struggles between dominated classes. At some point in time, one class is always on top or the bottom. Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery,” takes place in a semi-modern period. As Jay Yarmove points out in “Jackson’s ‘The Lottery '” that, “At no point does the author tell us where the lottery takes place, but we are made aware of several possible indicators” (Yarmove 243). An innocent individual gets an unfortunate fate in an annual lottery of a small village. Throughout the day, emotions ran high and changed very significantly. The fate of every individual relies on a single piece of paper marked with a small, solid black dot. An unfortunate family will have to suffer a loss of a member, as a result of participating this horrific ritual. Shirley Jackson’s short tell “The Lottery” details the apparent feministic criticism of gender roles in the village,
“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.
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson was written in 1948. The story takes place in a village square of a town on June 27th. The author does not use much emotion in the writing to show how the barbaric act that is going on is look at as normal. This story is about a town that has a lottery once a year to choose who should be sacrificed, so that the town will have a plentiful year for growing crops. Jackson has many messages about human nature in this short story. The most important message she conveys is how cruel and violent people can be to one another. Another very significant message she conveys is how custom and tradition can hold great power over people. Jackson also conveys the message of how men treat women as objects.
A lottery is when people pay small amounts for an opportunity to make a much larger amount of money, which is generally a very fun, easy, casual thing to do. This can result in people winning millions of dollars, or just having fun. Everyone wants to win the lottery. However, in this story, the lottery is much different. The lottery is a tradition within this town with which they select an individual to stone to death, selected at random. This is essentially the opposite of the lottery we know and love today, considering that ours results in a new life, and the one in the story ends someone’s life. The title is very misleading considering our understanding of a lottery.
"The Lottery" is a short story by Shirley Jackson that was published in 1948 and gave a good example of the definition of the term sociological theory. This theory is a set of ideas on how people behave and how institutions operate. The analysis of this short story and the of the work of Emile Durkheim shows the relationship of the two in the field of Sociology. There are many well defined intertwining theories that Durkheim gave to society that are also included in "The Lottery". Solidarity is the theory that will be analyzed.