The Lottery Shirley Jackson Human Nature Essay

433 Words1 Page

In history there has not been any prologed period of peace. However why? To evaluate the complexity of the the question could last life times. Jackson describes mankind as intrinsiclly evil.
The judgemnet between right and wrong maybe gray to those that weren't shown other wise; In "The Lottery" Shirley Jackson demonstrates that evil indeed is human nature. " The children assembled first of course"( Jackson par. 2). Children have the inate ability to do what makes them happy or seems funny. Jackson exemplifies the mentality of an unbiased human being; not knowing that aything is "wrong" the children find excitement in death as if it is simply a game. " ...someone gave little Dave Hutchinson a few pebbles"( par. 75). Nevertheless man kind from even the early 1900's and long before has the animalistic trait that dominated before anythig else could be discovered. …show more content…

" There's always been a lottery" ( par. 30). Moreover Jackson shows that no matter the out come if it's tradition one doesn't care what happens in the end. " Be a good sport, Tessie..." ( par. 45). As developed adults Jackson portrays the in abilty of one to feel more or less wrong for doing wrong on to others. This is still prevelant in today's society a simple thing as driving home and " road rage" kicks in even ;though it is recognizable as anger the route of the issue is the human need to be the preditor. Like any preditor the human race is inheretly

Show More
Related

  • What You Pawn I Will Redeem

    1627 Words  | 4 Pages

    He has an internal conflict because he wants to save money to buy back his grandmother’s regalia from the pawnbroker, but he also wants to share his money and he receives money throughout the story. “‘I’m hoping, and I don’t know why I’m hoping it, but I hope you can turn thirty bucks into a thousand somehow.’ ‘I believe in magic.’ ‘I believe you’ll take my money and get drunk on it’” (Alexie para 230). When he receives money, he always ends up spending it on alcohol and sometimes spends it on food. He never spends all his money on himself. Jackson has a man versus nature conflict and a man versus man made environment conflict. His man vs. man made environment conflict occurs when he is too drunk to find a good place to sleep. He ends up falling asleep on train tracks. An example of Jackson’s man vs. mother-nature, “’I was cold and sleepy,’ I said. ‘So I lay down.’ ‘You dumb-ass, you passed out on the railroad tracks.’ I sat up and looked around. I was lying on the railroad tracks’” (Alexie para 195). Jackson also has a conflict with white society. “‘One day you have a home and the next you don’t, but I’m not going to tell you my particular reasons for being homeless, because it’s my secret story, and Indians have to work hard to keep secrets from hungry white folks’” (Alexie para 1). Jackson also has a man versus man conflict with Honey Boy, who tries to get Jackson to hook up with him but Jackson says he’s not a homosexual. “‘I’m flattered, Honey Boy, but I don’t play on your team.’” (Alexie para 165). Jackson does not show any signs of complexity. He is also a stereotypical homeless man. He does spend the majority of the money he gets on alcohol. Jackson also is dynamic since he clearly changes because in the beginning he was just a homeless man with his friends with nobody really paying attention to him, then at the end he felt that everybody stopped to watch him

    Read More

  • What You Pawn I Will Redeem By Sherman Alexie

    1669 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout the story Jackson can be found executing many unexplainably kind acts. Obviously, Jackson is not in a position to give out much being homeless and jobless, but he makes a major impact on the world he lives in through giving all that he has to those around him. After Jackson wins one hundred dollars on a scratch off ticket, he gives the cashier, who he flirts with jokingly, twenty dollars out of his winnings. She did not want to take his money, but Jackson exclaims, “It’s an Indian thing. When you win, you’re supposed to share with your family” (Alexie).

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    589 Words  | 2 Pages

    Written by Shirley Jackson and published in 1948, “The Lottery” is a dystopian short fiction about a cruel and barbaric lottery ritual. The plot and characters illustrate that certain traditions ought to be abolished for the betterment of society. At the beginning of the story, the entire village gather around every year on June 27th to attend the lottery, which is mandatory. Once everyone arrived to the center, an old man named Joe brought a black box. Eventually, the heads of each family have to pull a ticket from this box, but they cannot be opened and must remain folded until everyone took their turn. Eventually, after everyone had their turn, everyone has to open up the paper and show it up for everyone to witness. If the head of the family pulled a blank ticket, then the family has nothing to

    Read More

  • Research Paper on Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery”

    1132 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery” is a short story about the annual gathering of the villagers to conduct an ancient ritual. The ritual ends in the stoning of one of the residents of this small village. This murder functions under the guise of a sacrament that, at one time, served the purpose of ensuring a bountiful harvest. This original meaning, however, is lost over the years and generations of villagers. The loss of meaning has changed the nature and overall purpose of the lottery. This ritual is no longer a humble sacrifice that serves the purpose of securing the harvest but instead is a ceremony of violence and murder only existing for the pleasure found in this violence.

    Read More

  • What You Pawn I Will Redeem Analysis

    1679 Words  | 4 Pages

    Jackson wants to find something that will make him feel like he has done something for his culture and his people. These sayings contradict his actions because every time he gets closer to gaining more money, he spends it. In the long run, Jackson’s pitfalls did not stop his determination to gain back the regalia and ultimately find his personal identity. Given that he is Native American, the reader might assume that Jackson has a feeling of resentment towards white people due to the displacement of his people. From the beginning of the story, Jackson reveals a protective feeling caused by white people.

    Read More

  • Symbolism and Imagery in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jackson uses the lottery itself to function as an ironic symbol of tradition in the story. In today’s society, a lottery is an event that has positive connotations related to it. A lottery a game that is associated with fun, chance, fun, and expectation. Good things usually result from lotteries especially for those who win. Furthermore, those who don’t win have nothing to lose. Lotteries bring forth a feeling of great expectation of a wonderful outcome. Through out the story, the lottery is projected as a harmless and affable pastime, which is how it is used in today’s society; however, by the end of the story it ends with disaster.

    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

  • An Analysis of The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson

    390 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Human Nature In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    1093 Words  | 3 Pages

    We all wear masks. They hide our inner, ugly monster that tries daily to claw its way out of our souls and into the external world. In Shirley Jackson’s, “The Lottery,” we see human behavior influenced by a traditional ritual; a morbid, grotesque ritual that ends with a horrific demise of a town’s resident. In Tobias Wolff’s, “Hunters in the Snow,” three men participating in a traditional hunting trip becomes a journey through their own personal demons; their behaviors influenced by common threads of imperfections they share. Both stories create vivid, visual atmospheres to subtly explain human behavior; scenery and symbols providing guidance to better grasp how human nature can take a portentous, dark turn.

    Read More

  • The Lottery Shirley Jackson Humanity Essay

    751 Words  | 2 Pages

    We are human; despite history's unequivocal demonstration of inhumanity. The individual capacity for evil has continuously proven to lack limitation. It is within this limitation that

    Read More

  • Humanity In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    651 Words  | 2 Pages

    People wake up, go to work, cook meals, watch the news, celebrate holidays, go to church and pray, and go to bed, but why? Why as a society does humanity follow an unquestioned schedule? Humans do as they are told and believe what they hear without thinking otherwise. Inferred in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, humanity follows orders like sheep, chained to the rhythm of everyday life, which in the end takes an innocents person’s life.

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

    696 Words  | 2 Pages

    The primary message that Jackson shows in “The Lottery” is that people can be involved with such a violent act and think nothing of it. In the story all the people are happy, “they stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed.”(244) All the people in the town gather together without question to perform this horrible act of murder. All the people think nothing of this terrible act. Mr. Summers the man that runs the whole lottery says, “guess we better get started, get this over with, so’s we can go back to work.”(245) This illustrates how they think of the lottery as an everyday occurrence. Old Man Warner says, “lottery in June, c...

    Read More

  • Morals and Values in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Shirley Jackson's, "The Lottery", human morals and values are thrown away all for the pride of winning something. What is it that they really win? When you win the lottery in this story, you actually win death by stoning. Isn't that ironic, people actually being competitive and getting excited about death in public. What morals or values do these people really have, and how are they different from what common society is thought today?

    Read More

  • Sociological Theory in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

    412 Words  | 1 Pages

    "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.

    Read More

  • Outline For The Lottery Shirley Jackson Essay

    590 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thesis: Shirley Jackson’s usage of irony, characters, and plot portray the stories theme of the dangers of unconsciously following tradition.

    Read More

More about The Lottery Shirley Jackson Human Nature Essay

Open Document