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Sociological aspects in the story the lottery
Sociological aspects in the story the lottery
Sociological aspects in the story the lottery
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Literary Greatness For starters, what is literary greatness? Simply it is why people believe that something is a great piece of work. The author must meet their goal by moving the reader throughout the piece and invoke thought. Therefore, Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery,” is a perfect example of literary greatness. When people read the title of Jackson’s story, they all think of the same thing, and that is someone must have won a lot of money. However, in this particular story Jackson did the complete opposite of what anyone would have expected. Basically, “The Lottery” is about a small town that gets together once a year for a mandatory drawing ran by a guy named, Mr. Summers. During the drawing each person comes up and grabs …show more content…
Jackson wanted people to know how dumb they can be, by not even attempting to stop such meaningless traditions. The only history in the story as to why they tradition started is because of an old wise tale. The townspeople from way back when believed that by having a lottery it lead to a bountiful harvest of corn. Believe it or not, there are even traditions that are still going on today and are completely uncalled for. Thankfully there are some people out there who agree, like Jim Breslin. In Breslin’s article, “The Lottery by Shirley Jackson: My Review,” he describes how chilling her story makes him feel. He states this tradition was started because of an old superstition that townspeople long before believed, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon…This superstition held by the townsfolk is what makes this piece so ominous. The town becomes a pack of wolves based on their superstition” (Breslin). This whole tradition was started because of one stupid person. Actually, that individual is not the only one who is an idiot because everyone in the town during that time agreed that it would be a good idea to kill someone for good year harvesting. Hopefully, everyone now a days knows that by having a ‘lottery’ has nothing to do with the results in the field. This tradition that was created, is just absolutely ridiculous. Unfortunately, not a single person of the town have ever attempted to stop …show more content…
It is interesting because majority of the people who do not like this story do not give a good explanation as to why. A few of the comments these people have said were things like, “I frankly confess to being completely baffled by Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery.’ Will you please send us a brief explanation before my husband and I scratch right through our scalps trying to fathom it?” (Franklin). This quote by Miriam Friend was only stating how she just did not like the story. Like a lot of these people who complain that this story is so ‘horrific’ must have not taken enough time to try and understand Jackson’s point. Friend had given no reasoning to her point besides the fact she obviously did not like it. Jackson did an excellent job trying to describe how traditions can easily consume a town, no matter how pointless they are. Another reader who had written to Shirley Jackson, was Camilla Ballou, “I read it while soaking in the tub… and was tempted to put my head underwater and end it all” (Franklin). Once again, nothing Ballou said was about anything specific in the story, she just stated how it made her feel. This story is not supposed to be all sunshine and roses, because it falls under the genre of horror. A lot of readers are still stuck in the ‘tradition’ that stories are supposed to be enlightening: not horrific. Therefore, a lot of people
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.
Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. 5th ed. Ed. Laurence Perrine. San Diego: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, Publishers 1998.
Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" presents conflict on more than one level. The most important conflict in the story is between the subject matter and the way the story is told. From the beginning Jackson takes great pains to present her short story as a folksy piece of Americana. Slowly it dawns on us, the terrible outcome of what she describes.
Typically, when someone thinks of a lottery they think of something positive and exciting but contrary to this idea in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, the connotation has an entirely different meaning. As the story begins, readers lean towards the belief that the town in which Jackson depicts is filled with happiness and joy. “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (Jackson 247) We soon realize that this notion is far from the truth. As the townspeople gather in the square for the annual lottery, which sole purpose is to stone someone to death by randomly pulling a paper out of a black box with a black dot on it, it is learned
Characters of "The Lottery" carry on a horrifying tradition without question. One character explains why they carry on the tradition of the lottery. He is an old man who has participated in the ritual for 77 years. He believes that trouble comes when you end the lottery. They honor the tradition to ensure the success of the community. He explains "Lottery in June, corn heavy soon..." ("The Lottery Part 2 of 1."). The community participates in fear of the consequences of ending the lottery. This example of superstition provides the viewer understanding of why people continue outdated traditions. People take part in outdated rituals out of fear of abandoning it. Jackson expands the idea by having the characters pass on the tradition to
There are many elements to any story, but The Lottery certainly encompasses a variety of different fields. The way Shirley Jackson writes is almost haunting, and that’s without touching the gruesome ending of her well-known short story. It is in the way her words flow together. The added, seemingly random conversations throughout The Lottery should make the story feel choppy, but those comments lead the way to a deeper understanding of the story. However, what makes The Lottery memorable are the omniscient objective narrator who is also unreliable, the hovering threat of violence in everyday people, and the lingering doubt about the reader’s own traditions.
In “The Lottery”, Jackson wrote about a special tradition of a small village. June 27th was warm and sunny, and it gave the impression like nothing could possibly go wrong. Everyone knows the lottery as an exciting thing, and everybody wants to win, but this lottery is unlike any other. This lottery was actually the tradition of stoning of an innocent villager; that year it was Tessie Hutchinson. Though the horrific ending was not expected, throughout the story Jackson gave subtle hints that this was not an average lottery. Jackson foreshadowed the death of Tessie Hutchinson with stones, the black box, and the three legged stool; she showed that unquestioning support of tradition can be fatal.
In conclusion, the use of symbolism, irony and setting in the Lottery is very evident, the author indirectly implicates the true darkness within the human heart. The Lottery remains relevant in society today because the overall vagueness of the city allows this story to be true to all people around the world. The short story shows us that humans are evil enough to follow traditions blindly, even if they cause pain and death in loved ones we know. Jackson also centers a lot of symbols and irony on religion and how they affect our culture and decisions. In this the reader can learn that sometimes it’s better for a person to follow his moral compass, and not just blindly follow his evil heart, and the evilness of others.
In Shirley Jackson fussy adventure of a story, The Lottery”, where there isn’t really a main character, but you can say Tessie Hutchinson is the main event, but started off with young boys collecting stones. Then mention’s people that from a small village talking about “The Lottery” and how they’re one of the only villages continuing to participate in doing so. Where there would be a drawing from a black box where the family member go and draw. Where Tessie Hutchison gets the folded paper with a dark dot on it meaning she won, but not anything but will be there one getting stoned to death that evening. Old man Warner “Lotter in June, corn be heavy soon”. The connection I made was that’s the only reason people in the village believe if they keep this ceremonial going the corn will continue to grow.
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.
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...
Themes are a part of every story. Authors want to share their impressions and understandings of life and human experience, so they might be able to help someone identify or open up to new ways of thinking and feeling. It is impossible to tell a story without letting out one 's views and attitudes toward the subject of a story. The theme is what can be taken away from the story and reflected on in one 's real life. Even if it is seemingly insignificant, superficial, or elusive. It is all part of life. "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a story about a small village that holds a lottery drawing in the middle of the town square every year. The "winner" of the lottery is then stoned by the town 's people. There are three themes in "The Lottery."
Notably, there is evidence that the villagers are superstitious, and that this drives their reason for continuing to participate in the lottery. The character known as ‘Old Man Warner’ uses an idiom when he tells a group of people that there “Used to be a saying about, ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.’”(Jackson, 4) This quote shows that the villagers believe that the harvest will not be plentiful if they do not stone someone to death in the summer. He also uses a hyperbole shortly after, when he says “First thing you know, we’d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns.”(Jackson, 4) Here, he is exaggerating the possible outcome of ending the lottery in an attempt to scare the town.
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.