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Sociological view in the ;lottery
Sociological view in the ;lottery
The use of symbolism in the lottery
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'The Lottery,'; written by Shirley Jackson is a story that takes place in a small town of approximately three hundred residents. Every year on June 27th the townspeople congregate in a giant mass in the middle of town, where the 'lottery'; takes place. This lottery is a ceremony in which each family throughout the town is represented by a tiny white piece of paper. The family representatives, who are the heads of the household, take turns drawing from a box that contains these three hundred pieces of papers. On one of the pieces of paper there is located a black dot, marked the previous night by Mr. Summers. This black dot indicates the 'winner'; of the lottery. The lottery is a ritual that has been around for years and years and it has developed into a way of life for the people of the town. When June comes rolling along everyone is anticipating the lottery. Kids fill their pockets full of rocks and plans are discussed about making a new box. They can not wait to attend and finally get it over with. This drawing seems to transform the people. Tension builds before the lottery occurs, but the townspeople are still able to joke with one another. Tension increases in the story when the author, Shirley Jackson, implies to the reader that Mr. Hutchinson has drawn the marked paper. We assume he does because he walks up on to the stage with his family and they are then made to draw again from the worn out black box. Mr. Hutchinson reaches his hand in and grabs out a piece with his children and his wife following in succession. The one that holds the winning ticket is Mrs. Hutchinson. We learn throughout the story that the power and traditional aspect of the lottery has slowly diminished. In the case of Mrs. Hutchinson, '';Clean forgot what day it was.''; The lottery had been present within the neighboring towns; however, the lottery had been ended. The people of the town believed that the box represented tradition and therefore were reluctant to make another one. This box is representative of the lottery in that they have both worn down and are in need of change.
In “The Lottery”, written by Shirley Jackson in 1948, tone and symbolism are equally important elements in comprehending this eerie short story. This dark tale takes place in a small town of about 300 people during the summer. The writer begins by painting a picture of children playing, women gossiping, and men making small-talk of home and finances, putting the reader at ease with a tone of normality. The people of the town coalesce before the lottery conductor, named Mr. Summers, appears to begin the annual town ritual of drawing from a box which will result in the killing of one townsperson by stone throwing. It isn’t until the fateful conclusion when the reader comes to realize there is nothing normal about the
“The Lottery” is a short story about an event that takes place every year in a small village of New England. When the author speaks of “the lottery” he is referencing the lottery of death; this is when the stoning of a village member must give up his or her life. The villagers gather at a designated area and perform a customary ritual which has been practiced for many years. The Lottery is a short story about a tradition that the villagers are fully loyal to and represents a behavior or idea that has been passed down from generation to generation, accepting and following a rule no matter how cruel or illogical it is. Friends and family become insignificant the moment it is time to stone the unlucky victim.
In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, Jackson illustrates an average agricultural town that usually wouldn’t be given a second thought, but in this case the innocent appearance is holding a dark secret. Every year in the summer an annual tradition is held known as the lottery. The lottery is held in the small town in order to have a bountiful harvest. All the towns’ people gather and each head of the families must reach into an old black box to grab a white slip of paper. The lottery is then narrowed down to one family once all the white slips of paper are opened. The individual who is possession of a white slip of paper with a black dot has their family each reach into the box and grab a slip of paper of their own. Unfortunately the family member who has the slip of paper with the black dot is sacrificed in order to receive a good season of crops.
Although the black wooden box being used is not the “original paraphernalia for the lottery,” it still has been around for quite some time with it having “been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born” (1). It is by the town’s relentless use of the old relic that they cling onto their traditions. With the unceasing use of the wooden box comes tear and deterioration in which “the black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained” (1). Along with the persistence to carry on traditions, like the deterioration of the box, the deterioration of the tradition of the lottery also seems to be inevitable in that the lottery is said to have went through changes with some towns even abandoning the practice altogether (4). It is by the townspeople’s actions that the box symbolizes the continued use of old ways and beliefs and how those beliefs corrode over
Written by Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery” is a short story about a town that hosts an annual lottery that decides which person is stoned by the rest of the town. Jackson slowly and subtly builds the suspense throughout the story, only resolving the mystery surrounding the lottery at the very last moment, as the townspeople surround Tessie with their stones. The symbolism utilized helps demonstrate the overall significance of the story, such as the lottery itself. The lottery shows the way people desperately cling to old traditions, regardless of how damaging they may be. In addition, it can show how callous many will act while staring at a gruesome situation, until they become the victims.
Toward the finale of the short story, Shirley Jackson, the author of “The Lottery” declares, “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the black box, they still remembered to use stones” (873). Many of the residents display no knowledge of the lottery and only participate because of tradition. In fact, only Old Man Warner recollects the authentic purpose of the lottery. He furnishes some insight behind the tradition of the lottery by declaring, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (Jackson 871). Old Man Warner reveals the original reason for holding the lottery, but Jackson clearly demonstrates that the original purpose no longer exists. The villagers comprehend the procedure of stoning the victim but nothing else. Nick Crawford articulates in an easy about “The Lottery,” “The most disturbing thing about Tessie Hutchinson’s unexpected demise is its...
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.
The Lottery has been craftily shown in both the movie and the text in a suspenseful and dark manner, telling the same story, they show it with many similarities but also with many differences, in the showing and typing of the setting, characters, and the plot setting. In the Lottery text, the lottery took place in the morning, probably some time between the beginning of work and lunch, in a square, where they all met up. I can come to the conclusion that the lottery was in between lunch and the start of work because it says “‘Well, now.’ Mr. Summers said soberly, ‘guess we better get started, get this over with, so’s we can go back to work. Anybody ain’t here?’” which means that it must be sometime in work. The Lottery text also explained how the children stacked a pile of stones before the lottery started. In the text it says, “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting his smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix-- the villagers pronounced his name ‘Dellacroy’-- eventually ma...
The Lottery was a ritual that happened on June 27th of each year. Everyone would gather in the middle of the town and from there each head of the household would draw a piece of paper from a black box. As the story proceeds you can see that people were getting impatient and making remarks like "I wish they'd hurry (The Lottery, pg. 4)." Other people were making comments like "Some places have already quit lotteries (The Lottery, pg. 4)."
On the morning of June 27 of a recent year, the 300 villagers of an American village prepare for the annual lottery in a mood of excitement. The horrible tradition of the lottery is so old that some of its ritual has been forgotten and some has been changed. Its basic purpose is entirely unremembered, but residents are present to take part in it. The children in the village created a “great pile of stones” in one corner of the stoning square. The civic-minded Mr. Summers has been sworn in and then he hands a piece of paper to the head of each family. When it is discovered the Hutchinson family has drawn the marked slip, each member of the family Bill, Tessie, and the children is given another slip. Silence prevails as suspense hovers over the proceedings. After helplessly protesting the unfairness of the first drawing, Tessie finds that she holds the marked slip.
“The Lottery” was quite disturbing to read. It is an very unusual story that has an ending that will have you baffled. You will want to reread certain parts to see if there is anything thing that you could have missed. The title of the short story is also misleading. In most cases the lottery is a good thing. People don’t win punishment and lotteries don’t hurt them. But in this story it does just that. The author did a great job of telling how anyone and everyone can follow tradition blindly. It is dangerous not to have a mind of your own and to just follow the crowd even if you don’t understand on agree on why something is happening.
of paper, enough for the entire town. On one slip of paper is a black
Change seems to be closer than expected. Many of the other villages changed their traditions and got rid of the lottery. This sparks some controversy in the society. Some villagers strongly believed that it was time for the lottery to end. Others did not want to part with their cultural traditions, some even believing that the lottery brought good harvest. Unfortunately for Tessie Hutchinson, the traditions do not change in time to spare her life. The author’s description of the symbols in the short story help to reveal the layers of the society in which the lottery exists. Throughout the short story, The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, the author’s depiction of the black box, Davy Hutchinson, the main character’s son, and the lottery itself help to convey the idea that fear of change can impede evolution in a
The title of the story plays a role in how Shirley Jackson used some literary elements to help mask the evils and develop the story. The title “The Lottery” serves as an allegory. When people think of the lottery majority of people associate it with something good like the New York State Lottery where you can win some money. In the story it is used as a way to pick someone to be killed. In the story everyone gathers in the town square and the town’s people draw family names until a black dot is one the slip of paper. Which
They had forgotten and discarded parts to the main ritual in the story (Jackson 6), the original box and the ceremony, but they still remembered the stones to use against the unlucky winner (Jackson 74). The reader is pulled away from being one to throw the stones or draw a slip out of the box; however, the reader is not just given a passing description of past events. Instead, the words imply that the objective point of view to allow the reader to watch the whole scene unfold. It’s as if they are watching a film or play in this point of view. Allowing suspense to grow and flourish throughout the whole piece, the outcome of the lottery drawing is kept unknown to the reader until the very end in order to keep the reader interested in the story. Even in paragraph 72, a first-time reader wonders what is going to happen to a member of the Hutchinson family and why Tessie is so nervous and unwillingly to open her slip (Jackson 72). Although the title, “The Lottery,” paints a picture of a happy event in the reader’s mind, yet tragedy is inevitable as a village is unwillingly to give up a tradition, as Old Man Warner points out in paragraph 32 (Jackson