Introduction paragraph- end with thesis- In Shirley Jackson's short stories, ostensibly happy couples experience unusual encounters that force the wives to concede the truths about their marriages, and themselves that they have tried to ignore.
Shirley Jackson's "Men with their Big Shoes" is a capital example of this motif. The story opens with the young, joyful Mrs. Hart peacefully congratulating herself about how her life has turned out. She is an expectant newlywed living comfortably in the country, in a house with wide windows she can gaze out of, chintz curtains with matching slip-covers and even a maid who complains about the dirt marks on the floor, just like a real maid. Mrs. Hart is at first timid and uneasy about her housekeeper, Mrs. Anderson, but chooses to ignore her inner doubts since she has heard many stories about housewives being initially intimidated by the help. Instead of focusing on this uneasiness, "Mrs. Hart never allowed herself to think further about Mrs. Anderson than to feel comfortably proud of having all the housework done for her" (short story, pg 256). It had been over a month before Mrs. Hart recognized "with a sickening conviction that the faint small uneasiness was justified" (short stormy 256).
As Mrs. Anderson continues to work for Mrs. Hart, it becomes clear that Mrs. Anderson is "a disruptive invader from an unhappy marriage, who poisons the well of domestic bliss for her employer, Mrs. Hart" (criticism). Every morning Mrs. Hart sips her tea, and every morning Mrs. Anderson shares her unwelcome complaints about her own husband, Mr. Anderson. She updates Mrs. Hart on their latest fights as Mrs. Hart tries desperately to focus on other topics. "'Cursing and yelling,' she went on, ...
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...24. Literature Criticism Online. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.
Jackson, Shirley. “Men with their Big Shoes.” The Lottery. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. 255-64. Print.
- - -. “Pillar Of Salt.” The Lottery. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. 235-54. Print.
- - -. “The Tooth.” The Lottery. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. 265-86. Print.
Lowe-Evans, Mary, and Karen Willingham-Sirmans. “Jackson’s ‘The Tooth.’” The Explicator Winter 1997: 96. Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Literature Resource Center. Web. 2 Mar. 2010.
Pascal, Richard. “Shirley Jackson.” Short Story Criticism . Ed. Thomas Votteler. Vol. 9. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992. 248-273. Rpt. of “’Farther than Samarkand’ The Escape theme in Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Tooth.’” Studies in Short Fiction 2 Nov. 1982: 133-39. Literature Criticism Online. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.
American Literature. 6th Edition. Vol. A. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 2003. 783-791
Michelson, D. The historical reception of Shirley Jackson's "the lottery". In: KURZBAN, Robert; PLATEK, Steve. 18th annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society at the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University. 2006.
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a chilling tale of a harsh ritualistic gathering conducted by people of a small village. The word lottery would typically remind someone of a drawing to win a cash prize. A better comparison to the story would be the lottery used to select troops for the Vietnam War; a lottery of death. Another would be the human sacrifices the Aztecs willingly made long ago.
...ary devices covered in this paper cannot even begin to cover the entirety of a great short story. The point of view, the symbolism, and the setting are just a few things that make these stories so memorable. The ability of Shirley Jackson to make a reader question the way society allows as normal with its traditions, families, and customs causes the reader to think that this can happen anywhere. Charlotte Perkins Gilman makes the reader wonder throughout the story is she crazy or is she possessed. The ability to make the reader sit white knuckled holding the book is amazing and the writing styles of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Shirley Jackson will forever go down in literary history.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy, and Dana Gioia. 4th ed. Boston: Longman, 2012. 643-54. Print.
Tradition is a central theme in Shirley Jackon's short story The Lottery. Images such as the black box and characters such as Old Man Warner, Mrs. Adams, and Mrs. Hutchinson display to the reader not only the tenacity with which the townspeople cling to the tradition of the lottery, but also the wavering support of it by others. In just a few pages, Jackson manages to examine the sometimes long forgotten purpose of rituals, as well as the inevitable questioning of the necessity for such customs.
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...
The short story “ The Lottery ” the author Shirley Jackson uses symbolism and imagery to develop a theme the brings forth the evil and inhumane nature of tradition and the danger of when it’s carried out with ignorance.
Thesis: Shirley Jackson’s usage of irony, characters, and plot portray the stories theme of the dangers of unconsciously following tradition.
Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." Gioia, Dana and R.S. Gwynn. The Art of the Short Story. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2006. 390-396.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” A Portable Anthology. Ed. Janet E. Gardner. Boston: New York: Bedford/St Martin’s, 2013. 242-249. Print.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” Literature: A Portable Anthology. Gardner, Janet E.; Lawn, Beverly; Ridl, Jack; Schakel, Pepter. 3rd Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. 242-249. Print.
Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 989.
Murphy, Bernice M. Shirley Jackson: Essays on the Literary Legacy. Jefferson, NC: McFarland &, 2005. Print.
Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." Perrine's Literature: Structure Sound & Sense. 11th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2010. 282. Print.