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Summary and analysis of the Lottery by Shirley Jackson
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In the short story, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, the author displays the reluctance of people to reject outdated traditions and ideas. Examples of this are elucidated when Mr. Adams mentions to Old Man Warner, “that over in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery”. (Jackson 14) Old Man warner responds by calling them “pack of crazy fools”. (Jackson 14) The reason he responded like this is because the village believes that this annual lottery designates scapegoats to bear the sins of the community. The saying he mentions is, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.” (Jackson 14) This saying implies that sacrificing someone will lead to a plentiful harvest. The criticism that Old Man Warner conveys to the other villages is
“Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (142), the well-known quote by Old Man Warner that is familiar to Shirley Jackson’s readers is an expression that has a lot of value in the short story, “The Lottery.” This story’s title does not exactly mean what first comes to ones mind when thinking of the word “lottery”, but as the story slowly unfolds it becomes more clear of what once seemed good natured turns out to be inhumane. We learn that winning the lottery in this story means to actually win death by stoning. A tradition that only makes the protagonist Tessie Hutchinson a loser that is given as a sacrifice for the unnamed and unearthly spirit. This awful wickedness of the ordinary towns people is visible; however, Tessie Hutchinson is the
Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery” shows the reader that the human race will do any horrible act for success, in this case holding a town lottery where the winner is stoned to death in the towns square in hopes of a bountiful corn crop come during harvest time. The lottery is a tradition held in the town annually on June 27 and is done right as the corn is ready to become fruitful. Even in the day and age where technology is used for farming (tractors, plows) to till and harvest the land, this is a communal tradition that cannot be broken.
Throughout the course of humanity, people have sought ways to promote a society where moral unification and motivation are present. It is essential for a community to coincide with such values; therefore, tradition and folklore are transcended though generations as customs which people follow mostly without question. In Shirley Jackson’s short story, The Lottery, such traditions are exploited through a futile box along with a brutal ritual which symbolizes the way a society might mindlessly abide by them and feel powerless to divert from such illogical acts. The storyline contains a constant tone which depicts normalcy to present normalcy itself as seen by the villagers, yet whispers eerie to the reader by setting up hints and indications of what is really occurring.
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
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.
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
In a village community traditions go back for many, many years: “Seventy-seventh year I been in the lottery,’ Old Man Warner said as he went through the crowd”(294). That lottery has gone on for more than seventy-seven years with this black box. However, this wasn’t even the first box! So this is ancient tradition that horrible ending each year but continues to survive. Most traditions have a reason and this one is no different. The reason the villagers do this every year is they believe it helps the corn crop grow quicker and better. Jackson shows this when she introduces the saying, ”Lottery in June, corn will be heavy soon”(294). Many old saying that go with traditions rhyme so the meaning of the tradition is not for gotten. Not knowing when the tradition even started and having a good reason makes it hard to get rid of. However, some of the villagers still have the guts to suggest doing so: “They do say,’ Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, ‘that over in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery.’ Old Man Warner snorted, ‘Pack of crazy fools,’ he said ‘Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them. Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore, live that way for a while”(294). Even with this undercurrent of some people wanting change the authority in the community,
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...
Thesis: Shirley Jackson’s usage of irony, characters, and plot portray the stories theme of the dangers of unconsciously following tradition.
during the infamous short story called “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. The lottery was celebrated on June 27th of every year and was created for the conflict of the village being too over crowded . What's ironic about “The Lottery” is that the beginning starts off with peaceful events making the reader blinded of what’s yet to come later on in the story. In “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson uses different types of themes and symbols to offset the reader’s perspective view on how the story is going to end.
The sacrifice made to appease the gods is an ancient custom to insure that the harvest provides what is necessary to support the village. Amy Griffin describes this phenomenon in her essay “Jackson's The Lottery” by saying “ancient peoples began sacrificial rituals to emulate the resurrection cycle” and describes the resurrection cycle, what she terms the scapegoat archetype, as “transferring one's sins to persons or animals and then sacrificing them, people believed that their sins would be eliminated”(44). This removing of sins was supposed to appease the gods and allow them to bless the village with prosperity. The majority of the village is oblivious to this meaning, the sacrifice of one for the benefit of the whole. Old Man Warner, however, does remember “used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon'” (Jackson 393). Old Man Warner is, however, the only one that remembers anything about this original meaning. Death by stoning, which in itself is ancient and steeped in many rituals, is the fate that awaits the chosen victim....
In Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" symbols are used to enhance and stress the theme of the story. A symbol is a person, object, action, place, or event that in addition to its literal meaning, suggests a more complex meaning or range of meanings. (Kirszner & Mendell 330) The theme of the story is how coldness and lack of compassion can be exhibited in people in situations regarding tradition and values. That people will do incredibly evil and cruel things just for the sake of keeping a routine. Three of the main symbols that Shirley uses in the story is the setting, black box, and the actual characters names. They all tie together to form an intriguing story that clearly shows the terrible potential if society forgets the basis of tradition. The story also shows many similarities between the culture of the village, and the culture of Nazi Germany. How blind obedience to superiors can cause considerable damage to not only a community, but the entire world. Symbolism plays a large role in "The Lottery" to set the theme of the story and make the reader question traditions.
Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" uses the third-person dramatic point of view to tell a story about an un-named village that celebrates a wicked, annual event. The narrator in the story gives many small details of the lottery taking place, but leaves the most crucial and chilling detail until the end: the winner of the lottery is stoned to death by the other villagers. The use of the third-person point of view, with just a few cases of third-person omniscient thrown in, is an effective way of telling this ironic tale, both because the narrator's reporter-like blandness parallels the villagers' apparent apathy to the lottery, and because it helps build to the surprise ending by giving away bits of information to the reader through the actions and discussions of the villagers without giving away the final twist.
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.
“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.