Theme Of Irony In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

“Charles” is written by Shirley Jackson. It is about a young boy named Laurie who had just started kindergarten. Every day when Laurie comes home from school he tells his parents about a boy in his class named Charles who is a very ornery boy. His parents become used to the routine of Laurie coming home and telling the stories about Charles and his bad deeds. Throughout the story you will find many examples of irony. One example of this irony is how Laurie speaks disrespectfully to his parents and they seem to ignore it. “At lunch he spoke insolently to his father, spilled his baby sister’s milk, and remarked that his teacher said we were not to take the Lord name in vain” (Shirley, 15). In this quote you will find irony because his mother

The story is about a small community somewhere in America that has followed the tradition of “The Lottery” for many years without ever questioning it, or trying to go against it. The first obvious hint of irony is that the story is named “The Lottery.” In today’s society a reader would think this story is about someone who is about to win a large sum of money, but in this story it has a very different meaning. Once the drawing is about to start a woman by the name of Tessie Hutchinson comes running down the path to the square saying; “clean forgot what today was…” Mr. Summers the conductor of the lottery says to Tessie; “Thought we were going to have to get on without you, Tessie.” Mrs. Hutchinson said grinning, “Wouldn’t have me leave m’dishes in the sink now, would you, Joe?” (Henry, 375). After everyone picks their piece of paper the Hutchinson’s find out that they’re the family that has the piece of paper with the black spot on it. They then put their paper back in the box to draw again and whichever member of the family has the black spot on it is the one who is then stoned to death. Tessie is the one who has the black spot on it. Once everyone closes in on her she begins to yell, “It isn’t fair” (Henry, 379). If it had been anyone else besides herself she would’ve joined in on stoning that member of the community. Also, it is ironic that the woman who had forgotten that it was the day of the lottery is the one who ends up losing her