The Lottery by Shirley Jackson (1948)
After reading and watching The Lottery, a short story by Shirley Jackson (Jackson) and a YouTube video directed by Augustine Kennedy (Kennedy), I wonder if society needs to revisit a tradition’s origin and objectives before we continue them. In this intriguing story about a small village and its behavior, is an account of one year’s lottery, its purpose, and its winner.
As the author and director relate the story, we learn that the lottery continues because it is tradition. Forgotten are the original formalities, history, objects, reasons, and symbols. Today (i.e., 1948), the lottery is a simple drawing with little fanfare. A winner’s family, including her young son, gives the winner the prize. Unlike
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While Jackson’s writing (as I read) imbues a sense of drama, Kennedy’s video adds the sense of anticipation permeated with apprehension and obligation. Both Jackson and Kennedy invite me to believe the lottery is like Power Ball®. However, the unexpected twist in the ending has more impact, offense, and surprise in the black and white video than the written story. Now I understand that traditions need review before continuance.
What is her claim?
• Tradition, with its rituals, can continue mindlessly, regardless of reality. o For the village people, the lottery is something to
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For example, I did not feel the people flowing towards the town square, as in a community unified towards a goal.
• For me, the short story did not build up suspense through reading the conversations.
• In 1948, I might feel differently, as there was no video for comparison.
What medium was more effective? Why?
• The video o The video is the most effective. o The black and white film choice gave the impression of a calm day, but one filled with anticipation. Without color, I focused on the acting and dialogue. o There was just enough dramatic music for me to feel the eeriness of people longing for the lottery; like betting on a horse and longing for the race to start. o The repetitious words “the lottery” were almost a reverent chant; a mechanical worshipping of the event. The people expressed “The lottery” as if inviolable. o The video drew me through the story with continuous expectations (sometime realized, sometimes not.) o My unanswered questions are why can the lottery hold the village hostage and will the village recognize the lottery as immoral. This makes me want a sequel.
• The short story o The short story is not ineffective, but for me, the story is flat in this
The short story ‘The Lottery’ reveals a village of 300 that assemble for a lottery on June 27th every year. The lottery has been held this day for years and years, and has become a classic tradition. The lottery itself is holy to much of its residents, like Mr. Watson, who states that the village in the north is a pack of young crazy fools for removing the lottery. “Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them. Next thing you know, they’ll be wanti...
“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.
Jackson, Shirley. A. A. The "The Lottery" - "The Lottery" Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. 5th ed. of the book.
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.
The story leads to a horrific ending, with people forgetting the concept of ritual. When people think of a lottery, they draw an image with a big amount of money in their head. However, in the story “The Lottery”, the price is death. It starts in the morning of a bright, peaceful day, people are gathering in the square, children picking stones and piles them; also the black box used for drawing, “the original paraphernalia for the lottery had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born.” (Jackson 205).
The theme in “The Lottery” is violence and cruelty. Violence and cruelty is a major theme because there is a lot of violence and cruelty in the world. The Lottery has been read as addressing such issues as the public's fascination with salacious and scandalizing journalism, McCarthyism, and the complicity of the general public in the victimization of minority groups, epitomized by the Holocaust of World War II. The Holocaust was very cruel and violent cause other people didn’t like certain people so they just kill them and their children and still now we have violence and cruelty with wars and people that hate each other.
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.
Imagine year after year being forced to participate in an event that you did not accept all. You are doing it because everyone else is, because it is tradition. This is exactly what happens in “The Lottery”. The purpose of this essay is to explain the literary elements of this short story. Also I will explain how similar it is the famous “Hunger Games”.
To a first time reader, Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery” seems simply as a curious tale with a shocking ending. After repetitive reading of Jackson's tale, it is clear that each sentence is written with a unique purpose often using symbolism. Her use of symbols not only foreshadow its surprise and disturbing ending but allows the reader to evaluate the community's pervert traditional rituals. She may be commenting on the season of the year and the grass being “richly green” or the toying with the meanings of the character's names but each statement applies to the meaning and lesson behind her story.
“ The Lottery”, written by Shirley Jackson, shows the corruption in a village whose people treat life with insignificance. Through the use of literary devices, Jackson portrays how practices in traditions can be barbaric;ultimately, resulting in persecution.
The plot as a whole in “The Lottery” is filled with ironic twists. The whole idea of a lottery is to win something, and the reader is led to believe that the winner will receive some prize, when in actuality they will be stoned to death by the rest of the villagers. The villagers act very nonchalant upon arriving at the lottery; which makes it seem as if it is just another uneventful day in a small town. Considering the seriousness of the consequences of the lottery, the villagers do not make a big deal about it. Under the same note it is ironic that many of the original traditions of the lottery, such as the recital and the salute, had long been forgotten. All that the villagers seemed to remember was the ruthless killing of a random person. It also seems strange that they let the equipment for the lottery, the black box, get into such a poor condition.
"The Lottery" is "symbolic of any number of social ills that mankind blindly perpetrates" (Friedman 108). The story is very shocking, but the reality of mankind is even more shocking. Isn’t it funny that Jackson gives us a description of our nature, and not only do we not recognize it for what it is , but it shocks us.
It is funny how life works out sometimes. You never know what you are going to get. ‘The Lottery’ is a story about a small village that holds a lottery drawing in the middle of the town square. The “winner” of the lottery is then stoned by the town’s people. This piece of literature provides a clear example that things in life are not always what they seem.
“The Lottery” is a story written by Shirley Jackson. By looking at the title you may think about money prize. In this story takes the readers expectation to another level. By the two words of the title there is no way the reader did not get hook to reading this story. In “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson, uses symbolism, irony, and imagery.