The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Analysis

“The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it” (Twain). The Lottery begins during the summer. A small, seemingly normal, town is gathering to throw the annual “Lottery”. In the end, the townspeople—children included—gather around and stone the winner to death, simply because it was tradition. The story reveals how traditions can become outdated and ineffective. “I suppose, I hoped, by setting a particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my own village to shock the story's readers with a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives” (Jackson). As humans develop as a race, their practices should develop with them. Shirley Jackson develops the

In Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery”, the dangers of blindly following tradition are revealed. Within this story, a town full of people gathers annually to draw slips of paper to determine who will be stoned to death. While the members of this community may not remember the exact ritual process, they refuse to make any changes to what they do know. The lottery is used as a gruesome example of when tradition prevails over common sense and civility. Following traditions that hold personal meaning is of no harm; however, following a tradition simple for it being a tradition can lead to injustice and discrepancy.

In the story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, we see the different literary elements she uses to unfold her story. Literary elements help readers to interpret and appreciate the works of a writer. In this Essay I will show you the three most prominent literary elements that were used, and how they add to the suspense, and surprise of the story. These literary elements are point of view, theme, and tone and style.

How can the villagers kill a person they know for a long time every single year just because of a silly tradition that has been alive for generations? It is pretty bizarre how the villagers still cope with traditions that can kill themselves any year. Almost everyone who participated in this lottery was extremely nervous showing their fear of death. A tall boy in this crowd drew for his mother and him, he risked his life with a higher chance of getting killed. This shows the love he has for his mother. Mr. Summer said “Glad to see your mother’s got a man to do it”, foreshadowing the death of the tall boy’s father. The tall boy might have thrown pebbles on his father, leading to his demise and a tough future for

Traditions are based all around us. Today’s society has many traditions like family traditions, holiday traditions, southern traditions, and so many more. Although most traditions are harmless, it is not always best to follow tradition. Sometimes following tradition can be dangerous. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” villagers participate in an annual drawing, and the winner gets stoned. The villagers are blind to how cruel and brutal it is because of their commitment to this tradition and to that society. Fear is what is keeping this village from breaking such an act. The fear of actually giving up this tradition and society is what is keeping this brutal act existent. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a perfect example that following tradition

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa. These winter holidays involve being around with family and close friends. They spread holiday warmth and cheer by following the festivities of tradition. Whether it is decorating a tree, lighting up the menorah or preparing for the karamu feast, these events serve as a celebration for the end of the year and preserve their culture. In Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery”, the villagers from an unknown town perform an action to preserve their culture. This small, homely and rural area believe that if they commit a certain deed annually, good crops will be bestowed upon them. The event happens on June 27th, at a time when school has officially ended for summer break, and the villagers are free for the

How would you feel if you lived in a country where you could not speak your mind? Imagine your friend speaking out saying whatever the government is doing is wrong. And the next day your friend is killed because of his or her actions. In some countries like North Korea this will actually happen to someone. The government has too much power. There should be something that can mediate what the government can and cannot do. In Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery”, the author is trying to explain to the reader about society and more importantly government, and how much power they have on everyone’s life. To be more specific the author is trying to explain the government oppression

In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the story conducts a “lottery” that involves the families of the town to go into a drawing. Once the drawing is done, the winner of the lottery is used as a sacrifice in the town and is pelted by stones thrown from the community, including children. Furthermore, the basis of “The Lottery” has to do with psychological problems and influence. Psychoanalysis is built upon Sigmund Freud’s theories of psychology, which asserts that the human mind is affected by their “unconscious that is driven by their desires and fears” (Brizee). Analyzing the concept of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” through a psychoanalytic lens convey how society reflects on the consciousness, how the denial of the mind can avoid the

Old Man Warner is the epitome of the lottery and its tradition. He is the oldest man in town, having participated in seventy-seven lotteries total. As a steadfast advocate for keeping things exactly how they stand and someone who is threatened by the idea of change, he distinguishes all the towns and the young people who have stopped pursuing the lottery as a “pack of crazy fools” (Jackson, 27). He is trapped within the past traditions, even if they should not sustain. Being the antagonist, Old Man Warner does not veer away from the tradition, even though many others do not agree with it.

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a story littered with warnings and subtext about the dangers a submissive society can pose. While the opening is deceptively cheery and light Jackson uses an array of symbols and ominous syntax to help create the apprehensive and grim tone the story ends with. Her portrayal of the town folk as blindly following tradition represents the world during World War II when people’s failure to not mindlessly accept and heed authority lead to disastrous consequences. . Shirley Jackson uses a large array of techniques to help convey the idea that recklessly following and accepting traditions and orders can lead to disastrous consequences.

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a terrify story about a small town and their traditions. The Ending of the lottery is the most shocking many of its readers have ever read. Why is it so shocking. Well Shirley jackson uses sybolism and simple narritive and her normal life to convey such a shock.

“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

Shirley Jackson’s use of characters is very detrimental to keeping the theme of the story lively. Whether they play a minor or significant role to the story each character reveals a lot of information about the tradition of the lottery and its intentions, varying from subtle to obvious details. One of the most important characters is Old Man Warner, an elderly man who is very conservative about the preservation of this tradition He holds it dearly to his heart, despite the fact that this tradition is slowly deteriorating in villages around him. Old Man Warner represents the stubborn nature of all the townspeople who are reluctant to

“Every group feels strong, once it has found a scapegoat” (Mignon McLaughlin, 1913). A scapegoat is someone who is blamed for all the faults and corruptions that others have committed. In history, there are lots of scapegoat examples, the most popular being; Jesus Christ and the Jews in the Second World War. In the short story “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson used persecution and tradition to demonstrate how scapegoating justified unfair killing. Both of these aspects relate to the World War that preceded only a couple years before the story was written. The persecution was blind and done once a year as a tradition that everyone expected to happen.

Henry James once said, “It takes an endless amount of history to make a little tradition.” The short story, “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson deals with the insignificant nature of humanity when it comes to traditions. Today when one thinks about winning the lottery, one does not think about the community or close relatives; one thinks about how one is going to spend the money received. However, Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery” represents a human sacrifice by means of stoning with the entire village participating. The lottery is a symbol that explains the rituals, and traditions which drive the community. Throughout the story, tradition plays an important role in the villagers’ lives. Tradition can cause needless problems in society. In the short story, “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson emphasizes the danger of some traditions through her use of symbolism, irony, and conflict, suggesting that people are willing to follow traditions no matter what the cost. Blindly adhering to traditions and rituals and the way things have always been done can result in a village committing astonishing acts of cruelty.