ipl-logo

Examples Of Death In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

289 Words2 Pages

Death can happen to anyone at any time, like winning the lottery. People are naturally curious and flock to death like a pack of hungry vultures. "The Lottery", by Shirley Jackson, emphasizes the randomness of death, while almost poking fun at the behaviour of people not directly affected by it. Death can happen on any day, to anyone, like a lottery. The lottery itself, in the story, symbolizes exactly how random death is; everyone is entered, and nobody is exempt. Whether you be poor, rich, young, old, sick, or in health, anyone can die, which is demonstrated by the people not chosen during the course of the story. Old Man Warner has been in the lottery for 72 years and still has not died. Mr. Dunbar has a broken leg, yet still chosen,

Show More
Related

  • Similarities Between The Hunger Games And The Lottery

    906 Words  | 4 Pages

    Tradition is done by many around the world and depending on where you are from tradition can be good or bad. In the stories, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins, we are presented with a similar tradition but a very different atmosphere around the people and the setting of said tradition. In this literary analysis essay we will look at the different atmosphere presented around the form of selection process that is shown in both stories and how this atmosphere can change the view of the reader. First off, the authors of both stories introduce some sort of tradition that must be carried out, for both of the stories it is a selection process. During this time the entire community gets together in the

    Read More

  • Examples Of Suspense In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    676 Words  | 3 Pages

    A lottery is so often a positive thing, so the reader wonders why no one wants to get picked. This curiosity to know what the characters know fuels the suspense of the reader right up until the very last “It wasn’t

    Read More

  • Conflict And Death In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    785 Words  | 4 Pages

    ‘The Lottery’ is a story about tradition and sacrifice. However, even though the NY times article is about sacrifice, they are for different things. Such as money vs. good luck. ‘The Lottery’ talks about this small, peaceful village that have no problems and has mainly positive dialogue. But this village has this really weird tradition.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    1033 Words  | 5 Pages

    “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson is a very suspenseful, yet very shocking short story. This story is set in a small village, on a hot summers day in June. Flowers are blooming, and the towns people are gathering for the lottery, which is a tradition the town does every year. As the reader reads the first paragraph they think this is a happy story. The title also says, “The Lottery” which is a word often used for winning something or receiving a prize.

    Read More

  • What Are Some Examples Of Foreshadowing In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    1275 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Lottery is a short story by Shirley Jackson that describes a small town’s “lottery.” In the story, paper slips are placed inside a roughed-up black box around the middle of the town. The kids are picking up rocks while adults are normally socializing. One could only assume that the lottery is a great event that everyone enjoys due to the jovial-like nature they exude. Later, after all the ballots have been counted for, everyone leaves.

    Read More

  • Death In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    878 Words  | 4 Pages

    Death Mortality comes in various types of forms. Each individual at some point in their life has to deal with death, whether it is welcomed or not. In “The Story of an Hour”, by Kate Chopin, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, by Flannery O’ Connor, “Death Be Not Proud” by John Donne, and “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell. Each one of the stories represent death in some type of way, they each have to face the mortality to life whether it be from fear, or murder.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Lottery: Who Is Responsible For Tessie's Death

    684 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imagine the love of your life, a random old man, and the whole town is responsible for your death. That is exactly what occurred with the main protagonist in the novel Lottery. The Lottery is a short novel, written by Shirley Jackson published on June 26, 1948. The story paints a fictional town with an annual ritual known as the lottery. The lottery requests the head of the household to draw slips.

    Read More

  • How Is Irony Used In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    1376 Words  | 6 Pages

    Additionally, the lottery’s dark symbolism pertains to the irony used frequently in the story. In real, modern time, lotteries are mainly seen as positive, with a possibility of winning a large cash prize if someone is chosen. Jackson plays with this irony by making the chosen person of the lottery in her story as good as dead. Furthermore, the lottery also mixes innocence with the eventual act of a sinister death. After the Hutchinson family is chosen and one individual member must be the sacrifice, the youngest member of the family, Dave, is presented first to pick a piece of paper from the box, “Mr. Graves took the hand of the little boy, who came willingly with him up to the box. "

    Read More

  • Superstition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    464 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story of “ The Lottery ” by Shirley Jackson is a very surprising story especially towards the end. It causes great consternation and shock when we learn that the winner of the lottery - Tessie Hutchinson, does not win an award, rather finds herself stoned to death. This somewhat shows the role that superstition played years ago. It was widely prevalent and as we progressed in terms of science and technology, we have come to break apart from such harmful traditions. It is precisely due to these superstitions, often many an innocent life has been taken without just cause.

    Read More

  • Response To The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    367 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, wanted us to acquire that the fear of change, and expressing your opinion can drive you to follow the crowd. This short story takes place in a small New England village on June 27th. A ritual called The Lottery was being practiced. A case in point, the author tells us, “Every year after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without being done.” (p. 1-2)

    Read More

  • Thesis For The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    650 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The Lottery”, a short story by Shirley Jackson, is about a lottery that takes place in a small village. The story starts off with the whole town gathering in the town square, where Mr. Summers holds the lottery. Once everyone gathers, every family draws a slip of paper out of an old black box, and the family with the black mark on their paper gets picked. After that, each family member older than 3 years of age re-draws a slip of paper again and this time, the person with the black mark on their paper gets picked as the “lucky winner” of the lottery. In this short story, after the Hutchinson family gets drawn, Tessie Hutchinson is declared “winner” of the lottery, with her reward is being stoned to death.

    Read More

  • A Summary Of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    1898 Words  | 8 Pages

    The short story, The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson. The Lottery is about people from a small town that gather together in the square in June. In this village, there are only 300 people. Therefore, unlike most towns, the lottery only takes a few hours. The children in the town collect stones, rocks, and small pebbles and put them in a pile in the corner of the square.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Sacrifice In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    464 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although many who read Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” believe it to be about a crazy town viciously slaughtering an innocent woman for the ritualized sacrifice to bring them a feastful harvest of corn, it very clearly demonstrates Jackson’s hope to educate readers of the horrors of society’s blind following using social conformity, tradition, and general acceptance. The story starts at around 10 o’clock a.m. on June 27, and children are stacking rocks. The whole town gathers around and picks one piece of paper per family, out of an old black box.

    Read More

  • Symbolism And Themes In The Lottery, By Shirley Jackson

    1474 Words  | 6 Pages

    “The Lottery” is an realism/horror story written by Shirley Jackson. The story is about some villagers of a small New England town who follow the tradition of making a lottery every year. When it comes, they like to celebrate it with the correct rules and the correct objects so they can feel more comfortable. Everyone need to take a slip of paper from a small black box, and the paper with a black dot in it means that the family is the winner, then they raffle again; Bill Hutchinson, who was the husband of the protagonist Tessie Hutchinson picked a paper with a black dot in it, that meant that Tessie was the winner of the lottery, then she starts complaining because the drawing was not conducted properly. At the end, the townspeople moved off to a cleared spot outside the town and they begin stoning her to death (Jackson).

    Read More

  • Examples Of Irony In The Lottery

    1191 Words  | 5 Pages

    The short story “The Lottery” is written by Shirley Jackson. This story takes place in a small village where everybody knows each other. In this story all the villagers gather around town for their annual lottery. Everyone in the village is compelled to follow this tradition even if the outcome ends up with someone dying. In “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson uses conflict, theme, and irony to develop this suspenseful short story.

    Read More

More about Examples Of Death In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Open Document