Kaylea Burdick
Dr. M. Loglisci
ENG 102-47
24 September 2023
Traditional Gender Roles In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson "The Lottery," written by Shirley Jackson, is a short story that takes place on June 27, which happens to be a lovely summer day, and everyone in the tiny New England village is assembling for their annual lottery. Although everyone seems to be having a wonderful time at first, it quickly becomes apparent that nobody wishes to take home the "jackpot". There are folded pieces of paper inside the black box, one of which has a black dot scribbled onto it. Then, each person takes one of the pieces of paper from inside the box. Whoever obtains the piece of paper containing the black dot wins. Tessie Hutchinson, one of the townspeople,
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Tessie wins the lottery, and the story finishes as the townspeople, including members of her own family, start throwing rocks at her. It is then revealed that the "winner" of the lottery is executed with stones by the remaining citizens. This tradition was created in order to guarantee a successful crop and rid the town of evil prophecies, and the lottery is meticulously explained, along with the events that led to it, but the outcome for the winner is kept a secret until the very end. The frightening community ritual of selecting someone arbitrarily to be stoned to death is literally depicted. However, figuratively speaking, one section of Jackson's short story bravely reveals the truth of the current societal control of women by enforcing standards and limitations upon them. "The Lottery," written by Shirley Jackson, is a symbolic representation of the specific correlation between women and traditional female …show more content…
Women are not only regarded less respectfully than males, but their social status is also lower. The gender collectivism of the narrative makes the women appear to be so unimportant that it even destroys the marital bond, considering gender roles are not only displayed by the adults in the small village, but also by the children. These males have a better social status than the women even though none of them actually supervised the lottery. “Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix-- the villagers pronounced this name "Dellacroy"--eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys. The girls stood aside, talking among themselves, looking over their shoulders at rolled in the dust or clung to the hands of their older brothers or sisters” (Jackson 1). The authority that men had over women is demonstrated by the use of strong language. The expression "raids of the other boys" implies that the boys will fight and be rough with each other in an attempt to obtain the nicest rocks. At the same time, the young females would stand submissively and obediently while they waited for the lottery to begin. This emphasizes the stereotypical tendencies of traditional communities, as well as
Stories have always been something that we, as humans, enjoy to hear and read. This is shown throughout history and continues to remain true today. In Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery,” she takes her readers through a whirlwind of a story, starting it out one way and ending it with something unexpected. She does a great job of writing, by implementing in foreshadowing, imagery, and the theme of tradition. When someone thinks of a lottery, it usually means that someone is going to win something, such as money.
Unveiling the Dangers of Blind Tradition: An Analysis of Shirley Jackson's Short Story "The Lottery” by Grace Lutsyk Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" paints a terrifying picture of a neighborhood trapped in a dark tradition. Mrs. Hutchingson stands out among the characters as a significant woman whose unflinching allegiance to lottery customs prompts serious concerns about the dangers of blind loyalty. In this study of Mrs. Hutchingson's personality, we examine her adherence to tradition, resistance to change, maternal instinct, and ultimate awakening. We learn about the consequences of mindlessly adhering to damaging traditions, as well as the opportunity for personal growth and societal change via her journey.
"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson begins innocently enough with a village preparing for an annual event, but as the story progresses, it becomes clear that the seemingly harmless tradition is anything but, forcing readers to confront the dangers of blindly following tradition. Jackson employs rhetorical techniques that highlight the importance of avoiding conformity, as it will lead to dire consequences. Shirley Jackson's story is a powerful example of the use of symbolism, vivid imagery, and irony to illuminate the danger and violence of blindly following traditions, as the seemingly innocent annual lottery in a small town ultimately reveals the brutal consequences of conformity and the human capacity for violence. Throughout the story Jackson
“God has given you one face, and you make yourself another” (William Shakespeare). “The Lottery” is a short story that was published during the 1940s, shortly after the end of World War II. People believed that this story’s setting and characters were modeled after the author’s life and where she lived in 1940. The short story was meant to highlight the social, political, and cultural atmosphere of the society during the time it was written. During this era, there was a large male dominant societies, where women had barely any power or say in what was occurring.
Traditions have been sought after and passed on for generations; with no questions asked, whether humane or not, traditions are hard to break and diminish as they are often what a culture or community stands for. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, a story about the tradition of a small village, is painted in impeccable details of peace, and serenity on a warm summer day, as everyone follows the tradition they have known since a long time ago despite the true intentions and meaning of it forgotten. The Lottery taking place annually is like no other lottery, it paints the true picture of the horror that epitomizes the tradition that none of the villagers dare to question, despite it creating separation between gender and families and ruining
In the short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, a striking portrayal of gender roles emerges, highlighting women's limited agency and decision-making power. Through depicting the village ritual and its treatment of female characters, Jackson sheds light on the oppressive nature of traditional gender roles prevalent in society. This essay will explore the representation of gender roles in "The Lottery" and analyze how they contribute to the story's overall themes. The village ritual in "The Lottery" clearly showcases the diminished role of women in decision-making processes.
People seek to make their beliefs seem real when they are false. “The Lottery” is classic horror story with symbolism and foreshadowing. Shirley Jackson uses foreshadowing and dark themes to reveal the evil nature of the lottery, which is revealed at the end of the story. The main conflict is between Tessie Hutchinson and the rest of the town between the character’s dark actions and the picture-perfect setting and the reader’s skepticism and acceptance of a violent tradition. Mrs. Delacroix’s choice of large stone, home symbolizes the cross, and Tessie’s willingness to participate until Bill draws the black dot that her all show examples of irony.
“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.
Throughout centuries, traditions and rituals have had the ability to control one’s behavior. In Shirley Jackson’s, “The Lottery”, she tells the reader of a small village. On the surface, this community may seem relatively normal. However, despite the picturesque appeal, this falsely serene village has a distinct deceitful flaw. On June 27th, every year, a lottery takes place.
In the story, Mr. Summers, a man, conducts the lottery and is in complete control of the event. His is supremacy, however is limited only by chance and statistics. An additional example the author uses to show that males are politically superior is by using a system in which the head of household is in every case a male. Throughout the text, it is evident that this particular society favors those with the Y chromosome. Male dominance is implied more specifically when Mr. Summers is ensuring that everyone is in attendance, calling family names, he
In the 1940's, males are the absolute dominant gender in society. Shirley Jackson's famous short story “The Lottery”, shows exactly that. This short story portrays the critique of the dominance of patriarchy in past societies, as well as showing just how easily it is to blindly follow a ritual or tradition, even though they do not know very much about the origin of this tradition, they continue to follow it for the sole purpose of it having been around for such an extended period. Those who blindly follow tradition are more willing to commit an act of mass violence, simply for the sake of a tradition.
The participants of the lottery were familiar with one another either as neighbors or family and yet readily turned on one another in adherence to the lottery rite. This is counter to what makes a community binding and strong. That friends turn against friends, neighbors turn against neighbors is exemplified when Mrs. Hutchinson and Mrs. Delacroix “both laughed softly” (Jackson 141). The two women are familiar with one another and share a laugh when Mrs. Hutchinson arrives to attend the lottery event revealing how wicked human nature can be, as Mrs. Delacroix readily turns on Mrs. Hutchinson. The ability to have a friend, yet turn on that person so readily is a gauge of how emotionally removed the participants are from one another; however, it is especially conspicuous when Bill Hutchinson, Mrs. Hutchinson’s husband “forced the slip of paper out of her hand” (Jackson 144).
Its human nature to turn a blind eye to injustice inflicted into others. In the ‘’The Lottery’’ by Shirley Jackson, the author tells a complex story about how a simple lottery took place in a small town changing the lives, and fates of its inhabitants. Jackson main focus in the story is Feminism Criticism to illustrated the misogynistic views in ‘’The Lottery’’. In the story, the author uses the treatment of the females characters against its male counter parts to illustrate how women are view as second-class citizens, and how disrespected, and stereotypical they are. An example of this is showed in the very beginning of the story, where Jackson writes ‘’ against the raids of the other boys.
Although the purpose might be to warn against the dangers of conformity, the purpose of Jackson writing “The Lottery” is to showcase the subordination of women and their struggles in a patriarchal society through the questioning of a woman’s role in the domestic sphere, the communal preference of a teenage boy to be head of household in preference to a woman, and the reluctance of women to assume a leadership role in the household if given the opportunity. Despite the expected characteristics of women in the society of Jackson’s “The Lottery”, one woman defies her predestined role and tries to fight the enshrouded system of oppression. Tessie Hutchinson is known for her disapproval against tradition and subtly retaliates in the beginning
The actions, attitudes, and beliefs of those who make up the population are essentially the building blocks of society. The specific roles of men and women have been debated for as long as they have existed for humans. “The Lottery” demonstrates many interesting ideas about gender roles in the small town where it takes place, and also figuratively in the culture in which we live in. “The Lottery” tells a dynamic story that can be understood to symbolize many things.