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How Does Shirley Jackson Use Irony In The Lottery

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The short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a story about ignorance to traditions. In “The Lottery”, Jackson uses a variety of literary devices to show the danger of following traditions blindly. “The Lottery” is about a small village that participates in an annual lottery. Every family draws a piece of paper from a black box. The Hutchinsons each have to draw an additional slip of paper when they are chosen. However, the story has a grim ending in which Tessie’s friends and family stone her to death. To begin the story, Jackson integrates multiple representations of irony to create a contrast between expectation of the lottery, and the reality. Next, the author describes many instances of foreshadowing to create an atmosphere of suspense for the reader that …show more content…

Finally, Jackson focuses on using paradoxes of rules, and the lack of rules, to communicate the idea that the villagers are not aware of the motives for their actions. All together, Jackson uses irony, foreshadowing, and paradoxes to establish the theme that one should be wary of the dangers of blindly following traditions. Throughout the short story, use of irony develops the theme. The first example of irony that “The Lottery” emphasizes is the name itself. The word lottery has a positive connotation to it. This leads the reader to believe that the winner of the lottery will receive a gracious, and good-hearted award. The reality, however, is the opposite. This relates to the theme, because the reader’s assumption of what will happen based on the title is a contradiction to the actual message. Another type of irony that is prominent is situational irony. Situational irony occurs when what actually happens is the

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