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Literary Techniques Used In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

1174 Words5 Pages

When people think of a lottery, some of the first words that pop into their mind are money, luck, and happiness. However, those words would be contradictory to the lottery spoken of in this story. The conclusion makes spines shiver with chills with the cruel--cruel acts the people do in the village. The story uses unique techniques of concealing the true happenings, with a flowing river of unexpected ironies and symbolisms. In Shirley Jackson's short story “The Lottery” and director of “The Lottery” becomes so shocking that it becomes unbearable with the contrast between the seeming normality of a society and the savage acts the people commit. Both text and video have a similar mysterious and menacing mood, but they are different because the …show more content…

For example, when the author states, “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (140). To the beginning and to the end of the story the contrast between the reader's expectations and the concluding events left a lasting impression. Shirley Jackson created the story's impact by contrasting the reader's expectations and the concluding events. For example, after being introduced to the characters, the reader expects that they will behave as normal people. However, in the concluding events, their behavior is the opposite of what the reader expects. According to the author in the video, “Everyone in the village was talking and smiling as if it’s just another cheerful day” (00:03:00). The film shows exactly the same mood as the text, everyone seems to have no worries. The director created the same suspense as Jackson by gradually developing the theme and building tension to keep the reader in suspense until the very last moments. It makes the reader automatically make an impression on the story, but one that is completely opposite to what really happens. The texts were very well written and similar with developing the plot and theme to show suspense. They don’t just have similarities there are differences between the two

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