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Shirley Jackson Research Paper

1657 Words7 Pages

Almost every author has a style or way of writing, and in most cases there is good reasoning behind it, and Shirley Jackson is no different. Out of all of Jackson’s work four of her short stories show some extreme similarities in her writing, and those four are “The Tooth”,” Island”,” Cauliflower in her hair”, and “The Lottery”. All of these stories start out ordinary, and end up taking a turn for the worst rather quickly, which can relate to life and how quickly life can change for the good or bad in the matter of seconds. The same can be said about how all of her characters in these stories seem to just be having a bit of bad luck, which makes the story turn for the worst. Jackson is very clever in how she does this, she never comes right …show more content…

However as in most of Jackson’s work, this of course is to go to be true for Mrs. Montague, since she has gone completely crazy and spends most of her days coloring outside the lines, while her mind is on some island talking to parrots. She might not be in any pain, but her son and caretaker most certainly are, showing the affect mental illness can have on a family. Jackson’s stories don’t all deal with mental illness, however the ordinary life to dark theme is certainly still there. In the story “Cauliflower in her hair” a happy family is described by “Mr. and Mrs. Garland and their daughter Virginia lived in a pleasant house in a pretty town” [Jackson 227]. Mr. and Mrs. Garland seem like a perfect little family, living in a great neighborhood, and their daughter is having a sleepover. All seems pretty harmless, except for the fact that it is heavily implied that Mr. Garland is not a model husband, and is having an affair with his fourteen year old daughter’s best friends. A great example of misfortune happening all over the world, and will affect anyone no matter who you are. The last story “The Lottery” starts out by the setting being described, “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer’s day” [Jackson 227].

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