ipl-logo

Shirley Jackson The Lottery Analysis

1138 Words5 Pages

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, a short story, which adopts symbolism into making the tone of the story more effective. The main character and protagonist of the story is the village itself, and the antagonist of the story is the harvest ritual being performed as a so-called-lottery. The black wooden box that is used in the lottery, embodies the villagers devotion to tradition. The fatal slip symbolizes the danger in following an act blindly, Tessie embodies absurd violence, along with sacrifice and, lastly is Old Man Warren, who symbolizes tradition himself. “The Lottery” represents the chance of execution, and that following traditions blindly is dangerous, which is effective by the presence of resentment and anxiousness, leading to shock. The short story focuses on following tradition blindly is dangerous and leads to the chance of execution. “Bill Hutchinson was standing quiet, staring down at the paper in his hand. Suddenly, Tessie Hutchinson shouted to Mr. Summers, ‘You didn 't give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn 't fair!”... “Mr. Summers said, ‘that was done pretty fast, and now we 've to be hurrying a little more to get done in time.’ He …show more content…

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson utilizes symbolism in a very effective manner, by using the black box, Old Man Warner, the fatal slip, and Tessie to give the audience a jolt, leading them to the theme of shock. Which represents the chance of execution and, following a tradition blindly is dangerous. The story is developed in a specific order, arranging a piece of symbolism right after the other. So that the main theme of shock stands out very well at the end and, emphasizes shock even more because, it was unexpected and revealed at the end. Jackson had put in these pieces of symbolism in this manner in order to lead the audience gradually but, very suddenly into the theme. The understanding of each symbol used in this story is a necessity to the effectiveness to comprehend

Show More
Related

  • Analytical Essay Prompts In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    554 Words  | 3 Pages

    This brutal event is known as, The Lottery. Shirley Jackson describes the villagers that come to this event in her short story, The Lottery. The feelings of the villagers are often confusing, since they appear to want to keep this terrifying event going, even though they dread it. Some villagers show enthusiasm about this tradition, yet, the majority of the villagers are reluctant to participate in this incredible game of chance.

    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

  • Conflict And Controversy In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    480 Words  | 2 Pages

    Contrary to the normal lottery, in this case one person is randomly selected to be killed by stoning, something the villagers believe to be good for the village. This tradition is accepted by everyone in the village, in fact, including women and children. The author of this story shows the theme of conflict and controversy that hits the lottery. The lottery’s tradition is taken in several different ways because it is unexamined.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Lottery, By Shirley Jackson

    1009 Words  | 5 Pages

    “The Lottery" is a verdict of depraved tradition of a community. The story surrounds a town where the lottery is drawn every year as a sacrifice ritual one 's life for a good fertile crop. The lottery rose up public opinions when it first published in 1948. It is a piece of Shirley Jackson in which she wrote about inhumanity and violence among human based on her real experience when she moved to a small town and was rejected by its people. Shirley Jackson always believed in sinful spirit within each individual self as her writing style portrayed the vicious side of her and people 's souls, “The dark current of awareness of evil that runs through her life and work seems too strong to have as its sole root the observance of suburban hypocrisy” (Judy Oppenhaimer).

    Read More

  • Research Paper On The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    1675 Words  | 7 Pages

    Through my reading of Helen Nebeker's article " The Lottery: Symbolic Tour de Force, I've found many symbolic items throughout the story as according to Nebeker, "It is at this secondary point that the reader begins to suspect that a second story lies beneath the first and that Miss Jackson's "symbolic intentions" are not "incidental" but, indeed, paramount. Then one discovers that the author's careful structure and consistent symbolism work to present not only a symbolic summary of man's past but a prognosis for his future which is far more devastating than the mere reminder that man has savage potential. Ultimately one finds that the ritual of the lottery, beyond providing a channel to release repressed cruelties, actually serves to generate a cruelty not rooted in man's inherent emotional needs at all. Man is not at the mercy of a murky, savage id; he is the victim of unexamined and unchanging traditions which he could easily change if he only realized their implications. Herein is horror"(Nebeker).

    Read More

  • Thesis For The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Essay

    711 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Lottery Template Topic Sentence: One can see by examining the symbolism of the worn out black box, and the foreshadowing of the children putting rocks in their pockets in the The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, that this story is a classic archetypal horror story. Argument: Firstly, one can see that when Mr. Summers arrived at the square carrying a black wooden box, he asked the villagers if anyone would give him a hand with putting the box on the three- legged stool, however, many hesitated to come near the black box, a symbolic twist that foreshadows the imminent ending. The black box has been used for generations, even before the oldest villager. It has been said that the current box was made from the pieces of the

    Read More

  • How Does Shirley Jackson Build Suspense In The Lottery

    550 Words  | 3 Pages

    3/8/2017 The lottery essay Anan Istetieh Anticipation mingled with uncertainty, better known, as suspense, is an inevitable quality of human nature. Suspense is occasionally a great mechanism. It allows the author to keep the readers alert and leads up to the element of surprise, which is a successful writing tool that makes a story more enjoyable. The story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson builds up suspense through the foreshadowing of a horrible moment, creating a character that stands out from the crowd all while withholding the true nature of the story. The author of “The Lottery” foreshadowed the horrible climax of the story by explaining how the children were recently released from school for the summer, but they felt discomfort, “and

    Read More

  • Brief Summary Of The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    812 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Lottery, was published by the magazine The New Yorker, the story is written by Shirley Jackson. It was a clear warm sunny day on the 27 of June, it was also the day of the lottery. The farming village of about 300 people started gathering up at about 10:00 o'clock. The children met up and started collecting rocks as the parents of the children started gathering up in the town square. As they were meeting up Mr.Summers and Mr.Graves came with the black box.

    Read More

  • Explication Of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    543 Words  | 3 Pages

    Explication of “The Lottery” In Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” in the final paragraphs the character Tessie is the winner of the lottery which ironically means she will be getting stoned. The author uses theme of the story to display how traditions are blindly followed for centuries even if they lack any meaning to them at all. She uses several metaphors and allusions throughout the story to convey this message. The significance of the paragraph is even though they do not remember the originally ritual of the lottery yet they do not forget to follow and participate in it every year.

    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

  • Characterization And Symbolism In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    502 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is an account of a tradition gone awry. In this short story the villagers of this town have a tradition where they have a “lottery” to see who gets stoned to death. The characterization and symbolism used in the story makes the reader feel as if society has crumbled with the inhumane tradition that ultimately lost its meaning. Throughout the story, Jackson uses characterization and symbolism to imply a message to society about the meaning of tradition. Through the use of characterization and symbolism Jackson establishes that blindly following traditions can be hazardous

    Read More

  • Truth In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    1386 Words  | 6 Pages

    The struggle for truth has arguably inspired and produced the greatest achievements in human history. Truth is only attainable through change, and to change is to be open to truth. History's overwhelming presence of biases and dogmatism has contributed to stifled progress and deprived men from pursuing the truth. To oppose a viewpoint contrary to one that is strongly believed in, is characteristic of humans; however, few are open to change, even when confronted by the status quo. If observed, further, it is found that views which substitute the consensus for an objective standard have certain consequences which few would accept.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    978 Words  | 4 Pages

    Everyone has a different set of criteria when they decide whether a piece of writing is good or not. I have my own criteria as well. Although there are so many elements that influence an impression of a piece of writing, I narrowed it down to three; Is it open to various interpretations? Is it easy to understand? Is it realistic?

    Read More

More about Shirley Jackson The Lottery Analysis

Open Document