Situational Irony In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

Everyone has experienced loss in their life, it’s inevitable. Whether that’s losing the other half of a pair of socks or loss of a loved one. People can lose things that aren’t even physically there. They can lose control or their minds. It’s not uncommon to lose things, in fact, everyone loses at least one thing every day, and they might not even be aware of it. The hardest type of loss is most likely losing someone that was loved or cherished. That is the type of loss that can’t be found again. Though, some things people don’t know they lost or are losing someone until it’s too late. Similar to what happened to Tessie Hutchinson in “The Lottery.” Villagers crowd around the town square to draw cards from a black box that determine who gets violently stoned. Everyone that draws a piece of paper from the box has the same chance

During the seventeenth century, various political and social issue pamphlets were distributed throughout various countries such as Ireland to promote the ideas of various intellectuals on the issues occurring during that time period. However, many discarded them and did not pay attention to them, leaving many individuals helpless and ignored by their own government. Many individuals attempted to propose solutions to help solve the political and social issues occurring during their lifetime and in doing so, came across to writing and the effective use of satire. The purpose of satire is to shame individual members or society itself into improving its behavior. Although satire is usually meant to be funny, its greater purpose is to draw attention

This story by Shirley Jackson is very well written and ends with irony. The story was about a village who had an annual lottery. All of the villagers gathered and took a piece of paper from a black box. Tessie is a lady whose husband won and she said it was not fair. They redid the lottery and Tessie was chosen this time. The irony of this was that she was stoned instead of getting money. The 3 people who had 2 sides of humanity within the story were Mrs. Delacroix, Tessie’s husband, and Mr. Summers.

In “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson uses foreshadowing when the children are collecting stones from the river and putting them into piles. It hints that something bad is going to happen because it is unusual for boys to be grabbing stones and randomly put them into a pile. For example, while the towns people were getting ready for the lottery the narrator states, “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example,selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix, eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys.” (Jackson). This quotation shows that the boys in the village are finding the smoothest and roundest stones and putting them into a big pile. But the reason is still

Humans possess tendencies that gage them to conform with one another, depending on social and political manipulation given by higher power. This is commonly seen in regards to history repeating itself as shown in the short story "The Lottery" written by Shirley Jackson. This story is a representation of how citizens of a society can be forced to abide by directions given by  higher power resulting in a dystopian. Comparisons can be drawn from both the short story and in today's world. As shown in society people confide in one another following directions from as simply cleaning their room, and doing their dishes. Ironically, the short story was published around 1948 after world war two. This is a clear representation

In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson there are many different types expressed throughout. Immediately, there is Dramatic Irony with the title of the story because we associate the Lottery with the winning of a grand prize that will improve the life of that person. Although in the story the winner is stoned to death by the village catching the reader off guard. Over the course of the story we are alluded to believe this occasion is a joyful time with children playing in the village, “square dances, the teen club, {and} the halloween program” (pg.1). Additionally, it is ironic that when Mr. Hutchinson is ask come upstage his wife is eager and encourages her husband to chose which in reality leads to her death. Also, when she exclaims

In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” , a small village gathers in the village square for a traditional event that suddenly awakens the reader in the end. The reader is not aware of the nature of the villagers and is mislead by the meaning of the story, eventually giving the reader a clear view of what the nature of humanity is actually like. Jackson surprises the reader in order to convey a truth about human nature. Irony, symbolism and foreshadowing are used to covey the story’s message that humans tend to rationalize their brutal behavior.

The Story of an Hour, and The Interlopers can be compared and contrasted in many different ways. They both make use of irony, and have similar endings. The theme, however, is different in these stories.

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

By incorporating dramatic irony into “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson is able to convey a sense of understanding and compassion towards the character. This first instance of dramatic irony is where Tessie is pleading to the town’s people that they were unfair to her husband. “People began to look around to see the Hutchinsons. 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’” (Jackson 5)! The readers can see that Bill was not treated unfairly, he was simply unfortunate. Even though it was the luck of the draw, it is still discouraging to pick the marked paper knowing that you have put your family in

Conformity can make people do cruel things without reason. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” highlights a village that continues a senseless tradition of stoning the winner of a lottery. Although all the villagers initially seemed innocuous and welcoming, as soon as the winning ticket was drawn, everybody quickly turned against the winner, Mrs. Hutchinson. Through a stark, cold tone, Jackson brings attention to the dangers of unquestionable loyalty to old traditions.

In the ironic plot twist of a conclusion, “The Storm” by Kate Chopin and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson demonstrates a similar case in terms of situational irony by concluding the story with an unusual reaction after partaking in a behavior that does not conform to generally accepted standards of the behavior of a “normal” society.

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.

As the infamous serial killer, Richard Ramirez, once stated, “We’ve all got the power in our hands to kill, but most people are afraid to use it. The ones who aren’t afraid, control life itself.” Although Ramirez was referring to a single person who may have the desire and intention to kill others, his quote still holds true for Shirley Jackson’s short story, The Lottery. The people of the town hold an annual ritual of each picking a scrap of paper from a box, which ultimately chooses a sacrifice to ensure good crop for that year. The subtle darkness within the story becomes more prevalent with Jackson’s use of symbols and instances of irony. In the end, it is obvious that Tessie, the wife of the villager, Bill Hutchinson, is going to die at

Situational irony is when events happen that seem to be the opposite of what is expected. For example, in O.Henry’s short story “The Ransom of Red Chief” he uses situational irony to create humor for his audience. Also in Guy de Maupassant short story “The Necklace” he uses situational irony to produce a feeling of sympathy. By examining these two short stories, it is clear that author’s utilize situational irony to affect the reader’s emotions