Over the centuries, the most challenging question to find an answer for; is about the human nature. Are people born with evil nature or good nature? However, until today, no person can find the truth about humanity. In fact, almost all people defend about the goodness in their souls and believe that they are far away from wickedness, although wars, murder and violence show strong evidence of evil in humans. In contrast, Shirley Jackson in her short story argues that evil is firmly rooted in human beings. The author uses the idea of the "lottery" in a brilliant way to illustrate the unpleasant truth of the human nature. The lottery in Shirley Jackson's short story shows a reversed meaning for the real lottery where the winner gets a precious prize. …show more content…
However, in Jackson's lottery, the winner is the saddest person as he gets a ticket to death instead of getting wealth. Symbolism is an effective literary tool, which is used successfully in "The Lottery." Shirley Jackson uses symbolic names and objects to clarify that human beings are inherently evil and how one can kill another without any reason. The author uses unique names, which carries hidden meanings behind them, for her story's characters. Almost all the characters' names that Shirley Jackson uses are symbolic and represent vital ideas in the story. The first character that appears in "The Lottery" is Mr. Summers who is accountable for the civic activities of the town. This name is important as it refers to the time of the year when the lottery takes place. The lottery occurs in summer because it is the season of planting, and in order to get a good harvest, the villagers need to sacrifice one soul "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon." Moreover, the use of the plural noun of "summer" shows that the event of the lottery takes place in every summer. Another
In 1948, when the New Yorker published Shirley Jacksons piece, “The Lottery,” it sparked outrage among readers, but could arguably be known as one of her most famous pieces of writing. In this short story, Shirley Jackson used literally elements such as imagery, diction, and symbolism to foreshadow the negative and harsh ending of the story; the harsh ending that sparked such outrage by society in the 1940’s. One of the main ways Jackson foreshadows the ending and true meaning of her short story, “The Lottery,” is through symbolism. Jackson uses the color black throughout the story.
“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).
Reading Level (Lexile): 1230. , Database: MasterFILE Premier This source is incredible for its incredible recognition of the irony and symbolism that is represented in “The Lottery”. The source really states that the “The Lottery” is the underpinning definition of post-World War 2. The date of the lottery and irony of the characters names that Shirley Jackson presents, all convey a meaning that is even more shocking than the conclusion of the story.
The short story that is in review is Shirley Jackson’s, The Lottery. This book was released in June 1948. Soon after its release many people have been said to write letters to Jackson on how offended they were after reading it. This is a very controversial short story in which some of its key literary techniques are going to be evaluated.
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
Usually there’s a winner in a lottery, but not in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”. This story intrigued me by it's suspenseful nature and it's chaotic events. In small town America, they come together once a year to perform an annual tradition. Mrs. Jackson demonstrates literary devices such as foreshadowing, mood, and conflict in “The Lottery”. Foreshadowing is used quite a few times in “The Lottery”.
Jay Yarmove, from the University of Cincinnati, wrote “The underpinning of Shirley Jackson’s famous post-World War II story “The Lottery” demonstrate that the work is far greater than the sum of its parts” (Yarmove). This one sentence speaks volumes about the theme and symbolism in the story. The story is written in a manner that allows the reader to empathize with the characters and shows the importance but also the mockery of family and traditions. Traditions are often thought of to be a way for families or communities to demonstrate the customs or beliefs of previous generations. Traditions are commonly thought to be a positive reflection on the past, however in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson traditions are not positive in nature.
In “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson uses characterization, symbolism and themes to develop the action of the short story. First of all, one of the literary devices is characterization, Characterization in
Human nature can be characterized as being positive, capable of altruism and goodness which sets humankind apart from savage animals; however, human nature possesses a dark side, namely cruelty, and it is capable of barbarism like any beast. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, cruelty is part of human nature, and the participants of the lottery demonstrate human cruelty through violence towards one another; markedly, by exhibiting desensitization to violence and the acceptance of violence resulting in internal dysfunction which is perpetuated yearly. Participants of the lottery belong to a close-knit community, and every year the community hosts an enigmatic lottery draw. The conclusion of the lottery draw is only mysterious until the outcome
While other towns are starting to go away from this method, this village continues the tradition. Although it may seem like a simple story, Shirley Jackson implemented various symbols incorporated into the names, objects, and scenario in the story to hide the meaning and intention behind the lottery. Firstly, the names alone conceal a lot of symbolism. The author utilizes symbolic names to indicate reason