A Feministic View on Jackson’s Short Stories ‘the Lottery’ and ‘the Tooth’

In the short story, “The Lottery”, Jackson’s use of symbols reveals a twisting plot that isn’t recognizable until nearly at the end of the story. Her use of third person point of view is

When writing, authors use various writing techniques and devices to better their story. From onomatopoeia, and similes, to mood and setting, these devices are what make the stories we read astounding. Atmosphere specifically is imperative to a great writing piece as it is prevalent throughout the entire story. From the first three words to the last three words, the reader is focused on the mood they are interpreting from the storyline. In “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson, the mood is what makes the story so amazing and helps us understand the theme.

In Shirley Jackson’s "The Lottery," what appears to be an ordinary day in a small town takes an evil turn when a woman is stoned to death after "winning" the town lottery. The lottery in this story reflects an old tradition of sacrificing a scapegoat in order to encourage the growth of crops. But this story is not about the past, for through the actions of the town, Jackson shows us many of the social ills that exist in our own lives.

She uses Mr. Summers as a scapegoat and shouts “`You didn’t give him enough time to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair ‘” (Jackson 208). Throughout the drawing of the names, Tessie seemed to be fine with the fact that someone was going to die until it the realization set in that it may be her. Before a drawing is held to decide who wins, Tessie tries to make Mr. Summers include her daughter, “`There’s Don and Eva, make them take their chance!’” (Jackson 209). This shows how ruthless and careless Tessie is. She knows that her daughter was already entered in the drawing under her husband’s name. Having her daughter enter would only give her more of a chance to live. After Tessie is chosen as the winner she demands that the drawing was done unfairly and that her husband was rushed. What’s ironic about that is she is the one who rushed Bill to draw. Jackson uses the hypocrisy of Tessie’s actions to show this.

On page 27, we see that, “There was a great deal of fussing to be done before Mr. Summers declared the lottery open. There were the lists to make up--of heads of families. heads of households in each family. members of each household in each family. There was the proper swearing-in of Mr. Summers by the postmaster, as the official of the lottery” (27). The whole process and build up towards the lottery is gradual. Jackson intensively describes each scene and portrays imagery throughout her story. This makes the story slow-paced and steady yet, detailed. Pacing also affects the mood of the story as Jackson’s detailed descriptions create a peaceful vibe and setting for the story to take place in. The pacing of the story creates suspense as vague clues emerge but, are not addressed until later on. Jackson writes everything in detail which makes the reader anxious to move forth and find out what happens to whoever is chosen for the lottery. This makes the story seem longer than it is and creates a lead in to the climax. In the text, we see that, “All right, folks." Mr. Summers said. "Let's finish quickly… Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her” (34). Throughout the whole story, Jackson describes everything in excruciating detail until we hit the climax. Once the villagers find out that Tessie received the

In the end of the story Tessie Hutchinson, does in fact die from the lottery. This is proving the idea that those who live by conformity may die from it. The idea that those who live by conformity may die by it is shown when no one tries to end the lottery, also when Tessie does not protest until she is affected by the lottery, and finally when the townspeople do not understand the true

Shirley Jackson is to be considered one of the best authors of the 1900’s. Her style of writing reeled in readers from all different ages. She can be creepy, hilarious, and inspiring to the eyes that see her words. In Shirley Jackson’s short story, The Lottery, she keeps the reader on the edge of their seat wanting to continue reading beyond the final word. She uses literary devices to shape her story to grab her readers attention all throughout the story. By using these literary devices, Shirley Jackson shows off her dark and twisted side as well as her fantastic writing style to emphasize why she is one of the writers of her generation.

The conflict of the story is when Tessie disagrees with the tradition of the lottery. Things begin to change when the Mr. Summers chose the paper that said Tessie. Tessie’s husband took the paper out of Mr. Summers hand and saw that it was marked with a black dot. He soon realizes that the Mr. Summers had chosen the victim already. The result was that the Tessie was stoned to death.

Until they realized she had a mutated gene and would eventually endure surgery to become male. The conclusion of filling what Tessie is missing symbolizes the mixed outcomes, because she had gotten what she wanted to begin with, a daughter. But, in the end would not receive what she wanted as her daughter’s surgery would morph her into a son. A person’s need to fill a missing piece may ensue into what they want, but later could morph into what they already have. To find contentment people should not look at what they are lacking, but enjoy what they have.

Tessie’s late arrival at the lottery ritual instantly sets her apart from the crowd of town people, and the Mr. Summers makes a statement to her “Thought we were going to have to get on without you” (Pg4p9). The town people have prescience about Tessie’s fate. When Mr. Summers asks whether the Watson boy will draw for him and his mother, no reason is given why Mr. Watson wouldn’t draw as all the other husbands and fathers do, which suggests that Mr. Watson may have been last year’s victim.

In one way or another, heeding tradition with trust ultimately leads both Tessie Hutchinson and the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” to their own respective undoing. For Tessie Hutchinson, it is her own blindness and complacency with the ritual of the lottery, a glorified murder, that sees her to what is perhaps the ultimate consequence: death. Her conviction in the practices of the lottery is so deeply engrained that it becomes an irrelevancy in her mind. She is so accustomed to participating in stoning someone else to death that any semblance of empathy is eliminated from her emotions; at one point, Tessie even goes so far as to ensure her daughter picks from the lottery as to have less of a chance herself of being chosen to die. The prospect of tradition, continuing with what has always has been done, erases any loyalty to friends, family, and community—all in the name of

Within My Last Duchess, The Bloody Chamber and Dracula, there is evidence to suggest that women within the gothic genre as portrayed as victims of male authority, as well as evidence to disprove this argument, instead suggesting that it is the women within the Gothic genre which makes themselves victims. ‘Angela Carter is particularly interested in the portrayal of women as victims of male aggression as a limiting factor in the feminist perspective of the time’[i] Carter, with her modern twist on traditional fairytales places a

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" satirizes barbaric traditions in a supposedly civilized village. As the story begins, the villagers appear to be fairly civilized and carry on fairly modern lifestyles. This is assumed by the men's discussion of planting, rain, tractors, and taxes. The lottery was outdated to such a degree that some may think that the tradition is primal competition of anthropoid beasts. On the other hand, some think that carrying on the tradition was necessary. The question that must be answered is: Was this a barbaric tradition or was this ritual an honest attempt to better other villager's lives?

At this point in time, not only does Tess get frowned upon because she is late on such an important day, but she is now being judged by her neighbors as someone who should not be a part of their community. Due to the fact, that she comes off as way too eager at the lottery for someone her age, essentially, but it also seems as though she is not very attentive when it comes to the rules of the lottery and its’ tradition that it is trying to enforce. Another example of how Tess stands out is when she tells her husband, Bill Hutchinson, who gets called to go and draw a name to go and, “get up there, Bill” (434). This short statement from Tess ends up causing the people around her to laugh, which essentially makes her stand out from the rest once again. Tess’s eagerness to see the lottery in the beginning, mirrors how desperate she becomes when she trys to get out of the event itself when she ends up getting picked.

In our society we have many traditions. These traditions all have certain meanings behind them; however, many of those meanings tend to be lost or forgotten. The holiday of Thanksgiving was originally a celebration to commemorate the arrival of the pilgrims in the new world and their first interactions with the Native Americans. So then why is it still celebrated today? There is no actual purpose in today’s society to observe this custom.  It has just continued to be observed because of past traditions.  There is no logical reason to continue this fête, as it holds little or no value.  With the passage of time the actual reasons have been lost or distorted, such as in the case of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.”