Corruption In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

Would you stone your neighborhood to death for the sake of tradition? Shirley Jackson wrote The Lottery in 1948 to tell a story about how savage people can be for tradition. The story is about a small town who has a yearly lottery and the winner gets stoned to death by their neighbors. The thought is that if you have a lottery, then you will have good crops that season. This short story tells the tale of poor Tessie Hutchinson who is stoned by her own town, her son helps too. In the short story The Lottery, Shirley Jackson argues that all people, regardless of how civilized they may seem, are capable of great evil by contrasting seemingly pleasant and relatable details of the town with the shocking barbarity of their tradition.

Within the first few lines of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" we are faced with such adjectives as clear, sunny, fresh and warmth. She goes on to paint a picture of small children just out of school for the summer, as the townspeople gather for the annual Lottery. This leads us to believe that the rest of the story is as cheery as the summer day initially described. We as the readers are virtually unaware of the horrible senseless events that lie ahead. Through the use of symbolism Shirley Jackson reveals the underlying decay of ethics that results from an empty ritual followed by narrow-minded people.

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.

When a loving, caring, family oriented, women come in conflict with the horrible, despicable, inhumane lottery in a situation in which the town goes together, the results may be a terrible end in a young life. In “The Lottery” written by, Shirley Jackson, the main character Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson’s and the town folk are the main characters of this story. In “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson uses the use of characterization to portray the main ideas of the story. Shirley Jackson also uses the use of plot structure and the point of view in which the story is being told. The Lottery is a way to make a sacrifice for a good harvest in the upcoming season.

The lottery is usually associated with beating the odds and winning something extravagant. In Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery”, the reader is led to believe the story is about something cheerful and happy given the setting of a warm summer day and children out of school for the summer. Jackson turns winning the lottery into a bad thing. Of 300 villagers Tessie Hutchinson shows up late, claiming she forgot about the annual lottery drawing, but seems very excited to have made it on time. When Tessie was in no danger she is gossiping with neighbors and encourages her husband to draw for the winner. Jackson curiously builds up the character of Tessie so that it seems she is blinded by tradition until she becomes a victim of it

Shirley Jackson takes great care in creating a setting for the story, The Lottery. She gives the reader a sense of comfort and stability from the very beginning. It begins, "clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green." The setting throughout The Lottery creates a sense of peacefulness and tranquility, while portraying a typical town on a normal summer day.

Shirley Jackson, born on December 14, 1916, devoted much of her life to the writing of short stories and novels. Some of these include The Haunting of Hill House 1959 , The Sundial 1958 ,and We Have Always Lived in the Castle 1962 . Jackson's stories are inspiring and influential to most as well as controversial to some. Her most controversial story, published in 1948 in The New Yorker, is "The Lottery." The intentions of the story varies depending upon the reader. Whatever the intentions may be, "The Lottery" remains one of the most famous stories today. Despite the controversy, readers notice the symbols and underlying themes that are prevalent throughout the story.

In the story, The Lottery, i believe what they are doing is very wrong because that is not a normal tradition. That tradition, they do is very wrong and Inappropriate. In my opinion, it is very wrong because they are killing innocent people.

“The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson shows that often people can be unconcerned with injustice until it directly impacts them. Tessie Hutchinson starts out cheerful, until her family is chosen. At that point, she begins yelling and screaming “It isn’t fair. It isn’t right.” (Jackson 62) She even shouts that her daughter should be included in the second drawing. In “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson, Tessie Hutchinson participates in group violence willingly until she becomes the victim.

The Lottery’s society is based on a sacred tradition that cannot be abandoned. Their society forced each and everyone in the town to persecute innocent human beings. The people were blind from the truth of what is actually happening. They were brainwashed into thinking that their tradition was normal. Children were taught to kill their parents. At a young age, they witnessed death right in front of their eyes. Their society made everyone participated in their friends and families death, without having the guilt of murder. No one had a voice in this town. Everyone just followed what the mob was doing. If one opposes to this vicious act, their opinion doesn’t affect anyone. People were afraid to rebel because of the power that their society holds.

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson begins on a late summer morning, the villagers of a small New England town gather to conduct their annual lottery. There is an air of festivity among them, especially the children. Only a few in the crowd reveal slight hints of tension or unease. The lottery is a tradition within the community and the leader of the lottery, Mr. Summers, works hard to preserve it. Despite this, changes have crept in, and some old-timers such as Old Man Warner regret what they perceive as a loss of a heritage that has preserved the happiness and prosperity of the town over time.

“Every group feels strong, once it has found a scapegoat” (Mignon McLaughlin, 1913). A scapegoat is someone who is blamed for all the faults and corruptions that others have committed. In history, there are lots of scapegoat examples, the most popular being; Jesus Christ and the Jews in the Second World War. In the short story “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson used persecution and tradition to demonstrate how scapegoating justified unfair killing. Both of these aspects relate to the World War that preceded only a couple years before the story was written. The persecution was blind and done once a year as a tradition that everyone expected to happen.

Taking an everyday idea and turning it into something magnificent is what author Shirley Jackson achieved with her short story “The Lottery”. The short story is a brilliant view on tradition. What is normally thought to be a game of joy and winnings is turned into a horrifying ritual that has been blindly executed throughout the years with little reasoning behind it. Though multiple themes tend to arise in stories such as this, the theme “Fear of change” is the most obvious idea that Jackson seemed to want to get across to the audience. This theme can be seen through the characters, setting, and the symbolism in the story.

In today’s fast-paced world, short stories have now become ubiquitous for readers who try to obtain an expeditious and enthralling plot in a matter of minutes. Shirley Jackson, a prominent writer who mastered the art of creating short stories, is best known for her short story “The Lottery,” in which she uses subtle name symbolism to enhance characterization and to foreshadow the ironic and ultimately odious conclusion. However, the Sparknotes’ analysis of “The Lottery” fails to account for Jackson’s name symbolism and only provides a rudimentary analysis of the characters in the short story. Although the Sparknotes analysis on “The Lottery” adequately provides an analysis of the characters regarding plot summary, it is unsuccessful in rendering

    Often, we paint a fairytale view of life for ourselves and our children. Sometimes, an author paints a frightfully realistic picture of life and forces us to reconsider the fairytale. In Shirley Jackson’s story, "The Lottery," a town each year conducts a lottery in which the winner or looser, in this case, is stoned to death by his or her own neighbors. The tradition is supposed to uphold social structure within the town, but in order to comprehend the true meaning of the story you must be able to read between the lines. "The Lottery" is a story about a town that has let its traditions go too far. Also, it is clear that the story contains eye-opening facts that lead me to