Criticism InThe Lottery, By Shirley Jackson

In her story “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson manages to catch the readers’ attention and ultimately shock them with an unexpected ending; all of which help her emphasize her critique toward the dark side of human nature and the evil that resides, sometimes, in those who we less expect it from. Jackson uses symbolism throughout the story that helps her set the mood and also makes the readers wonder and analyze the senseless violence and cruelty in their own lives.

“The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. This narrative uses different literary devices to help the reader understand the importance of the story. The author uses her story to describe the dangers of blindly following tradition. In this story, Jackson uses foreshadowing, irony and imagery to show how peer pressure can make someone feel no guilt through the negative tradition that occurs.

Shirley Jackson, the author of the short story “The Lottery” is an unusual story of a town caught in a trap of following tradition. Shirley Jackson uses many symbols in the story to relate to the theme. By doing this it helps the reader understand the story and the message she is trying to get across. Jackson uses tone, setting, and symbolism to conduct a theme for her readers. By doing this she creates connections to the theme by using the black box and old man Warner as a symbol.

Shirley Jackson’s famous short story, “The Lottery,” was published in 1948 and remains to this day one of the most enduring and affecting American works in the literary canon. “The Lottery” tells the story of a farming community that holds a ritualistic lottery among its citizens each year. Although the text initially presents audiences with a close-knit community participating in a social event together on a special day, the shocking twist at the work’s end—with the death of the lottery’s “winner” by public stoning—has led to its widespread popularity, public outcry and discussion, and continued examination in modern times (Jackson). One potential critical theory that can be applied to Jackson’s “The Lottery” is the reader-response

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.

“The Lottery,” Jackson’s most famous work, is often called a gothic horror tale. “The Lottery” is considered a part of the gothic genre because of the feeling of suspense as well as horror it brings to the reader, who may not fully understand the purpose of the lottery until the end (Wilson 144). “The Lottery developed in the story is very horrific because when we here about a Lottery we think about achieve something good but, in the story achieving a lottery is getting stoned to death by your own townspeople. Until the end author hide real meaning of the lottery. “The narrative technique for “The Lottery” is detached and objective, meaning the story is told without excessive emotionalism or description, which helps to impart the ordinariness of the barbaric act of the lottery” (143). “It is also ironic that the events of the story are related in a matter–of-fact and objective way since the story as a whole seeks to elicit profound emotions and question morality” (144). Emphasis is placed on the brutality of the lottery by not giving a specific time and place to the story. Critics often see the irony of the story. It is ironic that the story takes place

Jackson’s famous literary work was published in The New Yorker in June 1948. “The Lottery” received major backlash and criticism upon its first publication, with many readers being offended and taken aback by the material; some readers assumed Jackson was recounting the events of a real town and inquired Jackson where these lotteries took place (Friedman 63). Its contemporary setting and relatable characters make the story more realistic and thus drives home its message to a greater effect, as well as playing into the psychology of mob mentality. For example, if the story’s characters are easily identifiable in addition to its setting, the audience will have an easier time placing themselves into the situation of the characters. The titular lottery in the story has been a tradition in the community for generations, with each generation gradually forgetting certain aspects of how the lottery is held and even the reason behind the lottery. One man, Old Man Warner, remembers that the lottery was held to ensure a good harvest and

The most shocking part of “The Lottery” is the level of dehumanization that comes with the crowd mentality. Shirley Jackson uses the normalcy of the lottery to veil the true outcome until the very end. Describing the crowd coming together and conversing as though it were a Sunday dinner, outlining the calm thoughts of the bystanders as they draw cards to murder one of their own, and picturing the actions of the people as normal. The fact that these characters neither mentioned, thought of, or acted like they were about to murder a blameless woman shows the role dehumanization had played on this community.

Publishing “The Lottery” in 1948, at the termination of World War II, Shirley Jackson uses prevalent cultural and historic cues throughout this story to insinuate a threatened, late 1940’s American society. References to the Holocaust were made by appeasing to this violent and sadistic tradition of stoning, in like manner the propelling of the stones reference the propelling of The Atomic Bomb. Consequently, the people of this village were forced to conform with the inability to observe humanity. Jackson’s purpose of writing “The Lottery” was, “to shock the story’s readers with a graphic demonstration of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives” (236). In this story, she was trying to present a barbarous tradition

One of the elements of The Lottery that allows for it to evoke such a disturbing feeling within readers is Jackson’s cynical, journalistic

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a story littered with warnings and subtext about the dangers a submissive society can pose. While the opening is deceptively cheery and light Jackson uses an array of symbols and ominous syntax to help create the apprehensive and grim tone the story ends with. Her portrayal of the town folk as blindly following tradition represents the world during World War II when people’s failure to not mindlessly accept and heed authority lead to disastrous consequences. . Shirley Jackson uses a large array of techniques to help convey the idea that recklessly following and accepting traditions and orders can lead to disastrous consequences.

Of all Miss Jackson’s eerie and gruesome fantasies, ‘’The Lottery published in The New Yorker magazine, was the best known and most baffling to readers. ’’ After the story was published, many readers of the magazine wrote and asked what the story meant; many still want to know. While the author declined to tell what she meant, she does provide the careful reader with some clues. The tone is established very early in the story.

“Human nature is complex. Even if we do have inclinations toward violence, we also have inclination to empathy, to cooperation, to self-control” (Pinker). In “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson is able to create a sense of horror with and within the characters. All of the characters show a great deal of sadness, not only because of the ritual that they take part of, but because they have lost all emotion partaking in the ritual. Throughout “The Lottery”, the plot and characters reveal how foolish and corrupted human nature can be.

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a classic short story in U.S literature. Written in 1948, the short story has been published in multiple languages around the world. It is still a required reading in U.S today. The story was later adapted into both a TV short and a play (“Shirley Jackson’s Bio”). Jackson uses irony and symbolism in “The Lottery” to show the corruption of human nature.

Another message that Jackson illustrates is the blind following of tradition and how that can be a terrible thing. All the members of the community participate in this horrible act because it is a tradition. The people believe that if it is a tradition it then the lottery must not be a bad thing. When Old Man Warner heard that some communities had stopped the lottery he called them a “pack of crazy fools.” He said, “There’s always been a lottery.”(247) Jackson shows how a tradition can be so brutal yet everyone will go with it because it’s in fact tradition. To go against tradition would be to go against the community, so no one is willing to do that. Jackson shows the long running tradition when the black box that is used to hold the slips of paper never changes. It shows the inability for change in the community.