Epictetus : Living The Good Life

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.

As Tessie’s protests continue and the Hutchinson family prepares to draw again the sense of apprehension is one again mounting, this time fearing for whoever wins yet still not knowing what their “prize” will be. “The crowd was quiet. A girl whispered, ‘I hope it’s not Nancy’”, the silence and fear of the crowds manifests in the reader as the three children and their parents all draw slips of paper. Tessie “wins” the lottery and when the narrator explains “although the villagers had forgotten the ritual, and lost they original black box, they still remembered to use stones” (6) its suddenly shockingly clear to the readers what the winner is to receive. The drastic switch from a light and cheerful tone with talk of the beautiful day and children playing to the closing like of “and they were upon her” (7) is in part why this story is so effective. The unforeseen sinister end of the story makes the revelation of the tradition much more shocking and unsettling than had the reader known from the beginning what the outcome would be. Jackson very effectively builds a sense of apprehension and foreboding as she slowly cues the reader into the reality of the situation.

Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” is about a bizarre ritual performed in a town in which the townspeople proceed to follow every year. In a black, worn box they place all the names of the community. Once all the names are placed inside, Mr. Summers draws a name. After the name is chosen, this member will be stoned to death by the others in the community. Tessie Hutchinson in the story tries to reject the repetitive tradition of the lottery.

Society today sees the lottery as an easy way to win a ginormous amount of cash just by buying a little slip of paper with a combination of numbers. The irony that Shirley Jackson uses in her short story, The Lottery, is used to the extreme by not only the title being ironic, but also within the story. The lottery is seen as a way to gain cash, but the ironic part of the title is that the reader sees it and thinks that the story will be about someone winning a big prize, yet the winner is sentenced to being stoned to death. Within the story, Shirley Jackson writes about how one member of the community ultimately chooses who wins the lottery. Another ironic thing about someone chooses the winner is that one of the communities sons picked his own father to win the lottery. Linda Wagner-Martin analyzes The Lottery and its irony by writing, “Bringing in the small children as she does, from early in the story (they are gathering stones, piling them up where they will be handy, and participating in the ritual as if it were a kind of play), creates a poignance not only for the death of Tessie the mother, but for the sympathy the crowd gives to the youngest Hutchinson, little Dave. Having the child draw his own slip of paper from the box reinforces the normality of the occasion, and thereby adds to Jackson's irony. It is family members, women and children, and fellow residents who are being killed through this orderly, ritualized process. As Jackson herself once wrote, "I hoped, by setting a particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my own village, to shock the story's

Shirley Jackson exploits a true form of human nature in this story. The lottery, a deadly tradition, is a draw for death. The selfish need to survive is shown by all the townspeople, who stone the chosen one to death, be it their friend or family, with only the thought that they themselves survived. Every lottery, the people look at the black box, and desperately hope that they aren’t chosen. It is a gruesome reminder of what they have witnessed and taken part of; the murders of innocent

The concern topic is an essay that concentrates on the fact of living a good life. It is from the reading of Epictetus, the strategy of good living could be introduced to the human being in this world. The teachings of Epictetus has based on the living a happy life such that the human beings are satisfied with their birth and their livelihood on the earth. His teachings mainly dealt with the happiness that is found from doing work and satisfying the life of the people from the earning.

In “The Lottery”, author Shirley Jackson portrays the importance of violence and inhumanity that is being shown throughout the community and how the townspeople play a major roll in it. Shirley Jackson believes that violence is huge within this community and she also believes that the community isn’t aware of their actions. Every year on June 27th, the community gathers at the town's square to attend the lottery. The folks who run this lottery are Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves (The Postmaster). Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves will randomly announce names from the lottery box. If the name announced was on the paper the family member selected, then the audience would throw stones at them until they were dead.

Their quest to hunt and kill the other led to nothing of importance or progression, they became trapped in peril as the force of mother nature became a bigger conflict than their ultimate enemy. In The Lottery the characters are emotionless towards others, they feel no empathy or remorse. As Tessie was put to death the characters remained calm, sort of relieved it wasn’t them on the other side of the pebbles being put to death by the “community” because of a draw. Even Tessie Hutchinson wasn’t one to complain before her fate of being stoned to death had become reality. After it was her who was chosen, she objected the tradition. The villagers are narcissistic and completely oblivious to the transgressive June 27th tradition. This is a direct insight into how people in our real world operate. We only seek action and justice once the problem begins to affect us firsthand. The lack of empathy prevents us from creating an amicable world.

Because of its prominence in American culture, Jackson uses family as a centerpiece for the villagers and the lottery. All members of the families in the village are present for the lottery unless they are sick or injured, but the children play separately from the men who are separate from the women initially, but they all come together later in the day. This cycle is characteristic of American families during the 40s because each member had their responsibilities but had a cliche gathering for dinner when everyone was happy together. For the actual lottery, Mr. Summers draws a family name, and then the head of the family has to randomly select the name of a member of the family to be stoned. Using a family member to choose who will die is an even stronger corruption of the ideal held during Jackson’s time. After Mrs. Hutchison's selection, everyone, including her son, picks up stones and swarm her. A young child murdering his mother is shocking, but the fact that the community and his own family condone it is possibly even more wicked. Although it was not a common occurrence in American society, Jackson may be referencing indoctrinated children in Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union reporting them for illegal activity resulting in their death. In “The Lottery,” Jackson uses this shift from a picturesque description of the Hutchison family to a twisted version to show the flaws that

All around the world today thousands of people die from murder and the numbers increase every year. Our world is filled with violence and tragedies that keep increasing, just like in, Shirley Jackson's story “The Lottery.” The characters in a small village choose someone to stone to death each year because of tradition. As this tradition continues, more and more people die as time passes. All of the towns folk grow more and more nervous, hoping not to get picked. They gather in the town square to choose the person who is killed in this unfortunate event as you meet characters like the hutchinsons, Mr. Graves, and Mr. Summers as they go through the fear of being picked. As the children pile up stones that they use for the killing. All

there is quiet conversation between friends. Mr. Summers, who runs the lottery, arrives with a black box. The original box was lost many years ago, even before Old Man Warner, the oldest person in the village, can remember. Each year Mr. Summers suggests that they make a new box, but no one is willing to go against tradition. The people were willing to use slips of paper instead of woodchips as markers, as the village had grown too large for the wood chips to fit in the box. A list of all the families and households in the village is made, and several matters of who will draw for each family are decided. Mr. Summers is sworn in as the official of the lottery in a specific ceremony. Some people remember that there used to be a song and salute as part of the ceremony, but these are no longer performed. Tessie Hutchinson arrives in the square late because she has forgotten what day it was. She joins her husband and children before the lottery can begin. Mr. Summers explains the lottery’s rules: each family will be called up to the box and draw a slip of paper. One of the villagers tells Old Man Warner that the people of a nearby village are thinking about ending the lottery. Old Man Warner laughs at the idea. He believes that giving up the lottery would cause nothing but trouble, and a loss of civilized behavior. A woman responds that some places have already given up the lottery. Everyone finishes drawing, and each

In “The Lottery”, Jackson portrayed death as a fun family oriented game. Jackson included children, family, friends and most importantly the tradition of playing “the lottery” to portray to the audience the commonality of the “game”. This game, known as “The Lottery” was an event that each family member of a small village participated in every year during the summer time. The families gathered together in the square around mid-morning getting prepared for the game by the gathering of stones,

The above excerpt demonstrates "that one function of the lottery is to change the relationship between community and victim" (Magill 1673). At one instant all of the villagers are equal, but after the person is chosen to die, the rest of the village are predators hunting their prey. This change in feelings portrays a barbaric instinct towards the loser.

People cannot control where they are born, the color of their skin, or who their parents are. They can control how they conduct themselves and the actions they take. Ethics encompass morality and the principles of right and wrong. In order for society to prosper we need ethical people working together toward a goal of integrity and compassion. Everyone has circumstances in their lives that they can and cannot control and knowing that is the key to living in harmony with themselves and others.

Epicurus lived a life of simplicity, and studied at great length what happiness meant, and announced a set of insights that we only need three things to be happy. These were not of grandeur, riches, or fame, they were simple truths that hid underneath those desires. His beliefs were as follows, that you need your friends around, not just on an every so often basis, regular contact is what counts. Secondly, working for yourself instead of others, getting a sense of helping people out of your work. And lastly that we need to stay calm. We will always be in search of happiness, and the Epicurean lifestyle may be of some insight to us even in the present day.