Essay On The Use Of Foreshadowing In The Lottery

Shirley Jackson’s, The Lottery, is a short story that begins innocent and unassuming, but finishes with a much darker undertone. Many themes are presented in this story but one is much more prominent; you need a willingness to change tradition. Jackson created characters that represented this theme very well, as they were able to convey the traditions and emotions she was trying to show without being boring or two-dimensional. The townspeople’s refusal to change - or even completely abandon - the tradition of a lottery is what will be their downfall.

Figurative language is a strategy that authors have used over the years to give the reader different perspectives on the piece that they are reading about. In her short Story, “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson writes about a small town that has a tradition known as the lottery. The way that the lottery works, is that there is black box with pieces of paper in it. The pieces of paper have the family names of every family in town. The last name standing then has to go into an elimination round with the people within the family. Each family member draws out of the black box, and the family member that pulls the slip of paper with the black dot gets stoned to death. In her short story, Jackson utilizes symbolism in the form of Old Man Warren, the black box and the pile of stones to demonstrate how tradition can be blinding without even knowing it.

Although two different stories, with multiple differences in conflict and setting, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell bear multiple similarities as well. Both stories demonstrate how humans are portrayed as evil vs. good. Each story depicts a protagonist exhibiting conflict with another human or humans. One ends on a dark gloomy path for the protagonist while the other results in a victory for the protagonist.

1) The tone, mood or atmosphere in the story begins with that of happiness and euphoria, by setting us up with a wonderful day that most everyone would enjoy.

Foreshadowing can be described as “Foreshadowing is a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story” (Foreshadowing) In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, foreshadowing is used to create a glimpse into the future that later builds up into a surprising conclusion. All throughout the story there is many examples of foreshadowing that makes the ending of the short story very thrilling and shocking. Some foreshadowing that occurs is the gathering of stones, the hurry to get the lottery over with, and lastly how Tessie Hutchinson did not want to accept her husband “winning” the lottery.

A literary device element that was used in “The Lottery” was setting. Setting from the story relates to the theme of false hopes. As it developed throughout the article, it shows that it took place during the summer time in June in a small village of 300 people. The description of the day states that it “ Was clear and sunny, fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green”(Jackson 1). The quote relates to the theme of false hopes because when you read this you think it is going to be a nice day and good things are going to happen. In reality this is a day that most do not look forward to, and a day that carries the tradition of death.

The idea of winning a lottery is associated with luck, happiness and anticipation of good things. In Shirley Jackson's story, " The Lottery", this is not the case. The irony of the story is that the winner of the lottery gets stoned to death by everyone else in the town. The story is very effective because it examines certain aspects of human nature.

In addition, Shirley Jackson’s Lottery presented us with some a similar form of foreshadowing that is not random but premeditated. Jackson explained the boys eager preparativeness to collect the stones for the horrific stoning of Tessie Hutchinson “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroxie..eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys. (Jackson 235). Jackson used this premeditated foreshadowing technique in her story which like O’Conner helped to slowly build up the tension and suspense that was needed to prepare their readers for what would be a very shocking climatic ending to both their stories. But Jackson also used certain symbols in the premeditated foreshadowing of this story to help illustrate the flow and movement of the story to the reader. For instance, the shabby splintered black box which was no longer black in color, This was due to the years of careless handling by Mr. Summers and

    "The Lottery," a short story written by Shirley Jackson, is a tale about a disturbing social practice.  The setting takes place in a small village consisting of about three hundred denizens.  On June twenty-seventh of every year, the members of this traditional community hold a village-wide lottery in which everyone is expected to participate.  Throughout the story, the reader gets an odd feeling regarding the residents and their annual practice.  Not until the end does he or she gets to know what the lottery is about.  Thus, from the beginning of the story until almost the end, there is an overwhelming sense that something terrible is about to happen due to the Jackson's effective

by its unusual ending. The story starts in a unreal world without any relate The phenomenon which occurred in “The Lottery” relates to our real lives, it mocks our social relationships through the unique plot. The story reminds readers to think of their daily interactions and reflects the lack of democracy. Shirley used the conflict between different things to show defects of humanity. Trough Jackson’s story, she tells us a old, traditional village tradition—the lottery. Every year the village will draw villagers to be the “lucky” one to be killed by stoning. Shirley used this simple story to allude modern Americans’ in reasonable rituals. In the story, the village seemed

In "The lottery", Shirley Jackson describes every single character by staunch definition. It effects to changing character and explains exactly what happens follow through the lottery story. The author creates this story with the steady construction of the thesis such as the initial situation, conflict, specific statement, suspense, argument, and a surprise conclusion. By portrayed processes of character, the ending of lottery's bloody nature is highlighted, foreshadowed, and written to keep reader in suspense.

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a short story based on a fictional village that holds a macabre ritual. Although the regularity was not stated within the tale, the story speaks of a regular gathering of the village folk to conduct some form of lottery. In a disturbing twist of the tale, the winner of the lottery doesn’t get to receive a prize, but instead, suffer the indignity of being killed by getting stoned to death by friends, family, and neighbors. Mrs. Hutchinson is the unfortunate soul, who, despite her pleas and protests has no option but accept her fate. In a similarly titled story, The Lottery by Chris Abani talks about an incident he witnessed when he went to the market with his aunt. In the story, Abani explains how he

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 are many Americans and people all over the world that live their lives following traditions that are passed down from one generation to another. A tradition can be as simple as cooking a recipe to how you raise your children and holiday traditions. Culture plays a significant role in how people live their day to day lives. In Shirley Jacksons “The Lottery” the people that lived in the town follow a tradition every year. It's easy to understand why Shirley Jackson’s Lottery caused controversy when it was published shortly after World War II in 1948. The Lottery has been dramatized, televised and turned into a ballet. It is taught in high schools and colleges. (Whittier). The Lottery held many questions about traditions that have

From the early years of life, people are taught who to listen to. People are taught who is invariably good, and who is invariably bad. Children are taught to respect their parents and follow the orders given to them. Children are taught to follow the law, and never question why. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson portrays the downfall of corrupt traditions.