Essay on Shirley Jackson's The Lottery - Effective Use of Character Names

“The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it” (Twain). The Lottery begins during the summer. A small, seemingly normal, town is gathering to throw the annual “Lottery”. In the end, the townspeople—children included—gather around and stone the winner to death, simply because it was tradition. The story reveals how traditions can become outdated and ineffective. “I suppose, I hoped, by setting a particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my own village to shock the story's readers with a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives” (Jackson). As humans develop as a race, their practices should develop with them. Shirley Jackson develops the

When most people play the lottery today, they think about having wealth. Generally, people who win are happy about it whether they win one dollar or a million. The lottery in our society has grown to support education and it is often worth several million dollars. Usually, the winner of the lottery gains a lot of recognition for the money they win. But what would happen if there was a small town where people held a yearly lottery in which the “winner” was the member of the town who was not sacrificed? This question is answered in Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery.” In reading this story, and reading literary criticism about the story, there were many symbols and much symbolism in this story.

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.

Being the oldest community member, Mr. Warren is the only character in the story who displays any sort of connection to its original intent. The younger members of the community carry out the ritual in a detached manner. In addressing the difference in attitude between Mr. Warren and the other community members, A.R. Coulthard contends that, “Old Man Warner is usually taken to be the most allegorically evil devotee of custom, but he is merely the most honest”. Old man Warner is the only community member that still wants to do the lottery for its original purpose. He believes a sacrifice will bring a good harvest, while “the others are willing to risk their own life for the sheer pleasure of an unpunished annual killing” (Coulthard, A.R.). This leads readers to question whether human nature is inherently good or bad, a theme which Jackson explores through “The Lottery”

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.

Through use of having community events, celebrating traditions, and repeating the traditions, Shirley Jackson is able to prove that the townspeople are not as cruel as the audience may think. They have many community gatherings that are happy, unlike the lottery. “Jovial man” Mr. Summers conducts the lottery, “the square dances, the teenage club, and Halloween program.” It is very obvious that Mr. Summers, is not a bad man, so he cannot, and should not be blamed for the lottery. Shirley Jackson is trying to prove that although the lottery itself is bad, the people who participate in it are not. Even though the lottery appears to be horrid, Jackson attempts to make the town look civil and human. All the town does the lottery so that they can have good crops that season. The saying goes “lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.” People are considered “crazy fools” if they do not continue with the lottery. Jackson tries to show that the people who second guess the lottery are not popular with some people in town. Also if the town has a bad crop year townspeople will probably blame the doubters. The townspeople have always had a lottery, so it is unknown what would happen if they decided to skip it. Old Man Warner is the town’s oldest townsperson, and he is most experienced with the lottery. No one‒Old Man Warner included‒ ever remembers a time where there was not a lottery. “There’s always been a lottery”

In today’s society we often have an all too-casual attitude toward misfortune; Jackson shows us this aspect of human nature through the town’s casual attitude toward the lottery. The men talk of "rain, tractors and taxes" and the women gossip—all the time

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," 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

The setting is described as a “clear and sunny… full-summer day” and is described with positive connotations which create the impression that the story will be pleasant and ordinary. However, the story goes on to be far from it. As the story progresses the mood shifts from light-hearted and easy-going to tense and apprehensive. The villagers chuckle nervously amongst themselves and gather together quietly as the lottery commences. Once the names are picked the mood instantly becomes appalling and barbarous. The villagers move on towards Tessie and stone her to death without a second’s hesitation. The quote previously presented represents how ironic the story is overall. “The Lottery” starts off with a beautiful, warm day and ends in the brutal murder of an innocent woman. In the text, we see that “The lottery was conducted--as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program--by Mr. Summers. who had time and energy to devote to civic activities. He was a round-faced, jovial man” (26). Another form of irony in “The Lottery” is Mr. Summers. He is described as a “round-faced, jovial man” and his last name “Summers” makes him seem warm and amiable. Jackson describing him as such adds on to the beginning

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.

In “The Lottery” Old Man Warner warns against not having a lottery. He says that there, “Used to be a saying about Lottery in June, corn will be heavy soon.” He also wishes for things to stay the same, as bad as they might be. In contrast, Mrs. Adams tries talk about the possibility of ending the lottery. Instead of trying to end the lottery, when the stoning of Tessie Hutchinson occurs, Mr. Adams is the head of the crowd.

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

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a story of an unusual town caught in a trap of always following tradition, even when it is not in their best interest. Jackson uses symbols throughout the story that relate to the overall theme. This helps the reader clearly understand her main message. Jackson uses setting, tone and symbols to convey a theme to her audience. By doing so she creates significant connections to the theme using old man Warner and the black box as examples.

Furthermore, the people in this story were attached to the tradition for the wrong reasons, aside from the fact that they did not know the reason it was put in place decades before, they were scared to change the norm of their town because they did not know anything different. No one in the town dared to question the tradition, except for the younger generation. “They do say,” Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, “that over in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery” (Jackson, 4). The social hierarchy that Jackson implicitly represented was also relatable to the one in the war. Mr. Summers was represented as the conductor of evil, the one who continued and forced the tradition on others because it did not affect him