Irony In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

“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 The story reveals how traditions can become outdated and ineffective.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 examining the story about “The Lottery”, the audience will often find themselves baffled at the outcome of the story towards the end, as this was not a lottery for money, but for death. The secondary reactions would be laughter at such absurdity or the shake of a head because, honestly, how many people would expect such irony from a seemingly normal text? Questions arise such as why did the people allow this, how can they be desensitized to this, and who started this in the first place? However, if the reader would look back and carefully study the wording of some paragraphs, they will be astonished to find hidden messages about the origination of such a gruesome tradition.

The best feeling one can experience is winning a prize. For example, when one wins the lottery, one is excited, however not the lottery in the story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. The lottery in this story represents a certain kind of irony known as situational irony. Now, this is not the only example of irony included in this story there are also examples of verbal irony and dramatic irony. In The story “The Lottery” there are countless instances of situational irony, verbal irony, and dramatic irony that presents readers with the barbaric ways of the town and allows readers to have an insight on the town’s issues.

What makes stories special is the ability to portray meaning between the lines. Every author has their own characteristics and spin that they incorporate into each of their pieces. These can include character genre, symbolism, plot structure, and irony. Shirley Jackson writes an ironic story about a small village who partakes in an annual lottery. The village looks forward to this day and moods are always high. However when the reader gets to the end of the short story they are shocked to find the lottery is a drawing for who in the village gets stoned to death. In The Lottery, Jackson surprises her readers by putting an ironic twist at the end of her tale, by filling the story with warming articulation, light hearted characters, but

In the short story ,the lottery by Shirley Jackson ,the characters have different feelings about the lottery.Tessie Hutchinson does not like or support the events of the lottery.Tessie obviously tries to forget this day and acts hysterical immediately her husband picks the stained paper.She does not think it is fair until her family is at stake.People feel differently about the lottery and not everyone fully supports it.Old man Warner is very devote to the lottery and is glad he has lived through seventy seven years of it.Mr Warner loves it so much he insults the villages that talk of giving it up.He takes it to heart that other villages plan on giving it up.This story shows how people gullibly follow foul customs and traditions and how

The use of Satire/Irony within literature establishes situations where the unlikelihood of the occurrence of an event will happen. Jackson’s manipulation of his story, The Lottery, provides an unexpected twist to what one may seem to be a normal subject. Northrop Frye’s The Singing School, suggests that all stories are told in either one of four ways: Comedy, Romance, Tragedy or Satire/Irony (Frye 18). The use of Irony and its conventional associations eludes the reader from interpreting a story as a Romance, but instead give the reader a reversed twist. This use of ironic convention in literary work is seen through Shirley Jackson’s short story, The Lottery; the story of Tessie

“The Lottery” is a short story by Shirley Jackson, first published on June 26, 1948. The story was initially met with negative critical reception due to its violent nature and portrayal of the potentially dangerous nature of human society. It was even banned in some countries. However, “The Lottery” is now widely accepted as a classic American short story and is used in classrooms throughout the country.

     In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” irony is an underlying theme used throughout the story. The setting is introduced as a “clear and sunny” day, but ends with the brutal death of a housewife (715). The two people who essentially run the town, Mr. Graves and Mr. Summers, also have ironic names. In addition, the characters and the narrator make ironic statements throughout the story.

    "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

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.

Many authors use irony to make their writings more diverse, as well as to intensify the literary elements in the story. Shirley Jackson, writer of “The Lottery”, does this in her stories in order to leave the reader in suspense and confusion with her use of situational irony. She also uses dramatic irony to give the story a grotesque twist and to cause the reader more confusion about the characters’ morals. Verbal irony is used to intensify characterization as well as give the reader an insight into the true beliefs of those in the village. The use of irony in all three forms throughout the story adds an intensity to the development of many literary elements throughout the story.

In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” explained how in a small town, which consist of many people, holds an annual lottery where here all families would come together and pull slips of paper to determine who would get “stoned”. During the lottery the people are gathered where the head of the household is called to come up and receive a slip of paper, that is pulled from a black box which holds a lot of tradition. One of the main characters arrives late to lottery claiming she forgot what day it was, and as the lottery concludes the news spills amongst the town that her husband has the slip with the black dot. As the family argues that the lottery is unfair, the result from the lottery is that the woman of the family gets stoned to death. Shirley Jackson uses irony in the

Throughout the story The Lottery, Shirley Jackson uses countless examples of irony to create a sense of horror from what seems to be an innocent story. She uses a variety of irony to develop the theme in the story as well. An example of irony that she uses starts with the title of the story. Typically when people think of a lottery, they think of money or winning a prize. In the story, the person who “wins” the lottery gets the “prize” of getting stoned by the rest of the village. Another example of how Shirley Jackson uses irony in the story is the weather the day of the drawing. It is a bright and sunny day, which most would associate with happiness, but the day is far from happy. A major example of irony within the story is Mrs. Hutchinson

Little Davy and his friends wake up on a beautiful summer morning fully prepared to stone someone to death. More than likely tied to an irrational event, the boys will continue this annual practice without knowing their purpose. In “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson utilizes symbols and irony to develop the theme of tradition while criticizing the inhumanity of mankind.

To win a lottery should be an exciting and joyful thing, but in “The Lottery” created by Shirley Jackson, winning the lottery in the story would be the most unfortunate thing for everyone as it equals to death. “The Lottery” is a tradition to pick a scapegoat, it has been carried out in the village for a very long time and it is a part of life for everyone. No one wants to question the tradition as they believe that it would help them to having a great harvest.