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 The story reveals how traditions can become outdated and ineffective.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

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

Shirley Jackson also utilizes literary devices to good effect in “The Lottery,” especially that of symbolism. By keeping the setting devoid of any identifying details, Jackson frees the reader to imagine that it could be any place. The only constraints that the author places on her readers’ creativity are that the town is decidedly rural, perhaps narrowing the critique to the cultural scene most frequently associated with small town America. Other symbols include the box from which the lottery slips are drawn (an old and black object which heralds death), stoning as a method of execution (a particularly old and excruciating way to kill someone), and ritual itself (a series of often ill contemplated actions for which one needs no particular reason to follow). All of these, with their marked reference to age, clearly refer to tradition.

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.

In the short story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson the change in tone shifts over time starting with a gleeful and sunny beginning turning to a ghastly and horrifying story towards the resolution. The author shifts her tone in order to make a more dramatic ending that will stick with the reader, the ending transforms the short story from realism to symbolism so that the readers can further use this story in a real world context.

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.

The black box is not only Alliteration, but it is also a symbol in “The Lottery”. Martine Ma declares, “The black box holds the key between life or death for every single one of the townspeople”. Inside the black box is a “slip of paper” (Jackson1870) with “a black spot” (Jackson1870) that would declare the death of a villager and the sacrifice for the harvest. The black box also represents ‘evil’ in “The Lottery”. Seth Cassel stated, “The villagers have become entranced in the gruesome tradition of stoning people.” Proving that the black box has manipulated the townspeople into killing their fellow villagers because of the lottery the black box

There are many important symbolic items in this story, but the major symbolic items are the black wooden box, white slips of paper and the stones. The black box represents the tradition of the lottery. As the lottery itself the black box is old and worn. Also, the color of the box is black which could represent death since black is considered color of death. The black box was always kept in public view to remind the villagers about the tradition “The postmaster, Mr. Graves, followed him, carrying a three-legged stool, and the stool was put in the centre of the square and Mr. Summers set the black box down on it” (Jackson 4). The three-legged stool on which the box was placed is also important since the stool itself was unstable and at one point almost got knocked down. The tradition as the three-legged stool is unstable and could get knocked down at any point. Next, the white slips of paper “He dropped all the papers but those onto the ground, where the breeze caught them and lifted them off.” (Jackson 60). The papers represent the lives of the villagers and how their lives can be taken away at any moment with a single

This is a short story set in a dystopian village which we are never told the name of. It starts off all happy and the mood in the village seems all cheerful and excited for a special annual event that was occurring that day called 'The Lottery'. We assume and the writer makes us believe that it is quite similar to a festival and the whole village celebrates it together, however, the writer does also drop hints throughout the story that everything may not be as it seems. This ends up being true as in the end we find out that the winner of the lottery does not get rewarded, and instead gets stoned to death. The setting plays a big role in the atmosphere of the story because as it is an unknown village, we are all curious to know how the lottery works here.

Shirley Jackson 's 'The Lottery ', is a story that is filled with symbolism. The author uses symbolism to help her represent human nature as tainted, no matter how pure one thinks of himself or herself, or how pure their environment may seem to be. The story is very effective in raising many questions about the pointless nature of humanity regarding tradition and violence. 'The Lottery ' clearly expresses Jackson 's feelings concerning mankind?s evil nature hiding behind traditions and rituals. She shows how coldness and lack of compassion in people can exhibit in situations regarding tradition and values. Jackson presents the theme of this short story with a major use of symbolism. Symbolism shows throughout the setting of 'The Lottery, ' the objects, the peoples actions, and even in the time and the names of the lucky contestants.

Second, when the black box appears in the village square, the villagers receive a symbolical image that death is on the horizon. The emphasis put on the black coloring of the box symbolizes the negative connotation of the event. The event of the lottery is a joyful or enlightening occurrence, rather symbolism portrays the ritual as being serious, uncertain, and dark. Jackson describes that “a murmur of conversation” arose among the villagers at the sight of the “black wooden box.” (138). The black box was placed on a stool in the center of town where villagers “kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool.” (138).