Mrs Hutchinson The Lottery Rhetorical Analysis

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.

In "The Lottery", Jackson utilizes a character vs. character conflict to publicly display the concept of having a scapegoat – someone to be discarded after absorbing the sins of the entire community. In the story, Mrs. Hutchinson is randomly chosen by way of the lottery to become the sacrifice. Once it was determined that she was, in

Shirley Jackson is often regarded as one of the most brilliant authors of the twentieth century. Born in San Francisco in 1916, she spent the majority of her adolescence writing short stories and poetry (Allen). While she is known best for her supernatural stories, one of her most popular works is a short story called “The Lottery”. The lottery takes place in a small village in which once a year on June 24th, the town population is gathered. After the gathering, there is a drawing to see which family is chosen, after the family is chosen, another drawing takes place to see who is stoned to death. In the New Yorker's magazine book review hailed “The Lottery” as “one of the most haunting and shocking short stories of modern America and is one of the most frequently anthologized” (Jackson). This review stems heavily from Jackson’s brilliant use of irony, symbolism, and foreshadowing. However, perhaps what truly stands out is how Jackson is able to wrap all of those elements together as a way to show an overarching theme of the corruption that exists in human nature. While the real source of “The Lottery’s” inspiration is unclear, there has been heavy speculation that the roots lie heavily in the actions of the holocaust and the actions that took place during World War II. Regardless of the source material, a general consensus can be made that the plot of the lottery is a dark reflection of human actions.

“The feelings of uneasiness caused by executions being performed in an arbitrary manner reverberates on several levels. First, we see the characters within the story itself begin to question the necessity of the ritual” (Shields 412-413). There has to be a point where someone could have spoken to reveal the inhumanity of this pugnacious tradition that has plagued the community for more than seventy-seven years. Then again, no, there are no words said about the inhumanity of the violence, until Tessie Hutchinsons’ family gets chosen. She defends her family stating, “You didn't give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair!”(Jackson). She then is attacked by her fellow friends, "Be a good sport, Tessie." Mrs. Delacroix called, and Mrs. Graves said, "All of us took the same chance." Mrs. Hutchinson at this point is being very hypocritical; the lottery was fair for all the citizens, so why doesn’t she just go along with the tradition? Would her outbursts have been the same if Mrs. Hutchinsons’ family wasn’t chosen? The final words of Mrs. Hutchinson were "It isn't fair, it isn't right.”

Some of the audience might be left in a state of mind were they feel incomplete and think the story was poorly told in these fictions. Yet, others left to think about why this ritual even exists, and why Mrs Hutchinson was to be the one chosen. To answer the question about why this lottery even exist the character “old man warner” can explain. He explains that there is some kind of connection between the ritual and the corn in the village. He stated, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”. This tells us that this is some sort of fertility ritual, were if someone dies, it brings great fortune to the land. In order to receive life, they take a life.

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.

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.

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.

Shirley Jackson is to be considered one of the best authors of the 1900’s. Her style of writing reeled in readers from all different ages. She can be creepy, hilarious, and inspiring to the eyes that see her words. In Shirley Jackson’s short story, The Lottery, she keeps the reader on the edge of their seat wanting to continue reading beyond the final word. She uses literary devices to shape her story to grab her readers attention all throughout the story. By using these literary devices, Shirley Jackson shows off her dark and twisted side as well as her fantastic writing style to emphasize why she is one of the writers of her generation.

A steady rap drum beat undergirds a repeating melody line of no consequence. A bit catchy, but not significantly musical, the treble piano riff repeats over and over. The lighthearted sense of dancing along the high notes contrasts with the male voice chiming in with rhymes ranging from current day issues to historical happenings. Angry, despairing, and hurting lyrics initially immerse the listener into a long lived conflict of domination and oppressed, while the almost lazy airy back-melody creates a sense of cognitive dissonance. Perhaps Anne Hutchinson felt the same heaviness and conflict as she contemplated both her conversations with women and her excommunication from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Was she truly being oppressed by Winthrop and his efforts to maintain community? She chose to secretively spread her story of the possibility of an individual relationship with God; did she see herself in the “lineage of proletariat and peasant” with the vocalist?

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.

But she found out by the end of the story that that probably wasn’t the best choice as she most likely found out by the end of the story. I thought this would be karma for trying to offer HER children instead of the husband. That’s just a terrible way to treat your family, but why is this “Lottery” even a thing? Who in their right mind would even participate in this insane game? But I guess Mrs. Hutchinson found this out in the hard way.

Introduction: In, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the use of a death “lottery” was used in the spoken town while other towns around it had stopped the deadly tradition. Jackson subtly uses the idea that there is more strength in numbers and social throughout the text. I chose to write about this topic to how show the power of numbers and social norms affect reform because the short story portrays valuable information of the target. Statement of Purpose:

Hutchinson can't help but finish washing her dishes before she meets her family at the square. After Tessie is the chosen one to die, it is her friend that initiates the stoning. Mrs. Delacroix, who picks up a stone so large that she has to use two hands, starts the murder by telling others to "come on" and "hurry up." This shows no mercy for the victim, even when it may be a loved one. However the action of barbarism that tops all the others is Davy Hutchinson: "The most pathetic figure of all is Davy Hutchinson who survives the drawing but who is forced, unknowingly, to take part in the ordeal. Someone gives him a few pebbles so that he, too, may share in the collective murder of his mother" (Friedman 67).