Mutilation In 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 The story reveals how traditions can become outdated and ineffective.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

It was the morning of June 27th, ten years after Tessie Hutchinson was stoned to death. So much had happened during this decade after her death. Horace Dunbar was stoned last year, and Mrs. Graves the year before. The village now consisted of about 500 citizens, and with the village growing every year the lottery became more and more necessary for the town to prosper. But still people doubted the value of the lottery and tried to preclude it. Back when the year Tessie was stoned, the Adams were talking about how other towns were giving up the lottery. Every year there were a larger amount of people opposing the lottery.

There are many lively traditions attributed to the culture of the United States. An example of a tradition is the holiday of the 4th of July, celebrating the independence of the United States. Another is the holiday of Thanksgiving, where thanks is given to the Natives that provided the Pilgrims with food. Then, there are lotteries, where people have a shot at winning thousands and millions of dollars. Lotteries always bring a sense of happiness and eagerness to attendees and winners. Plenty of people across the United States attend since a lot of money can be acquired from winning. This gives winning the lottery a positive connotation. Although the lottery tradition of America is positive, others are not so positive. In Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery,” the tradition costs people their lives. Therefore giving winning the lottery a negative connotation. Through depictions of the nervousness of the adults and children as well as her descriptions of the objects associated with the lottery, Shirley Jackson, in her short story, suggests the horror of violence that concludes the story.

The short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson covers many eerie points in life and how people follow their lives in shadow. People follow their lives like pathways and some do not see these paths with many turns, one example is school everyone thinks that school is necessary in order to further your career in life. Now “The Lottery” has many questionable idealisms of how on the twenty seventh of every month the town’s people gather at the square and have a sacrificial drawing. Upon finishing the drawing everyone looks to see who the unlucky person is. No one flinches or even tries to prevent this event they all follow the rules down to its gruesome finish. The actions of the community were not really Tessie's fault because the choice of

Conformity, the act of mimicking a groups behavior, attitudes, or beliefs. Is this a positive or negative thing? Others may say that it's a positive thing because it was the foundation of modern laws, but that was a very long time ago, does this positive light on conformity still apply? Conformity is a negative thing because the Holocaust, Tessie Hutchinson was stoned to death, and the mere presence of friends influences risk taking, and all three of these examples start with the same thing, Conformity.

How do our relationships with others define who we are? Others affect us greatly. The people who surround us everyday have a great impact on our own life. Friends and family are the people who create you, and are part of the reason of who you are today. For example, when there’s a new trend, or when someone says a mean comment, you might change something about you at one point or another. Who affects your life?

Culture and history have always remained an important influence on literature. It can be both cruel and inspiring in their own ways. Jackson’s “The Lottery” can also be seen in this context. Culture is a powerful influence in people’s lives which are bound by traditions and customs. The author uses numerous symbols to portray the worst flaws of human creatures. She uses names, mostly symbols to show the ignorance of sacrificial lottery. The sacrifices which used to satisfy the god of harvest, have no meaning to their culture. However, The Lottery does not only represent tradition. It serves a fear in the villagers that if they rebel against the social rules, they might be selected for the next lottery. The author is showing how a person would rather sacrifice their own

In this essay I will be doing a compare and contrast between the two stories “The Lottery” by Chris Alani and “the Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. Both stories were good, and had a deep meaning behind both stories that leaves the readers wondering why the stories had to end in the way they did. Now I’ll start off by giving a summary of both stories so you can know and understand my point of view better.

In Fritz Oehlschlaeger’s response of Shirley Jackson “The Lottery”, there is a strong example of detail in the story proposing that those who are most agitated by, or resistant to, the lottery are women.

In “The Lottery”, author Shirley Jackson portrays the importance of violence and inhumanity that is being shown throughout the community and how the townspeople play a major roll in it. Shirley Jackson believes that violence is huge within this community and she also believes that the community isn’t aware of their actions. Every year on June 27th, the community gathers at the town's square to attend the lottery. The folks who run this lottery are Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves (The Postmaster). Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves will randomly announce names from the lottery box. If the name announced was on the paper the family member selected, then the audience would throw stones at them until they were dead.

Inhumanity is all over the world, including in the United States. The word “inhumanity” means extremely cruel or brutal behavior. In the story, “The Lottery” the “winner” had stones thrown at them till they died. September 11, 2001 is also an example of extreme inhumanity. In both cases, all the victims were innocent and did nothing wrong to deserve what they received.

The story The Lottery is trying to tell its readers that there are a lot of brutal violent acts that are done to one another and how it's labeled as necessary for tradition or some other radical idea. Shirley Jackson also emphasizes humans aggressive nature. The people in this story had carried out a group murder to one unsuspecting victim in order to have a better harvest. It really gave some insight of some actually practiced traditions that made people reflect off what they have done and decided that if it’s right. This would be a reason why they would bring up the end of an unruly practice.

A close examination of "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson leads to understanding that utilizes symbolism to help her speak to human instinct as corrupted, regardless of how immaculate one considers himself or herself, or how pure their surroundings may appear to be. The story is extremely viable in bringing up numerous issues about the pointless way of mankind with respect to tradition and savagery. 'The Lottery' plainly expresses Jackson's emotions concerning mankind's malicious nature holing up behind tradition and

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” illustrates several aspects of the darker side of human nature. The villagers in Jackson’s “The Lottery” unquestioningly adhere to a tradition which seems to have lost its relevance and meaning to their lives even when it requires that they brutally kill by stoning one of their neighbors and friends. The ritual that is the lottery shows how easily and willingly people will give up their free will and suspend their consciences to conform to rituals and people in authority. The same mindless complacency and obedience shown by the villagers in Jackson’s story are seen in human behavior throughout history and are still visible in current events seen today. Religion and higher authority are able to convince people to commit horrendous crimes against other human beings without hesitation or guilt. In religion, ritual can be a substitute for taking responsibility for one’s actions or even thinking for oneself. The behavior shown by the villagers can also be compared to human beings cruel enjoyment of the suffering of other human beings. This side of

Throughout the duration of this class, I had the opportunity to encounter a great deal of fantastic examples of literature. The stories were as similar as they were different, each one with a unique premise but somehow also reflective of one another. Perhaps it is be accident, or more likely it is because the stories are a part of the fabric of our nation and the American condition. The stories are of their respective times while also being able to fairly and accurately critique American society, culture, and values. From capitalism to America’s changing thoughts on morality throughout the decades, the writings were introspective to the story of our nation.