The Lottery Essay

In writings, one can see a lot of similarities in stories, whether it be something as simple as the plot or things of that nature or something deeper like the meanings behind each one of them. But along with the similarities of course come the differences, because no story can be exactly the same. If you look at “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, you can see this trend hold true.

Never blindly follow traditions because something really bad can happen, like punishment. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is about a lottery that villagers commit once a year and they pick a card out of a box and if they draw a black dot they have to draw again band if they get the dot twice they get the "reward". The “First they came” by Martin Niemoller is about this guy who doesn’t stand up for others but when the guy came for him and he had no one to stand up for him when the time came for him.

“People see what they want to see and what people want to see never has anything to do with the truth”, said by Roberto Bolano. There are many different perceptions on the events that occur in “The Lottery”, “The Fun They Had”, and also “Eye of the Beholder.” I feel that in “The Lottery”, Tessie was right for arguing against winning the yearly tradition of the lottery. Margie was right for feeling that the past schools were better in “The Fun They Had”, and Janet was right for contrasting herself from the others in “Eye of the Beholder.” Individuals may distinguish their interpretations on distinct feelings or statements.

I believe that there are two reasons of why the lottery is conducted. Number one: Making corn grow better. “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” - this quote by Old Man Warner means to me as if the sacrifices make the corn grow more/better. But personally I don’t think that this makes a lot of sense because, there is no connection between them. The second reason I thought of is: Tradition. The lottery has been going on for a long time, even before Old Man Warner, the oldest person in the town. “Seventy-seventh year I have been in the lottery.” - this quote from Old Man Warner, means this is his seventy seventh year participating in the lottery. This means that people before Old Man Warner made the “Lottery” for reasons we don’t know, and it has been a tradition since then. Those are my two reasons for what the purpose of the lottery is.

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a story that shows the most shocking elements of humanity. The ending surprises the reader by coming out of nowhere, and shows the brutality that people are capable of. New Yorker Readers were shocked to the point of outrage at the time of its publishing. They were both certain that it was “perverted” and “gratuitously disagreeable,” but also that they didn’t “know what it’s about” (Franklin). Jackson herself hoped the story would “shock the story's readers with a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives” (Jackson). This shock is very effective, and is in part possible because of how Jackson portrays her characters. She sets the story up to shock the reader by leaving only slight hints, but also by effectively showing how the characters themselves see the event. Jackson highlights the commonplace nature of the event. She portrays the event as a dated ritual, and explains the ways that the people of the town resist it. T ending feels like a surprise because it is brutal and because the characters themselves resist understanding the ritual. Jackson makes the true meaning of the event invisible to everyone except the readers and the victims themselves.

That is how the people in The Lottery live their lives through the tradition of the lottery.It says in The Lottery that people did not want to mess with the lottery because it is tradition and you do not mess with tradition. If you personally have a tradition you know it was made probably before you were born and you do it because that is what you and your family does. Jackson uses this to justify The Lottery because all they know is that tradition and there is nothing wrong with

In the story that we read “The Lottery”, it begins by expressing a seventy seven

The Lottery has a lot of different arguments that can be made but the tradition of the ceremony is a huge factor. In Jackson's story, the townspeople are blind to the profound effect of tradition upon their lives as demonstrated by the tradition, the black box, and old man Warner.

In this article, the people of the village kept an old ritual. In order to pray for the harvest, they sacrificed one person who needs to be stoned to death. Every villager accepted and complied with the rules. They chose this person through the way of lottery. It is fair that everyone selected a slip from the black box. Those reflect the American culture of equality and democracy. For, example, it was fair that everyone has same chance to get the slip which represents death. Also, this village is ruled by majority. Major group make decisions together, and individual cannot resist it. Even the families of Mrs. Hutchinson had to hit her by stones. Although it was a ruthless ritual, it was obeyed by all of the villagers.

Some may argue that the lottery was always this sick and twisted act of brutality. However, through old man Warner, we get a little insight on the purpose of the lottery in the past. During his rant about keeping the lottery, he exclaims “nothing but trouble in that” and “next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore, live that way for a while” (Jackson, 246). With this we are given clues that originally, this ritual was designed as a way to punish deviant behavior and to keep the community in order, promoting a lifestyle of being a productive member of society. However, as the town became developed, there became no need, and the tradition transformed into what it was in the story. Even old man Warner states “It’s not the way it used to be” (Jackson, 248). Another aspect that supports this is the fact that no one sees the wrong in the lottery. Even with Mrs. Hutchinson, she appeared to be all in favor of the lottery until the odds were no longer in her favor (Jackson,

Lotteries are a clean way to get people to do voluntarily what they resent doing through mandatory taxes, which is to pay for education and other public necessities (James). Lotteries are a harmless way of supporting the community. They are not required to take part in. They can be fun if you gamble responsibly. The lottery is a helpful harmless way of supporting education, communities, and it is not required to play.

Being accepted as a member of a body of people results in many new customs, traditions and obligations that some patrons may or may not agree with. In the short story The Lottery author Shirley Jackson sheds light on an unethical tradition that an unknown village continues to host yearly. Traditions embody unwritten laws that favor group following and lacks individuality. This leads to organized dependency of others interpretation of why the tradition is in place and is the sole reason as to why traditions should be audited and updated often. Jackson made sure to allow the characters to express the changes that have taken place in regards to the lottery and how the original reasons for the lottery had been disregarded and or are no longer in place.

In the lottery by Shirley Jackson, One prevalent theme is Tradition.  In the beginning the village lottery culminates in a violent murder each year. Later everyone seems minded with a funny black box, and the lottery consists of little more than hand made slips of paper. This being said in the story traditions brings generations and families together. However, traditions practiced by the villagers of an unknown small town, a tradition appears to be as vital to the villager as New Year celebrations might be to us. Finally, as you can see traditions are really good in real life because you can see generations happen and families getting together, Also in the story “The Lottery” has so many traditions because every year there’s a violent murder,

Have you ever met someone who hates spending money? either it's saving it or spending it everyone relies on it. some people save for school and some people spend it at the lottery. what if there was a way for you to spend at the lottery and for lottery to help you in school. The lottery is a good beneficial for education because, it helps school funding and make more jobs and scholarships.

What thoughts come to mind when you think of "The Lottery?" Positive thoughts including money, a new home, excitement, and happiness are all associated with the lottery in most cases. However, this is not the case in Shirley Jackson’s short story, "The Lottery." Here, the characters in the story are not gambling for money, instead they are gambling for their life. A shock that surprises the reader as she unveils this horrifying tradition in the village on this beautiful summer day. This gamble for their life is a result of tradition, a tradition that is cruel and inhumane, yet upheld in this town. Shirley Jackson provides the reader’s with a graphic description of violence, cruelty, and inhumane treatment which