The Lottery Shirley Jackson Essay

“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 The story reveals how traditions can become outdated and ineffective.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 story, The Lottery, was about a town which in every year would sacrifice a citizen to keep their harvest at a rich abundance. This town has been doing this since forever, even longer than Old Man Warner who is 87 years old. When someone from the town speaks about other villages quitting this ritual, this upsets him because he's been doing this ritual all his life so he doens't quite understand why anyone would disapprove of it (pg. 31 lines 194-204 in collections book). Mrs.Hutchinson was another character who didn't understand the people. She tried to defend herself from being killed, but no one cared because she and they

The short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, published in 1948, took place following the second world war, and the author writes with the war’s aftermath in mind. In the story, a village that runs an annual lottery that one lucky person gets to win. The winner however, is granted death. By stoning of all things from the rest of the villagers. As this story takes place in the late 40s, a patriarchal society based theme is heavily present and the emphasis on women's rights and their freedom of speech is noticeable in nearly all aspects. From daily household chores that are stereotyped as a woman’s job, to the comfort of being alone and feeling out of place in public environments. One thing to note is that when Jackson wrote “The

“The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson, is set in the summer of 1984. It focuses on how social pressure of being a man cause individuals to blindly follow society’s expectations. This in turn causes them to have a low self esteem and develops fear. On the other hand, when leaders of a society are close-minded it leads to the oppression of individuals’ ideas. It leaves the individual no other option but to follow the tradition laid out and feel rejected. Overall, if individuals follow society’s expectations blindly, without seeing the reality, they will experience emotional pain.

Women are the monority in the social structure of the village, as shown when Mrs. Hutchinson's family is chosen in the first round. Objecting that her daughter and son-in-law "didn't take their chance," (299) Mr. Summers reminds her that "daughters draw with their husbands' families," (299) showing that power is exclusively held in the hands of males in families. Women, as inferior housewives, must submit to their husbands power over them because as men in the work force, they are tied to the community economically and provide for their famalies. Mrs. Hutchinson, however, rebels against socially accepted male domination. Her arriving late, already raises suspicions of resistance to everything the lottery is about. When her family name is called, she pushes her husband, "Get up there, Bill." (297) In doing so, she acts rebelliously, contradicting the customs by reversing the accepted power relation between husbands and

In today’s society we often have an all too-casual attitude toward misfortune; Jackson shows us this aspect of human nature through the town’s casual attitude toward the lottery. The men talk of "rain, tractors and taxes" and the women gossip—all the time

The women of the village were not allowed to go up to the box and select a slip of paper themselves and if their husbands were injured or deceased it was necessary to send their oldest son to choose it. Such an incident occurred in "The Lottery" with a family called the Dunbars. Clyde

When a loving, caring, family oriented, women come in conflict with the horrible, despicable, inhumane lottery in a situation in which the town goes together, the results may be a terrible end in a young life. In “The Lottery” written by, Shirley Jackson, the main character Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson’s and the town folk are the main characters of this story. In “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson uses the use of characterization to portray the main ideas of the story. Shirley Jackson also uses the use of plot structure and the point of view in which the story is being told. The Lottery is a way to make a sacrifice for a good harvest in the upcoming season.

As Tessie’s protests continue and the Hutchinson family prepares to draw again the sense of apprehension is one again mounting, this time fearing for whoever wins yet still not knowing what their “prize” will be. “The crowd was quiet. A girl whispered, ‘I hope it’s not Nancy’”, the silence and fear of the crowds manifests in the reader as the three children and their parents all draw slips of paper. Tessie “wins” the lottery and when the narrator explains “although the villagers had forgotten the ritual, and lost they original black box, they still remembered to use stones” (6) its suddenly shockingly clear to the readers what the winner is to receive. The drastic switch from a light and cheerful tone with talk of the beautiful day and children playing to the closing like of “and they were upon her” (7) is in part why this story is so effective. The unforeseen sinister end of the story makes the revelation of the tradition much more shocking and unsettling than had the reader known from the beginning what the outcome would be. Jackson very effectively builds a sense of apprehension and foreboding as she slowly cues the reader into the reality of the situation.

The social standings of the different genders of the town’s people are predominant throughout the story. The people living in this town are very traditional and do not care too much for change. This is directly related to the social standings of the men and the women. The men and women portray the traditional roles of everyday life. The men are the typical breadwinners, going to work every day, enduring hard labor, and supporting their families. The women are characterized as typical housewives who stay at home and take care of the house and family. In this town, the women are looked at as subordinates to their husbands. Before the lottery begins the women would follow in behind their husbands. When it came time for the lottery, the men would choose the first slips for their family (Whittier p.356-357). This is symbolic of the social hierarchy of a society that believes men come before women.

In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, Jackson writes the story from a third person’s point of view to tell a story about this village that celebrates this annual event. The narrator tells us all these details about the event but leaves the most important detail out until the very end. When people normally hear the word “Lottery” they quickly think winning is a positive thing but for the villagers in “The Lottery” winning isn’t something they look forward to. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” uses irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism to build suspense throughout the story and make the ending of the story a realization rather than a surprise to the reader.

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson was written in 1948. The story takes place in a village square of a town on June 27th. The author does not use much emotion in the writing to show how the barbaric act that is going on is look at as normal. This story is about a town that has a lottery once a year to choose who should be sacrificed, so that the town will have a plentiful year for growing crops. Jackson has many messages about human nature in this short story. The most important message she conveys is how cruel and violent people can be to one another. Another very significant message she conveys is how custom and tradition can hold great power over people. Jackson also conveys the message of

The social norm in “The Lottery” was having men as the head of the households which gave them and only them to have the power over their family's destiny. Considering that this story was written post World War II and women by then had been taken more into consideration it is strange to see that the author would include such topic."Seventy-seventh year I been in the lottery," Old Man Warner said as he went through the crowd. "Seventy-seventh time." (Jackson). Just by that sentence alone the reader can understand that this so called “civic duty” they had to go through was not something that had just started, it was something that had been established decades ago. Meaning that the people who lived in this town were used to seeing the men with power while the women just sat back and watched. What seems ridiculous to us now, seemed normal to them because it was what they were practically raised into. In the Article, “ “The Lottery” as Misogynist Parable” by Gayle Whittier she describes the story as anti feminist.

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” set in a small idyllic small town set deep in traditions and secrets. The title would suggest something exciting and happy; something someone won and others, jealous. However, throughout the story, examples of male dominance/female inferiority stand out as a dominating theme as you read and take in what is happening with the lottery and how “unlucky” the winner is.

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a terrifying story about a small town and their traditions. The Ending of the lottery is the most shocking many of its readers have ever read. Why is it so shocking. Shirley Jackson simple but symbolic narrative conveys such a shock that differs from her normal life.