The Lottery Short Story 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.

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.

1. Social psychologists observe that every group develops its own outcast or misfit, who is blamed for all sorts of group malfunctions and woes. Have you observed this dynamic in your own work, school, church, or family groups?

A literary device element that was used in “The Lottery” was setting. Setting from the story relates to the theme of false hopes. As it developed throughout the article, it shows that it took place during the summer time in June in a small village of 300 people. The description of the day states that it “ Was clear and sunny, fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green”(Jackson 1). The quote relates to the theme of false hopes because when you read this you think it is going to be a nice day and good things are going to happen. In reality this is a day that most do not look forward to, and a day that carries the tradition of death.

We are all quick to judge something or someone by a first impression but as we may all know not everything is as if it seems. In Shirley Jackson’s short stories, ‘The Possibility of Evil” and “The Lottery”, Jackson uses specific literary devices in each story. In each short story, everything seems to be normal and typical until the hidden secrets are revealed. Jackson’s uses irony, mood and theme for a better understanding of the two short stories.

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.

The short story “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson begins with villagers gathering in the square, between the post office and the bank, to participate in the lottery which is not what it seems like because the story’s surprising ending reveals that Tessie Hutchinson, who draws the slip of paper with the black spot on it is stoned to death when the lottery ends. Shirley Jackson reveals through the use of irony, foreshadow, and symbolism in the story how much people can get caught up in maintaining a tradition that they wouldn’t question their wrongful actions, such as the murder of an innocent human being.

Over the years many critics have wrote articles on Shirley Jackson's numerous works. Many critics had much to say about Jackson's most famous short story, "The Lottery". Her insights and observations about man and society are disturbing; and in the case of "The Lottery," they are shocking. "The themes themselves are not new, evil cloaked in seeming good, prejudice and hypocrisy, loneliness and frustration, psychological studies of minds that have slipped the bonds of reality" (Friedman). Literary critic, Elizabeth Janeway wrote that, " 'The Lottery' makes its effect without having to state a moral about humanity's need to deflect the knowledge of its own death on a victim. That uneasy consciousness is

In short stories where every word counts literary techniques such as irony, mood, tone, imagery, and figurative language are invaluable. The Lottery and The Possibility of Evil are two short stories written by Shirley Jackson. The Lottery takes place in the year 1948 in a small town of roughly three hundred people. The Possibility of Evil follows seventy-one year old lady as she goes about her day in a small town. In each of these stories Jackson uses mood and irony to get her message across and in The Lottery she uses foreshadowing as well.

Believing in a passion can be persuasive to others. If one has a passion for something, there is an uncontrollable emotion about it. Everyone in the world is different, if it was not that way, the world would not go around. Someone may have a passion for something that another person can not stand. In “The Lottery,” there was a negative passion for people getting stoned. The emotions of others that did not get stoned were horrific for the one getting stoned to death. The father in “Without Title,” had a huge passion for hunting buffalo. The only problem was that his wife did not let him, she made him work in the city while he would have worked otherwise in the woods. In “Texas vs. Johnson,” as a whole community and around the world, there

When “The Lottery” was first published in 1948, it created an enormous controversy and great interest in its author, Shirley Jackson.

Looks can be deceiving as shown In Shirley Jackson’s fiction short stories, “The Possibility of Evil” ,and “The Lottery”. In these stories there are both similarities and differences. In both short stories there is an unexpected ending. Although both endings are very different in many ways. Literary devices that are used in both stories also show great similarities, and differences.

Three literary devices used in The Lottery and The Possibility of Evil are man vs society conflict, dramatic irony, and imagery. In Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery there is use of man vs society conflict, situational irony, and imagery. There is also use of these three literary devices in one of Shirley Jackson’s other short stories, The Possibility of Evil. Both stories are about a small town with a female protagonist and the end of the story has an ironic ending for the two protagonists. The use of these literary devices makes both of the stories alike and different.

There are many Americans and people all over the world that live their lives following traditions that are passed down from one generation to another. A tradition can be as simple as cooking a recipe to how you raise your children and holiday traditions. Culture plays a significant role in how people live their day to day lives. In Shirley Jacksons “The Lottery” the people that lived in the town follow a tradition every year. It's easy to understand why Shirley Jackson’s Lottery caused controversy when it was published shortly after World War II in 1948. The Lottery has been dramatized, televised and turned into a ballet. It is taught in high schools and colleges. (Whittier). The Lottery held many questions about traditions that have

Since reading The Lottery by Shirely Jackson, I’ve been thinking more about culture, traditions, and perspective. Not just that, but how it can sometimes take adopting an unbiased, non judgmental, or outside perspective in order to see things for what they really are. The way that the narrator in this story adopts such a position allows for a clearer view of the events of the story.