Conformity And Rebellion In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

The stones that the boys gather in the beginning are a good source of symbolism. “...the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones…” (Jackson 1). Their choice of these certain rocks symbolizes how cruel this tradition is. The purpose of these smooth rocks is that they will cause a long painful death which was taught by their elders example. A black box that is used to pull the slips of paper out of, to determine the winner, is a strong source of symbolism. “Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (Jackson 1). She also writes “The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained” (Jackson 2). Black is the color of the box, but black also represents death that the tradition holds. She states that the box grows shabbier every year. This could be compared the tradition itself. Every year this tradition gets shabbier, and other villages have gotten rid of this horrific tradition. Eventually the box will fall apart and never be rebuilt in hopes that the tradition will too.

In “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson conveys that tradition destructs society through a long-established random selection process that leads to the disgusting execution of Tessie Hutchinson. For instance, in response to news that a village over north relinquishes the traditional lottery, Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, exclaims, “Pack of crazy fools . . . Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them. Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more, live that way for a while” (Jackson 3). Old Man Warner immediately dismisses new, “young” ideas, regarding them as stupid and absurd because they are unorthodox. Incorrectly concluding that change further regresses

Old Man Warner represents the sentiment of tradition that exists in most of the townspeople. He complains that much of the "ritual has been allowed to lapse." This is true. The only part of the original tradition that has been preserved is the use of the box and the stones. In a conversation with Mrs. Adams, he calls those thinking of giving up the lottery, "a pack of fools." To him, and many villagers, the lottery, Old Man Warner quotes an old adage "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon," as if a ritual sacrifice is necessary for a profitable season. This superstition is what probably deters many of the townsfolk from giving up the old tradition. "There's always been a lottery," Old Man Warner says, but he also adds, "it's not the way is used to be, people ain't the way they used to be."

Shirley Jackson’s use of characters is very detrimental to keeping the theme of the story lively. Whether they play a minor or significant role to the story each character reveals a lot of information about the tradition of the lottery and its intentions, varying from subtle to obvious details. One of the most important characters is Old Man Warner, an elderly man who is very conservative about the preservation of this tradition He holds it dearly to his heart, despite the fact that this tradition is slowly deteriorating in villages around him. Old Man Warner represents the stubborn nature of all the townspeople who are reluctant to

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a story littered with warnings and subtext about the dangers a submissive society can pose. While the opening is deceptively cheery and light Jackson uses an array of symbols and ominous syntax to help create the apprehensive and grim tone the story ends with. Her portrayal of the town folk as blindly following tradition represents the world during World War II when people’s failure to not mindlessly accept and heed authority lead to disastrous consequences. . Shirley Jackson uses a large array of techniques to help convey the idea that recklessly following and accepting traditions and orders can lead to disastrous consequences.

Shirley Jackson is known for her creative writing and plot twisting stories such as “The Possibility of Evil” and “The Lottery”. Jackson always finds a way to leave the reader somewhat confused and wanting to read more. In both of these stories it is a small town where everyone knows one another but something about each of these towns isn't right. In “The Lottery” it turns out that each year, one family, then individual from that family is chosen to be stoned to death for a sacrifice. Then in “The Possibility of Evil” it turns out that one old woman has been writing rude anonymous letters to the people of the town. In both essays Jackson uses many literary devices that help her create these stories that she is so known for. Some of the literary devices she uses are situational and verbal irony, and mood and foreshadowing. She uses a fair amount of all three of these throughout her 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.

Jackson also uses symbolism to show the reader how blindly following old traditions can lead to the murder of an innocent person. One symbol that she uses in the story is the tradition of the lottery that has been practiced in the village for years. Jackson states in the story that “The lottery was conducted--as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program” (The Lottery). This indicates that the lottery was a normal thing for the villagers even though they were aware that someone was going to get killed at the end of the lottery. The villagers treated the lottery as any other normal tradition. The lottery represents a tradition that has been going on for generations and no one questions it even if it seems cruel and illogical. One of the characters named Old Man Warner is so much committed to the tradition that he believes that if they stop holding the lottery people will return to the olden days. In the story when Mr. Adams says that they are talking about giving up the lottery in the north village, Old Man Warner responds by saying “Listening to

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 “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and the historical event of blacklisting Americans during the 1950s, the authors convey that loyalty causes us to turn against others around you through symbols. In “The Lottery”, loyalty to tradition caused a society to turn on one another. “The Lottery” was an annual tradition where each head of household (the dominant male in each home) picked a slip of paper. If the piece selected had a black dot on it, you had to go through the selection process again, but this time each individual member of your family had to choose a slip out of the box. Whoever chose the black dot out of there family had won the Lottery, and would be sacrificed for a good corn season. On the seventy-seventh lottery, the

The story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is about a town’s tradition of ‘the lottery’. It takes place in an ordinary town, but has a tradition of a lottery in which the ‘winner’ gets stoned. Most people in the town want to keep the lottery, as it is tradition and is important to the town’s history. Other lines in the story suggest the town’s people seem like they want to stop it. A lesson the story suggests is tradition is not always a good thing.

In "The Lottery" Shirley Jackson presents us with a shocking story guaranteed to outrage the reader. The author brings together the residents of a small village as they are gathered for an annual event referred to as the lottery. The families of the village are represented by their names on small pieces of paper, which are placed in a black box. The appointed townsperson oversees the drawing to determine who pulls the slip of paper that "wins" the drawing. The characters seem ordinary enough, and they appear to be pleasant mild people participating in an innocuous activity. There is a huge shock when the story turns violent. The peaceful village people are choosing which person in their community they are going to

“The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a disturbing social practice in a village. Besides, there were about three hundred citizens in the small village where the setting took place. The introduction of “the lottery” is about an event that takes place every year on 27th in the month of June, where the community members of this tradition organize a lottery. Everyone in the village including small children to adults is expected to participate. Besides, when this story was introduced at the very first in 1948 by Shirley Jackson, many people were upset. This is because this story was so strange to undertake in modern enlightened times.

Old Man Warner is a man who has lived through more than seventy lottery drawings, and has the traditions of the village deep within his roots. Old Man Warner gets word that in a northern village they are considering to stop the lottery tradition, and he just says that they are crazy (Jackson ). From his reaction to the statement made by Mr. Adams, we can tell that he does not want there to be change because the tradition is imbedded in his system. What others may see as brutal or heinous, he sees as mandatory and obligatory. The men in the village have the ultimate say in what goes on, and when changes need to be made.

Though tradition is known to stay the same, the natural diversity occurring in civilization makes change inevitable. Despite this observation Jackson portrays how humans tend to stick to routine. In the town square after Tessie wins the lottery, the narrator comments, “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original box, they still remembered to use stones” (Jackson 6). Characters refuse to stop a tradition even though it no longer yields significance to them. This is because some remain set in their own ways and are trained to perceive change with a negative tone even if it is truly for the better. After Mr. Summers calls his name, Warner says to the crowd gathered in the town square, “Seventy-seventh year I been in the lottery… seventy-seventh time” (Jackson 4). Through this statement, he implies that society and its habits should not be changed. This man, who ironically has never been the