The Lottery and Harrison Bergeron

Some of the audience might be left in a state of mind were they feel incomplete and think the story was poorly told in these fictions. Yet, others left to think about why this ritual even exists, and why Mrs Hutchinson was to be the one chosen. To answer the question about why this lottery even exist the character “old man warner” can explain. He explains that there is some kind of connection between the ritual and the corn in the village. He stated, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”. This tells us that this is some sort of fertility ritual, were if someone dies, it brings great fortune to the land. In order to receive life, they take a life.

Now that all the papers are handed out the men begin to unfold the slips of paper to reveal blank pieces of paper. However one man is left with a paper with a black dot on it. The man unlucky enough to receive this slip of paper is Bill Hutchinson. Promptly Tessie Hutchinson, Bill’s wife, begins to panic saying he didn’t have enough time to pick his paper. Being a reasonable official Mr. Summers allows Hutchinson and each of his family members to reselect a paper. Bill, his two sons, one daughter, and wife Tessie each take a paper and Tessie Hutchinson is left with the paper with the black dot. The townspeople begin to clear a space around Tessie Hutchinson. One of the younger boys from earlier in the story hands her son a stone. While she screams “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,” the townspeople begin stoning her, the lottery “winner”.

Being the oldest community member, Mr. Warren is the only character in the story who displays any sort of connection to its original intent. The younger members of the community carry out the ritual in a detached manner. In addressing the difference in attitude between Mr. Warren and the other community members, A.R. Coulthard contends that, “Old Man Warner is usually taken to be the most allegorically evil devotee of custom, but he is merely the most honest”. Old man Warner is the only community member that still wants to do the lottery for its original purpose. He believes a sacrifice will bring a good harvest, while “the others are willing to risk their own life for the sheer pleasure of an unpunished annual killing” (Coulthard, A.R.). This leads readers to question whether human nature is inherently good or bad, a theme which Jackson explores through “The Lottery”

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.

In the end of the story Tessie Hutchinson, does in fact die from the lottery. This is proving the idea that those who live by conformity may die from it. The idea that those who live by conformity may die by it is shown when no one tries to end the lottery, also when Tessie does not protest until she is affected by the lottery, and finally when the townspeople do not understand the true

Tess’s tone in her last words before being stoned is desperate and hysterical, because she knows that her protests will not result in anything but death. The black box used in the lottery each year isn’t something that the reader would usually associate with a happy lottery. The box is described as, “shabby…splintered…faded and stained,” yet no one in the community wants to replace it because, “no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box.” The color black symbolizes the savage and evil nature of the lottery as well as the townspeople’s participation in it and the shabbiness of the box indicates how outdated the tradition truly is. Like the lottery, the box is well worn with its real purpose lost, and the townspeople are extremely reluctant in letting it go, even getting defensive when the idea of it is brought up. After the stoning of the “winner” occurs, the townspeople go on with their lives as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened. The lottery takes less than two hours so that the townspeople could, “…get home for noon dinner,” immediately following the execution. The normalcy of the lottery to the townspeople is horrifying and all throughout the story everyone seems ok with this evil tradition, children are shown laughing and their parents, gossiping and talking about work. When Tess Hutchinson chooses the paper slip with a black dot making her the “winner”, Bill Hutchinson, her husband, as

Old Man Warner is the epitome of the lottery and its tradition. He is the oldest man in town, having participated in seventy-seven lotteries total. As a steadfast advocate for keeping things exactly how they stand and someone who is threatened by the idea of change, he distinguishes all the towns and the young people who have stopped pursuing the lottery as a “pack of crazy fools” (Jackson, 27). He is trapped within the past traditions, even if they should not sustain. Being the antagonist, Old Man Warner does not veer away from the tradition, even though many others do not agree with it.

‘The Lottery’ and ‘Harrison Bergeron’, two short stories depicting dystopian ways of life were written in the mid-twentieth century just after the second world war and in the midst of the fight for equality in western civilization. These stories display commonalities and differences in areas such as their authoritarian atmosphere, perceptions of equality, and based on their general arch and themes.

The lottery and Harrison Bergeron there is a wrong equality. In ‘’The lottery’’ is a town gathering that occurs every year, in which all citizens required to attend in the town square. Jackson shows that winning the lottery is not ironically bad thing, when usually winning a lottery is positive thing, but in lottery the lucky winner who draws the

Therefore, because of the lottery being such a respectable tradition, it is strictly enforced to keep it original and antique. For instance, when Mr. Summers addresses the crowd “All ready? Now I’ll read the names –heads of families first—and the men come up to take a paper out of the box. Keep the paper folded in your hands without looking at it until everyone has had a turn, everything clear” (Jackson, 3)? This quote is a perfect example of the rules and regulations of the lottery, because even though the members of the village have heard this time and time again, Mr. Summers still repeats it. He repeats it because if he does not, the laws of the lottery will be broken which can bring about a bad harvest. Mr. Summers follows an elaborate system of rules for creating the slips of paper and making up the lists of families. When the lottery begins, he lays out a series of specific rules for the villagers, including who should draw slips of paper from the black box and when to open those papers. For generations and generations, these rules were always followed; to insure a good harvest, and follow tradition. The lottery’s unique rules lead up to the randomness of the murder at the end. Meanwhile in the short story Harrison Bergeron, the government admires an egalitarian point of view instead of traditional. The United States of America is run by the Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers. Due to the 211th 212th and 213th

there is quiet conversation between friends. Mr. Summers, who runs the lottery, arrives with a black box. The original box was lost many years ago, even before Old Man Warner, the oldest person in the village, can remember. Each year Mr. Summers suggests that they make a new box, but no one is willing to go against tradition. The people were willing to use slips of paper instead of woodchips as markers, as the village had grown too large for the wood chips to fit in the box. A list of all the families and households in the village is made, and several matters of who will draw for each family are decided. Mr. Summers is sworn in as the official of the lottery in a specific ceremony. Some people remember that there used to be a song and salute as part of the ceremony, but these are no longer performed. Tessie Hutchinson arrives in the square late because she has forgotten what day it was. She joins her husband and children before the lottery can begin. Mr. Summers explains the lottery’s rules: each family will be called up to the box and draw a slip of paper. One of the villagers tells Old Man Warner that the people of a nearby village are thinking about ending the lottery. Old Man Warner laughs at the idea. He believes that giving up the lottery would cause nothing but trouble, and a loss of civilized behavior. A woman responds that some places have already given up the lottery. Everyone finishes drawing, and each

Once upon a time there was a little village. In this village three hundred people happily farmed and played and went about their business. The children went to school while the men cut wood or farmed, and the women cooked and cleaned. Every summer in June each of villagers took part in the traditional lottery drawing and one villager was picked for the prize – a stoning. In 1948, Shirley Jackson published this short story known as “The Lottery,” in The New York Times. The story’s plot shocked readers all over America as they learned of the horror happening in such a quaint town. Jackson purposely set this tragic event in this innocent setting to emphasize humanity’s cruelty. Using her appalling short story, The Lottery,

Shirley Jackson?s insights and observations about society are reflected in her shocking and disturbing short story The Lottery. Jackson reveals two general attitudes in this story: first is the shocking tendency for societies to select a scapegoat and second is the idea that communities are victims of social tradition and rituals.

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.

Shirley Jackson 's ‘The Lottery’ is a classic American short story known for its shocking twist ending and its insightful commentary on cultural traditions. It was originally printed in The New Yorker magazine in 1948.The tale begins with all the villagers gathering in the town square for the annual lottery as if it were just another day. Children are playing with stones while the adults swap stories of farming and gossip. It 's not until the lottery begins, over halfway through the story that we start to suspect that all is not as it seems. Literature continues to be a means to expose the darkness of that inequality (Gioia, 2013). Writers carry the burden of exposing the darkness that lies at the heels of ignorance as Jackson so