The Opening Ceremony In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Andrew Lansley once said “Peer pressure and social norms are powerful influences on behavior, and they are classic excuses.” Most people tend to follow cultural customs because they have grown with them or it has been forced onto them with factors such as parents or their environment. However, is it always right to follow these customs even if they are in fact considered wrong? Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a short story about the cultural norms of a small community and its annual lottery ritual; a stoning. Jackson overthrows the story by making the lottery a corrupt occurrence rather than a victory. The reader would probably think that the “winner” of the lottery would be benefited but in this case the victory was not so delightful. In her short story “The Lottery” Jackson seemingly uses ordinary details about the setting and the townspeople to characterize her theme that although society claims to be civilized, and may appear so, it is inherently barbaric.

The author of “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson decided it was important to write this short story in order to inform the readers about another dimension, where a certain common tradition gets prized with something obscure. Some readers can be shocked when reading this story, because they might be surprised and even shocked with the themes that play along in the storyline. This short story “The Lottery” was so controversial at the time, because in the date it was published in June 24, 1948 there were so many themes from the stories that could relate to past events or even event that were taking place at the time.

Gilman make the reader so passionate to know what is going to happen next because they are two

On a clear early-summer day, citizens in a small village gather in the town square. The children arrive first, running about and playing while collecting stones in their pockets. The men and women of the town trickle in, talking amongst themselves and observing the children’s growing pile of rocks. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Summers, the town’s main civic activity leader, enters the town square with a large black box and a three-legged stool. Small slips of paper fill the battered box, and citizens excitedly anticipate the drawing. Mrs. Hutchinson, a loud and outspoken woman, rushes to the square to join her husband, Bill. Laughing off her tardiness, she engages with other women in the crowd before the commencement of the drawing. Without delay, Mr. Summers begins to call surnames of families in alphabetical order, allowing the head of the household to select a single paper from the box. Solemnly, the men select the folded papers, keeping them hidden until they are instructed to do otherwise. In the meantime, there is light discussion about nearby townships abandoning the tradition of the lottery, much to the dismay

The Black Box in the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson signifies the physical connection between the villagers and their unwillingness to give up their tradition. “The Lottery” is very unpredictable and quite misleading. The black box has no functionality, except every June 27th. Shirley Jackson depicts the black box as an important and traditional tool.

In the beginning of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” June 27th is as normal as any other summer day in the small village. The morning was described as “clear and sunny” with “flowers blossoming profusely and the grass richly green” (Jackson, 1). The attitudes of the children are rather happy and normal as they begin to gather playing “boisterous[ly]” (Jackson, 1). By the end of the story, the beautiful, normal summer day as described in the beginning is a day that every member, including the children, of the town partakes in a public stoning of a member of their village. In this dark and unpredictable short story, Shirley Jackson uses tone and objects to convey a message of tradition and murder.

“The Lottery” is a fictional short story written by Shirley Jackson is a that signifies the obeying rules and tradition, as well as being rebellious. This all suggests that their not so lucky “lottery” is a conventional ceremony. The story centers on a small town on the town’s day of their once-a-year Lottery. The significance of the town Lottery is to ensure their belief to sacrifice in order to be given a plethora of rain to obtain a good farming season the coming year. The story focuses around the erroneous belief that if the villagers sacrifice a human to their Weather God, then the villagers will receive good weather to grow crops. The villagers believe that if they do not sacrifice, then they will be given insufficient farming conditions. “The Lottery” displays many literary elements throughout the pages, however, the ones that are most evident are the story’s setting, symbolism, and irony; the author constructs a paradoxical story through these elements.

Easily regarded as one of America’s most beloved short stories, “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, leaves readers with excitement and perhaps a small sense of doubt. Doubt could be an aspect of the reader’s mind due to the gory fact of the cultural tradition in the small farming town of the story. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” displays the theme of unwavering ritualistic tradition and symbolism. This means the village is unable to move past their tradition while symbolism is shown through character’s names such as Old Man Warner and Tessie and through various objects in the story like the stool and the black box.

The Lottery, a short story by author Shirley Jackson, is a representation of our somewhat conformist society as a whole, within communities, not only in America, but around the world. Jackson, utilizes small town settings and symbolism through her creative writing style. The Lottery, was written in 1948, approximately three years after the liberation of the World War II concentration camp Auschwitz. Not surprisingly, some people still deny that the Holocaust ever happened. Jackson illustrates that even a small towns, tight knit population, can discount evil, and evil is still prevailing in our current society (for example: the terrorist attacks on September 11; the massacres in France.).

In many stories, settings are constructed to help build the mood and to foreshadow of things to come. "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a story in which the setting sets up the reader to think of positive outcomes. However, this description of the setting foreshadows exactly the opposite of what is to come. In addition, the theme that we learn of at the end leads us to think of where the sanity of some human beings lies.

On a beautiful summer’s day, a town of villagers have assembled in the town’s square to conduct the lottery. It is not clear at this point why this traditional gathering has taken place. The impression that someone may win a prize or gift may be envisioned. As the story progresses, subtle hints are dropped that something is amiss. Ironically, the image of perfection no longer holds true to this small town once the “winner” is revealed and stoned to death. The mob mentality of the town is unveiled as they all partake in the barbaric tradition. In “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson uses aspects of the lottery to suggest how dangerous it is to blindly follow tradition.

Literary Analysis of The Lottery Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is about a lottery drawing held to choose randomly who will be the one chosen to be stoned to death by their village. The lottery is an annual tradition practiced by the townspeople for over seventy years in order to have a good harvest. The author uses a variety of literary tools such as tone, symbolism, and foreshadowing to represent his true purpose for writing the story. By creating suspense through the use of descriptive word choices and writing in limited awareness, the author is able to keep the reader on the edge of their seat, dying to know the true identity of the lottery.

Ever wondered what perfect society would be like? At some point everyone has dreamt of a society where there is total peace and equality for all peoples alike. When reading “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, she describes what most people would think of as the perfect small town setting. In the town, families and friends get together every year to hold an annual lottery in the town’s square. However; this is not an average lottery and it turns out that this small village has a very dark secret. “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula LE Guin , is more imaginary than anything else. In Omelas there are green hills and beautiful meadows. People throw big parties with all the food and drink you could possibly consume. But this perfect society in the green hills has a dirty secret too. There is a small child about the age of 12 kept in a closet, and that child must bear all the pain for the entire city of Omelas. Without the child the city is no different than any other, and some of its citizens can’t forget about the secret and choose to leave. In these stories both authors discuss the idea of a perfect world and challenge the reader to consider what a utopia really is. After reading these two articles, the authors show you there cannot be a utopia if even a single person is suffering, which is also why there can’t be a perfect society because of human nature.

While reading the story “The Lottery”, it was clear that there must be a deeper meaning. You, as a reader, will notice that the ideas and topics focused on throughout Jackson’s paper draws the reader into determining a deeper-rooted content that lays far beyond a small town and traditional ceremonies. While reading “The Lottery” it is important to keep an open mind and think outside the box, understanding the context in which this simple story grows to be a complex and profound metaphor The story resembles an American small town, Population 300, and a closely linked community. The town gathering seems honest at first but becomes darker as the story carries out. Closely linked families such as the Hutchinson’s and the Graves show traditional

Of all Miss Jackson’s eerie and gruesome fantasies, ‘’The Lottery published in The New Yorker magazine, was the best known and most baffling to readers. ’’ After the story was published, many readers of the magazine wrote and asked what the story meant; many still want to know. While the author declined to tell what she meant, she does provide the careful reader with some clues. The tone is established very early in the story.