Why Is The Lottery Wrong

Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery” is a short story about the annual gathering of the villagers to conduct an ancient ritual. The ritual ends in the stoning of one of the residents of this small village. This murder functions under the guise of a sacrament that, at one time, served the purpose of ensuring a bountiful harvest. This original meaning, however, is lost over the years and generations of villagers. The loss of meaning has changed the nature and overall purpose of the lottery. This ritual is no longer a humble sacrifice that serves the purpose of securing the harvest but instead is a ceremony of violence and murder only existing for the pleasure found in this violence.

In Shirley Jackson’s "The Lottery," what appears to be an ordinary day in a small town takes an evil turn when a woman is stoned to death after "winning" the town lottery. The lottery in this story reflects an old tradition of sacrificing a scapegoat in order to encourage the growth of crops. But this story is not about the past, for through the actions of the town, Jackson shows us many of the social ills that exist in our own lives.

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.

Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” is about a bizarre ritual performed in a town in which the townspeople proceed to follow every year. In a black, worn box they place all the names of the community. Once all the names are placed inside, Mr. Summers draws a name. After the name is chosen, this member will be stoned to death by the others in the community. Tessie Hutchinson in the story tries to reject the repetitive tradition of the lottery.

Traditions are widespread among many different people and cultures; It is an explanation for acting without thinking. Not all traditions are a good thing, though, and blindly following them can lead to harsh consequences. The villagers in a small town in “The Lottery” gather together annually to participate in this tradition, where one person in the town is randomly chosen in a drawing to be violently stoned to death by citizens. It has been around for seventy-seven years and everyone partakes in it. People always attend, showing the importance of tradition amongst the society. However, in the short story, “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson uses many literary devices to show that traditions are not always meant to be followed.

The foreshadowing Jackson uses in this story helps to show how tradition should not be followed without knowing the origin. For example, small children make a “great pile of stones” (Jackson 457). Although gathering rocks seems harmless, the reason behind the children’s play is vile. The children are included in the stoning of an innocent person because the tradition has to be instilled early on so that they do not see the cruelty in the act. Jackson gives readers another sense of foreboding when Tessie, the ultimate winner, arrives to the lottery late

Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery is set in a small village who relies deeply on their crops. This story is about a sacrifice that takes place every year in which the heads of households draw for their families in order to see who “wins” and saves the town. The readers grow close to a character named Tessie who decides to speak her mind when it’s too late. In the end, the townsfolk realise that what comes around goes around.

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

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is about a town of 300 people who have an annual lottery to decide who is stoned to death (stones thrown at them until they die). The purpose of the lottery is for good luck with the harvest and crops. The townspeople only remember the purpose and tidbits of the traditional lottery. Because it is a long-standing tradition, the town is too afraid to change anything or give up the lottery entirely.

"It isn't fair, it isn't right, Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her" (Jackson). Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery” is brimming with illustrations of how thoughtless repetition dilutes foundations that were once rock solid. The traditions of the village in the story lead to the stoning to death of one of the residents on a yearly basis. The people were not so clear as to how, when, or why this took place every year; however, this did not stop them from continuing with an encore. The limited view they had on life and of growth was the road block that prevented any major change. Traditions can overcome society's better judgement.

In a dystopian village, “A stone hit her in the side of the head. It isn’t fair, it isn’t right, Mrs. Hutchinson screamed and then they were upon her” (7). Keeping the tradition of the lottery alive means that the members of Tessie’s family, her friends, and the villagers will stone her to death. Tessie Hutchinson is the unluckiest person this year, having won the lottery. The theme of “The Lottery” is that there are some traditions that should not be kept alive.

In society people give up their natural rights to the people with more power. The story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a small village and their annual lottery. Every year everyone gets together to see who is picked out as the winner. Since the village first started they have been doing these lotteries. When someones name is picked out they are stoned to death. In the story the person that got picked out was ironically the person that was fighting against this tradition. In society there is a struggle between personal morals versus following blindly the general masses.

I disagree with the idea of the people thinking that they are honest yet, take part in some weird town ritual like The Purge. The title leaves me thinking someone going to get rich. The lottery usually means a chance of positive outcome for the wealthy. The lottery system results in winners and losers and the loss of life is crazy. In the end the horrific event is an better outcome for the ones holding on to the stones. The act of taking a life is wrong but the chance to live another day is a celebration.

“The Lottery” a short story by Shirley Jackson, features a small town during the time of their lottery. The lottery is an annual event, organized by Mr. Summers. It is a highly important time, as the whole town comes to the town square on the day of the lottery. The guidelines are quite simple: everyone takes a slip of paper out of the symbolic black box, and the slip of paper with the black mark carved on it, is the “lucky winner”. But their definition of the lottery is different一usually, a lottery is a valuable thing to win. But when Tessie Hutchinson, the “lucky winner” gets her reward by getting stoned to death by the rest of the villagers, it is clear that winning this lottery can't be a good affair... So what is the purpose of this lottery? Rather than discontinuing the lottery, the town continues with it because they don't want to upset an old tradition.

One could make a rather convincing argument that Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery is one of the most famous short stories written in the 20th-century. For me at least, I believe I have read the story three times in school before I read it again for this class. While it has had an impact each time I have read it, the twist of the end really only does shock the reader the first time. I still remember the shock of my sixth grade self at reading the town turn against and begin to stone Tessie Hutchinson.