Lottery Essay

In addition, the author mentions a bank and post office as key buildings surrounding the town square, but what about a church or courthouse? Surely these two buildings would also be in any traditional town square! The lottery is compared to the town’s celebration of Halloween, not a joyous celebration such as Christmas or Valentine’s Day-- but a rather dark, surreal, spooky, grotesque, and ominous holiday. The reader is told that school has let out for the summer, and yet the “feeling of liberty…

for tradition makes it all that more unpalatable. The apparent disdain expressed by the villagers is also quite disturbing in that they treat the lottery as a normal daily event taking no time to fully appreciate the actions they are about to perform. It is clear; we don't make our own decisions, and authority influences it. As Suspense in the Lottery plays the most the first hint that something strange is happening is brought to our attention in the second paragraph, after Jackson describes the…

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” illustrates several aspects of the darker side of human nature. The villagers in Jackson’s “The Lottery” unquestioningly adhere to a tradition which seems to have lost its relevance and meaning to their lives even when it requires that they brutally kill by stoning one of their neighbors and friends. The ritual that is the lottery shows how easily and willingly people will give up their free will and suspend their consciences to conform to rituals and people in authority…

To win a lottery should be an exciting and joyful thing, but in “The Lottery” created by Shirley Jackson, winning the lottery in the story would be the most unfortunate thing for everyone as it equals to death. “The Lottery” is a tradition to pick a scapegoat, it has been carried out in the village for a very long time and it is a part of life for everyone. No one wants to question the tradition as they believe that it would help them to having a great harvest. A Third person narrator tells the…

and took his place between his father and his eldest brother"(Lottery). Jackson gives very plain, solid-sounding names to her characters Adams, Warner, Dunbar, Martin, Hutchinson, etc. "The name Mr. Summers is particularly suitable for sunny, jovial Joe Summers it emphasizes the surface tone of the piece and underscores the ultimate irony. Mr. Graves the postmaster and the assistant to Mr. Summers in the administration of the lottery has a name that might well signify the tragic undercurrent,…

symbol in “The Lottery” are the stones used to murder Tessie. They symbolize murder. “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use the stones” (Jackson). The stones were used by the ancestors, who were more barbaric the further back they go. “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones” (Jackson). In the lottery, the children participate…

despise of cruel and unjust treatment of human beings as she tells the story of a town’s tradition of sacrificing a human in return for a good harvest. (Reagan 1997) Jackson begins the story with a description of a small village that held a Lottery in the early part of summer each year. Jackson provides a peaceful description of the village, “… clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green (Jackson 251). The…

killed. “The Lottery,” Jackson’s most famous work, is often called a gothic horror tale. “The Lottery” is considered a part of the gothic genre because of the feeling of suspense as well as horror it brings to the reader, who may not fully understand the purpose of the lottery until the end (Wilson 144). “The Lottery developed in the story is very horrific because when we here about a Lottery we think about achieve something good but, in the story achieving a lottery is getting stoned to…

By calling them young fools, Old Man Warner is criticizing them for changing something that has always been. For a character to know nothing but the Lottery for their whole life, changing something as big as thing tradition could be dire to their civilization. With the Catholic religion, it has been active for decades. Whether you are Catholic or not is passed through generations of families. When Catholicism is brought up through a family, children start going to church when they are very young…

Later on, Mrs. Adams explains how "Some places have already quit the lotteries," and Warner quickly discerns that there is "nothing but trouble in that. Pack of young fools"(266). One source says that "Old Man Warner is usually taken to be the most allegorically evil devotee of custom, but he is merely the most honest. He is also the only villager who seems to believe in the supposed original purpose of the sacrifice: ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon,' he intones" (Coulthard 226). Another points…

All the towns people get together on June 27 in the middle of the town square for the drawing of the lottery. The townspeople the lottery is just like any other town gathering like a holiday program, school play, or a dance. Mr. Summers is the person in charge of the lottery; she has to gather the information from all the townspeople about their households the day before the lottery to make a list for the next day. He places papers in a box and mixes them around with one paper with a black dot on…

of someone who found the idea of killing another human being to be a game. In “The Lottery” the game of death consumed an innocent life solely because a few individuals founded a tradition; and in “The Most Dangerous Game” the game of death consumed an innocent life solely because one person thought it was merely entertaining. Both authors portrayed the antagonist as friendly, warm and welcoming. In the Lottery, the antagonists were the families whom participated in the drawing of a name that lead…

people in the World Wars and Korea and even Vietnam and the rationale follows that if it was o.k. then, it is acceptable now. Old man Warner took refuge in historical tradition when his name was called in the lottery and he moved forward saying " seventy-seventh year I have been in the lottery, seventy seventh time"(81). The logic seems to be that because we have done something a certain way in the past that correctly determines how we should act in the future. A continuation of blind adherence…

Hazing is a ritual performed in high schools, gangs, colleges, and even your own best friend can be in on it. Perhaps just as barbaric as the stoning, no good at all results from hazing. The running of the bulls, in Italy, may also be compared to The Lottery. Many deaths have been cause by the bulls running ramped through the streets, yet this tradition is not about to be abolished due to the endless support of participators along with media and tourists. What does it take to end these cruel and misunderstood…

arguing that how the lottery was very barbaric ritual and the traditions beliefs has become a normal thing among the villagers. Further, the children even know what the lottery is about. This therefore proves how barbaric this village. In addition, modern societies today do not allow their children to participate in such events of violence and murderous acts. Comparing the time period of those days to today, many of the traditions and rituals that took place in the lottery has almost been demolished…

knowing what their “prize” will be. “The crowd was quiet. A girl whispered, ‘I hope it’s not Nancy’”, the silence and fear of the crowds manifests in the reader as the three children and their parents all draw slips of paper. Tessie “wins” the lottery and when the narrator explains “although the villagers had forgotten the ritual, and lost they original black box, they still remembered to use stones” (6) its suddenly shockingly clear to the readers what the winner is to receive. The drastic switch…

read the text” (Parker 317-318). The actual reader, meanwhile, is little more than the actual audience encountering the text, while the implied reader is based on the notion of implicit assumptions of what audiences know and do not know. For “The Lottery,” then, it is logical to suppose that Shirley Jackson may have thought an ideal reader as one capable of analyzing works for close reading or deeper subtexts, while an implied reader would be one who is unaware of the plot’s surprise ending. Although…

park, the site of the last bomb of the first blitz” (Greene, 1990, p.3). Nothing in both stories foreshadows any act of violence as a ritual murder or destruction of the house. Moreover, in The Lottery and The Destructors, the setting greatly influences characters of the stories. For instance, in The Lottery, a traditional ritual is performed almost for seventy-seven-years among disturbing piles of stones gathered by all citizens of the villages, which metaphorically symbolize violence. Compared to…

Jackson’s “The Lottery” illustrates through the characterization of Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson, the use of atmosphere, and allegorical writing that violence exists in all places and though viewed as a necessary evil by some, peace ought to be the sought after tradition in such a wicked world. "The United States during the late 1940s and 1950s was largely a patriarchal society, one in which women were expected to stay at home and raise the children. Recent critics have interpreted “The Lottery” from a feminist…

role. Nervousness amongst the people is manifested due to the children's reluctance to join their parents in the square. At this particular moment, there is a feeling that this lottery is not going to have a pleasant outcome. Furthermore, this lottery does not arouse the optimistic personalities that lotteries are known for, but rather conveys the apprehensive side of everyone in town and how serious it is to them. When Mr. Summers cites, "Well now...guess we better get started, get…

of hope that lotteries bring to the table; they also provide very important funding to their communities. People who are uneducated about the lottery look down upon it. Mainly people believe it is nothing but a scam along with an addictive way rush that can drain away all of the players money. Apart from personal enjoyment and hope, lotteries give back and support their communities. Nation wide states need the support of its people before creating a lottery. California’s State Lottery was erected…

However, Mr. Summers an official of the lottery, “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” (410). The thought of changing the black box could symbolize the idea of doing away with the lottery. Granted the villagers may dread what the black box represents, tradition has a more powerful embrace on them. Gradually, as Mr. Summer prepares for the lottery, the rest of the villagers arrive…

Families stand together and 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…

symbolizes how long the lottery has been operating. "The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. 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, The Granta... page 63) They are all afraid of getting chosen for the lottery and so instead…

terrible thing. All the members of the community participate in this horrible act because it is a tradition. The people believe that if it is a tradition it then the lottery must not be a bad thing. When Old Man Warner heard that some communities had stopped the lottery he called them a “pack of crazy fools.” He said, “There’s always been a lottery.”(247) Jackson shows how a tradition can be so brutal yet everyone will go with it because it’s in fact tradition. To go against tradition would be to go against…

in Christian beliefs God and the bible are all but inseparable, much to the chagrin of others. Slips of paper, as insignificant as they may seem on the surface, take on meaning of great magnitude in the story. As each individual participant in the lottery finds that there paper is not the one marked, the paper is released and drifts away. The slips of paper come to represent the participant’s souls, here representing the untainted soul, drifting away and remaining free, as if going to heaven. In contrast…

changed, the whole thing was let to pass. "Mr. Summers," the town's lottery official, "spoke frequently about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much as tradition as was represented by the black box." (Jackson 422) This illustrates the people are blind to the idea of even tampering with their sacred box. They have grown with the tradition and find discomfort in the idea of change. "Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking about a new box, but every year the subject…

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”. 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…

If either of these stories were written in first person point of view the entire plot and conflict of the story would change and the audience would have a different outlook on the overall story. In “The Lottery”, if the audience would have known it was a negative lottery it would have changed the effect the ending had on the audience. However, “Hills Like White Elephants”, would have more of an effect on the audience if it was written in first person point of view. This way the audience would be…

physically and mentally, that is bullying; human cruelty. The Lottery is a good story with a plot twist that has some major points that relate to bullying in schools. The lottery can be easily contrasted to bullying because they connect together with power imbalance, repetitive actions and human cruelty; Even if are the most intelligent creatures on Earth, we are the most brutal monsters since the start of time. The setting of The Lottery is at the past where humans had valued traditions, while bullying…

In many peoples minds winning the lottery would be a dream come true. It's something that everyone wishes they would win; But what happens when the prize you get once you win the lottery isn't a blessing but instead a nightmare. In the short story, " The Lottery " by Shirley Jackson, it portrays a beautiful small village full of happy people in New England. By the use of symbolism and foreshadowing, Jackson uses the setting of the town, certain objects, and the characters in her story to indicate…

of the lottery. It seems to be a pagan harvest ritual, as expressed by his old saying: ??Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon?? (Jackson 369). By participating in the lottery the villages crops will prove to be bountiful. He justifies the use of the lottery simply by stating ?There?s always been a lottery? (Jackson 369). Furthermore, Old Man Warner is horrified at the thought of ever stopping the lottery. When another villager speaks of other towns that have done away with the lottery he says…

the conclusion of the story, Mrs. Hutchinson is the "winner," and as her prize the citizens of the village stone her to death. The conclusion to "The Lottery" is another irony. Mrs. Hutchinson was the last to arrive at the square because she had forgotten what day it was. It is satirical that she, the "winner," almost did not make it to the lottery. Another example of irony at this time is when "voicesacross the crowd said, 'Bill she made it after all," when in the end, she did not "make it." A bit…

genre, symbolism, plot structure, and irony. Shirley Jackson writes an ironic story about a small village who partakes in an annual lottery. The village looks forward to this day and moods are always high. However when the reader gets to the end of the short story they are shocked to find the lottery is a drawing for who in the village gets stoned to death. In The Lottery, Jackson surprises her readers by putting an ironic twist at the end of her tale, by filling the story with warming articulation…

meaning or purpose of a tradition is lost altogether. In carrying out the lottery, "the people had done it so many times that they only half listened to the directions" (Jackson 319). The villagers do not remember why the lottery first took place and now merely act it out through repetition. They remember some aspects of the ritual but are not definite about how accurate their memories are. Some think that the lottery official should stand a certain way when he sings the chant, and others that…

movies and video games. Most people do not give this type of violence a second thought. This may be because they know that the violence in the movies or games is not real, but “The Lottery” was just a story; it, too, was not real. So what is it about Jackson’s story that hits readers so deeply? What makes “The Lottery” so disturbing? For years, critics have been trying to answer these questions. Some have focused on the story’s symbolism, while others have focused on its relationship to the…

accident Not only do we electrocute criminals, we want to watch the executions live on television. Perhaps Jackson received the best example of this aspect of human nature; she claims that most of the letters she received about the lottery "wanted to know where these lotteries were held, and whether they could go there and watch" (Friedman 87). People were not shocked into examining their own lives. They wanted to know where they could go see a live stoning. Jackson also gives examples of hypocrisy…

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…

rationality despite of the destructive nature it may have. In Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery”, a sacrifice of one’s life becomes the “jackpot” of an annual event held in a small town. This society’s traditions have caused the people to do away with their rational thoughts and the values of their lives as they have become so stuck in their own cultural beliefs. In the short story, “The Lottery”, Jackson’s use of symbols reveals a twisting plot that isn’t recognizable until nearly at the…

the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people,” capturing the main message of the short story “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, perfectly, because of the themes of peer pressure and tradition present throughout the story. In this story, the people of a small village gather for their annual tradition, a lottery, in which one person is picked at random out of a box containing each of the villagers’ names. The village, which is not specifically named, seems…

to good will. For example, this quote implicates this when Old Man Warner discusses the eminence of the lottery, Old Man Warner snorted. "Pack of crazy fools," he said. "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. Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' First thing you know, we'd all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns.…

We see that even as Tessie is being stoned to death does she not question the reasoning behind the lottery, but why it should be her that has to die. The story also has some symbolic relevance to when it was written in 1948. This was a time where a lot of countries were rebuilding there nations due to the destruction they undertook in World War II. These nations were restructuring how they handled world problems, and how they ran there own countries. There was a lot of change…

and read tarot cards, the idea that she was a witch was a joke. “The Lottery” was frightening during that time and it still is today. Jackson wanted to show what happened when people blindly followed a tradition just because it was a tradition. “The Lottery revealed an uncomfortable truth about the human psyche and, in doing so, became a classic piece of American Literature” (Miss Celinnia). 3 Symbols and Symbolism in “The Lottery” There were many symbols in this short story. Many researchers state…

The lottery could have served some purpose that no longer needs serving. A perfect example is a game played by school children called pass-it-on. A message is whispered in one child’s ear, and then whispered to the next child and the next and so on, by the time it gets to the last child the message is completely different from what the first child heard. Other religious examples show that we blindly carry on tradition. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ to the Virgin Mary…

This all symbolizes Christianity upholding the traditions that we blindly follow unquestioningly. In “The Lottery” the tradition that the citizens blindly follow is one of collective violence, therefore Jackson, in a roundabout manner, ties Christianity not only to the blindly held traditions, she also hints that The Christian Faith has led people to do cruel violent things, aligning Christianity with evil. Jackson attempts to show that no matter what you claim to be if your acts are contrary to…

$150 is an asset or contribution expense is whether the benefit is viewed as i) the chance to receive $100-$100,000 or ii) the right to participate in the drawing. These alternatives assume that Phil plans to keep the ticket and participate in the lottery. Under view i), the probability of receiving $100-$100,000 is a probable future economic event since the chances of winning a prize are greater than 50%. Although the FASB doesn’t require a 50% chance to be probable, the fact that the odds are…

disposed, misunderstood, or thwarting" characteristics of people and of people to each other. Jackson was incredibly good at picking out the impurities of the human psyche and exploiting them to a great extent (Lethem 1). The village portrayed in "The Lottery" is said to be the same village where Jackson resided. She was a mother of four, married to Stanley Edgar Hyman. She was somewhat of a social outcast in her town. Eventually, her psyche was reshaped by the hostility and persecution of the villagers…

the drawing but who is forced, unknowingly, to take part in the ordeal. Someone gives him a few pebbles so that he, too, may share in the collective murder of his mother" (Friedman 67). The above excerpt demonstrates "that one function of the lottery is to change the relationship between community and victim" (Magill 1673). At one instant all of the villagers are equal, but after the person is chosen to die, the rest of the village are predators hunting their prey. This change in feelings portrays…

The purpose of this paper will be the comparing and contrasting of two short stories previously read and interpreted by the writer. The two stories chosen were “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell. These two stories seem to have nothing in common, as they have two separate meanings in two separate eras. However, the moral of each story draws similarity, the author’s paints a picture to keep the audience open minded therefore connecting them in distinct…

jokes were quiet…”[pg148] “Tessie Hutchinson was in the middle of a clear spot by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her, ‘It isn’t fair,’ she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head…”[pg 155] ) 6) The lottery itself is symbolic of the paradox of the human psyche between compassion on one hand and the thirst for violence on the other. An example of this is when the children are enjoying a break from school, playing and being children, and suddenly they…