Shirley Jackson Essay

On the surface, Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery,” reads as a work of horror. There is a village that holds an annual lottery where the winner is stoned to death so the village and its people could prosper. Some underlying themes include: the idea that faith and tradition are often followed blindly, and those who veer away from tradition are met with punishment, as well as the idea of a herd mentality and bystander apathy. What the author manages to do successfully is that she actually

Shirley Jackson was an author who wasn’t well-known at first, but her literary works brought her recognition, including the short story, “The Lottery”, a mandatory reading in many high schools. She wrote many other stories such as “Charles” and “The Possibility of Evil”, these works influenced by her life. The dark moods of her stories sourced first from her abuse as a child, but these are what made her stories unique. In her story “The Possibility of Evil”, Shirley Jackson creates this heavy mood

In 1948 Shirley Jackson composed the controversial short story “The Lottery.” Generally speaking, a title such as “The Lottery” is usually affiliated with an optimistic outlook. However, Jackson’s approach is quite unorthodox and will surely leave readers contemplating the intent of her content. The story exposes a crude, senseless lottery system in which random villagers are murdered amongst their peers. Essentially, the lottery system counteracts as a form of population control, but negatives easily

that made you question your entire life? How would you react? A suspenseful gothic thriller told in fewer than 4,000 words, filled with excitement and eeriness, leaving the reader speechless. The Lottery , a short story written by famous writer Shirley Jackson, created an uproar on June 26, 1948, when it was published in the magazine The New Yorker (Ball). The gothic thriller, set in an unknown time and place, shares the tradition of a small town, a little larger than three hundred people, in which

prize wasn’t cash or your dream boat? What if it entailed a city wide gathering in your name with the intentions of you getting stoned? That doesn’t seem like a dream come true. That is exactly what happens in the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. This horrific tale is about a mass city wide gathering where everyone participates in the ritualistic stoning of one of their citizens. This short story is the perfect example for learning about group violence, and is ideal for teaching children

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” illustrates several aspects of the darker side of human nature. The townspeople in Jackson’s “The Lottery” unquestioningly adhere to a tradition which seems to have lost its relevance in their lives. 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 tradition and people in authority. The same mindless complacency and obedience shown by the villagers in Jackson’s story are seen

Shirley Jackson was a master of modern gothic fiction and wrote of the essentially evil nature of human beings. The major focus of her work is to emphasize the psychological dimension of experience and the absolute isolation of a human. Shirley Jackson also believes and suggests that humanity must continue to try to define its own reality, and strive to survive with nobility. Her most famous piece of work “The Lottery,” depicts the cruelty and brutality of humanity in the mass and insensitivity of

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, is a short story about an annual lottery draw in a small New England town. The town’s people have performed the lottery for more than seventy years. Shirley Jackson gives “The Lottery” a whole different meaning . The lottery is used for a public stoning, opposing to the very first thing that approaches to a reader 's mind when they think of the lottery; a big amount of money . The reader sees both literal and metaphorical meaning of the Shirley Jackson’s short story

Marina Grishechkina Professor Abbott English 126 April 6, 2016 “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson “The Lottery” introduces the reader to a cruel ritual of the village where people gather together to participate in the annual elimination of a random villager. Superficially friendly mood in the town at the beginning of the story was replaced by hostile and violent human behavior at the end. Warm and sunny summer morning did

frowned upon for doing so. In Shirley Jacksons “The Lottery” she does exactly that by portraying themes like the inhumanity of violence and the tendency people have to follow traditions even when they do not agree with them. In a short biography about Jackson it says “The story was met with an avalanche of feedback, including hate mail and cancelled subscriptions. Many folks interpreted the story as an attack on the values of small towns America” (“The Shirley Jackson Page at American Literature”)