In “The Lottery,” the reason the town does the lottery is because they believe that the lottery will bring a good harvest, and their ancestors did it before them. Old Man Warner explains, “‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”’ (pp. 293). The people of the town believe the lottery will ensure a good harvest by having a sacrifice. Also, the lottery does not serve a true purpose, and another reason why they have one is because their ancestors did it before them.…
In most cases, people earn money from a lottery, except for the characters in the short story “The Lottery”. In this tale, the villagers in a small community are participating in their annual lottery. However, it turns out that the winners may win a lot less than they hoped for. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the author uses symbolism to foretell what would happen later on in the story.…
Abe Morales 10th P. Honors Biology 10-6-15 A Poisoned Chalice Have you ever tasted a food that at first glance you thought was going to be good but then as you actually tasted it, it's not as good as you thought it would be, or even a movie in which you thought at first was going to be hysterical but actually ended up being boring. Well in “The Lottery” something very similar took place. “The Lottery is about a small village in where the villagers gather together and participate in an annual lottery that has been run for years.…
In The Lottery, a short story written by Shirley Jackson, they have a drawing every year, which they call, hence the name of the story, the lottery. The drawing only takes about two hours in their small town, but in the ones around them it can take up to two days. Everyone gathers for this, to watch the men walk up, take a slip of paper from the old wooden black box that sits on the stage, then silently wait. When their leader, of sorts, tells them to, they open up their slips. All of them but one will be blank.…
Overlooked Hints “The Lottery” is a fictional short story that explores a corrupt society in which a lottery is formed to execute a person rather than reward them. Modern-day society would associate a lottery with money, however, Shirley Jackson describes a darker alternative. Jackson utilizes this to her advantage as she uses descriptive diction in the characters’ actions to reveal an ominous tone in her short story, “The Lottery”. This is significant as it allows the audience to understand how Jackson is trying to address her feelings in the story.…
“The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. It is about a lottery that takes place once a year in a small village. Many are wondering why they do a lottery so this paragraph is going to show you crucial evidence on why the event takes place. The reason why the villagers "have" to have a lottery is simply because the lottery had become a tradition that had been followed since the time of the villagers' ancestors. As a result, the villagers had become so used to repeating this practice over and over that they would not even find anything right, nor wrong, with it.…
People who trust their instincts commonly do what they think is right for the situation. When you are given the choice of what to do in any situation, people who trust their instincts typically make a better decision. In The Lottery, a small town awaits for the annual tradition of a lottery. Typically lottery’s are a positive thing, though in this case you could get stoned to death. All the fathers of the families draw slips of paper, hoping that they will open it to see a blank paper, without a black dot on it.…
In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson present a story that describes the annual lottery that takes place in a small town in the summer. Since the town was founded the lottery has been a part of its tradition. The original purpose of the lottery was to ensure that the town has an exceptional harvest, but the reason has been lost in time. Now the town held its annual lottery just because it has been their “tradition”. The one who draws the black dotted paper from the black box become the winner, who will be later stoned to death.…
In the story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, it is demonstrated how easily modern day people accept horrific things if the idea is culturally accepted. In this story the author demonstrates how easily people can be influenced to do evil if it is culturally accepted by continuing a ritual that had been practiced by the townspeople for many years. In the set of 1950’s modern day era in a New England small town, the story shows the life of people, in order to survive, one person each year was required to be put to death for the overall benefit of the community. In the real 1950’s, America was not trying to rely on a ritual to help them survive.…
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson gives the readers, an interpretation of something great is in the works for this small village. As per usual, the morning of June 27th, the sun was shining without a cloud in the sky; for today is the lottery, and for many of us in our current culture, we relate the lottery as an symbol of winning, hope, of financial relief, why would we think of it any other way? This lottery is a ruthless ritual since 1948, that the villagers only recognize it only by their own teachings of traditions, morals, and values, clearly no one in the village actually knows the reason why they continue this tradition. "Well, now." Mr. Summers said soberly, "guess we better get started, get this over with, so 's(sic) we can go back to work.…
The shifting of point of view in the story of “The Lottery” helps create the surprise ending for the reader by showing members of the village happily and excitedly getting ready for what seems to be a happy tradition when in actuality it’s a sacrifice. For example, the story starts out by describing it to be a beautiful summers day and the children of the village were out of school and happily playing with one another. The boys of the village were described to be playing a game of collecting and protecting stones they found around the village. This would normally be seen as something innocent and playful so it comes as a shock when we get to the end of the story that they boys were not collecting plain old stones they were actually collecting…
The Stoning Ages Around the same time every year someone gets stoned, in the short story “The Lottery” By Shirley Jackson. The story takes place in a small town in New England. Every year a “lottery” as the villagers call it is held, one person is to be randomly chosen to be stoned to death by the people in the village. The lottery has been around for over seventy years by the townspeople.…
Symbolism and Irony, “The Lottery” The Lottery is a classic short story written in 1948 by Shirley Jackson. The story describes a small village that partakes in an annual lottery with a brutal, unexpected twist. Several literary elements are used throughout the short story to revel its symbolic meaning.…
Danger in Tradition In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, a village prepares for their annual tradition of the lottery in which the townsfolk stone a person to death. The ritual was originally conducted to bring a bountiful harvest of corn, however, the meaning behind the sacrifice seemed to fade out while the tradition itself persisted. As surprising as it may seem, one can see instances of blindly followed tradition in today’s society: trick-or-treating on Halloween, blowing out the candles on birthday cakes, and eating turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving. These practices occur like clockwork across the United States and other parts of the world with little to no real reasoning behind them besides the excuse of tradition, erasing their purpose.…
For seventy years, this lottery has been held in the town square. Shirley Jackson uses setting, symbolism, and characterization to help the reader understand her short story, “The Lottery.” On the day of the lottery, the sky was clear and sunny. It is a warm summer day with flowers blossoming everywhere. The folks in the village gather together in the…