Life’s comforts often lead to life’s discomforts; always expected the unexpected. Shirly Jackson uses imagery and irony, to convey the theme of uncertainty, within her short story, “The Lottery.” A town affair. A small mundane rural village holds its annual town lottery. The scene is set, the grass: “richly green,” the flowers: “blossoming profusely.” All quite lovely. Children of the town provide for a major shift in the tone and picture being painted. No longer is a small picturesque 1900’s village being imagined, but a rural 1900’s pagan society. The boys are gathering stone, great smooth and round stones. The scene of the young boys gathering stones whips the innocence away from the town. From this point on, nothing else is depicted
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The box is falling apart. No longer is the box completely black, the woods natural color has begun to show. The women of the town wear faded clothing, all contributing to the new dual town. Without Jackson’s usage of descriptive words the reader would not be able to gain any insight about the setting, then see it within their minds, nor the shift in tone. “Wouldn’t have me leave m’dishes in the sink, now, would you. Joe?,” a line by the last person to reach the lottery, Mrs. Hutchinson. She claimed to have forgotten about the towns annual lottery. This line is extremely ironic; the reader later finds out that had she not washed the dishes she would have never gotten another chance to wash them. When Hutchinson walks into the town square it’s all fun and games, nothing is expected. Hutchinson offers many instances of comic relief to the fellow villagers. “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.” This statement has multiple meanings, the lottery is a random selection for an annual town stoning. Therefore, the statement can be interpreted as the lottery being a sacrifice to some sort of supreme being, in exchange for a prosperous corn the following harvest season. But also, the stones, being used for the lottery, landing in the corn fields; making them heavy with
The box is falling apart. No longer is the box completely black, the woods natural color has begun to show. The women of the town wear faded clothing, all contributing to the new dual town. Without Jackson’s usage of descriptive words the reader would not be able to gain any insight about the setting, then see it within their minds, nor the shift in tone. “Wouldn’t have me leave m’dishes in the sink, now, would you. Joe?,” a line by the last person to reach the lottery, Mrs. Hutchinson. She claimed to have forgotten about the towns annual lottery. This line is extremely ironic; the reader later finds out that had she not washed the dishes she would have never gotten another chance to wash them. When Hutchinson walks into the town square it’s all fun and games, nothing is expected. Hutchinson offers many instances of comic relief to the fellow villagers. “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.” This statement has multiple meanings, the lottery is a random selection for an annual town stoning. Therefore, the statement can be interpreted as the lottery being a sacrifice to some sort of supreme being, in exchange for a prosperous corn the following harvest season. But also, the stones, being used for the lottery, landing in the corn fields; making them heavy with