From time and place to irony and morals, authors create a setting to provide literary elements that enhance a story. The time and place can not only show the time period of the literary work, but the social issues involved at that point of history. Such as Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s sets the scene of To Kill a Mockingbird. At this point in time, race is a prevalent issue and the conflicts of the story revolve around the issue and forms a symbol of acceptance and love. This is especially true in Shirley Jackson’s, “The Lottery.” In this case, the wholesome small town regularly participates in a lottery. Throughout the short story, setting plays a large role in the actions of the characters and forces the reader to question whether their
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The story opens by describing the beautiful scenery and weather of the village. People are beginning to gather in the town's square to prepare for the lottery. Jackson describes it as: "The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blooming profusely and the grass was richly green" (Jackson). The morning begins with a serene, calm setting. But ironically it will end violently. Jackson adds this to not only show the time and place, but to prove that beautiful things can turn out to be cruel and barbaric. The irony of beautiful weather and surroundings but violence occurring later that day can show a theme of appearance doesn't show their true personality within a story. "The Lottery" takes place during the summer right after all of the children have gotten out of school. They are the first to gather in the square and wait for their companions to arrive. Once they do they: "…eventually made a great pile of stones stones in one corner of the square and guarded it from the raids of the other boys" (Jackson). The children enjoy playing with the stones. Ironically, the stones will later be used as a weapon against the victim of the lottery. Jackson adds this to show how exposing such things to children can affect them negatively and result in barbaric actions in the future. After pulling the slips of paper for each household, the Hutchinsons were the family to receive the marked slip. Each member of the family then pulled a slip of paper, Tessie Hutchinson was the unlucky one to receive the marked slip. Tessie was supportive of the lottery until she was the victim: "Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space 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" (Jackson). Shirley Jackson includes this to show how ironic it can be for someone to be in
The story opens by describing the beautiful scenery and weather of the village. People are beginning to gather in the town's square to prepare for the lottery. Jackson describes it as: "The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blooming profusely and the grass was richly green" (Jackson). The morning begins with a serene, calm setting. But ironically it will end violently. Jackson adds this to not only show the time and place, but to prove that beautiful things can turn out to be cruel and barbaric. The irony of beautiful weather and surroundings but violence occurring later that day can show a theme of appearance doesn't show their true personality within a story. "The Lottery" takes place during the summer right after all of the children have gotten out of school. They are the first to gather in the square and wait for their companions to arrive. Once they do they: "…eventually made a great pile of stones stones in one corner of the square and guarded it from the raids of the other boys" (Jackson). The children enjoy playing with the stones. Ironically, the stones will later be used as a weapon against the victim of the lottery. Jackson adds this to show how exposing such things to children can affect them negatively and result in barbaric actions in the future. After pulling the slips of paper for each household, the Hutchinsons were the family to receive the marked slip. Each member of the family then pulled a slip of paper, Tessie Hutchinson was the unlucky one to receive the marked slip. Tessie was supportive of the lottery until she was the victim: "Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space 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" (Jackson). Shirley Jackson includes this to show how ironic it can be for someone to be in