The dictionary defines the word “blind” as the lack of perception, awareness, or discernment. Symbolism, irony, and foreshadowing is used in many ways by the author in her short story called “The Lottery”. Shirley Jackson uses these literary devices to emphasize the idea that people will follow traditions blindly if that was how they were raised.
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a strange tradition. Once a year, the town gathers together and one member from each household’s name is put into a drawing. When a person’s name is drawn, their entire family has to come forward to draw a slip of paper from the black box. The family member that gets the paper with the black dot becomes the village’s target for stoning to death; children are no exception. After the ritual is completed villagers return home as if nothing …show more content…
Everyone seems careless about “The Lottery”, but as soon as they think they might be at risk they become scared and start to care a lot more. This shows a lot of irony because of how quickly a person is changed when there’s a greater threat.
Bobby Martin and some other boys stuffed their pockets full of stones, they also made a great pile in the corner of the square, which they eventually threw at Mrs. Hutchinson. This was a little example of foreshadowing, same with Tessie’s comment about having to clear the dishes from her sink before she came to “The Lottery”. The reader is unaware of what this means, but the ending of the story explains it all very clearly.
This story contains a lot of different literary devices. Whether it is was how some characters names showed examples of symbolism, or how people’s attitudes changed throughout the story creating irony, or even how parts of the beginning all tied together to show a form of foreshadowing. All of this information helped get the conclusion that people will follow traditions
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a strange tradition. Once a year, the town gathers together and one member from each household’s name is put into a drawing. When a person’s name is drawn, their entire family has to come forward to draw a slip of paper from the black box. The family member that gets the paper with the black dot becomes the village’s target for stoning to death; children are no exception. After the ritual is completed villagers return home as if nothing …show more content…
Everyone seems careless about “The Lottery”, but as soon as they think they might be at risk they become scared and start to care a lot more. This shows a lot of irony because of how quickly a person is changed when there’s a greater threat.
Bobby Martin and some other boys stuffed their pockets full of stones, they also made a great pile in the corner of the square, which they eventually threw at Mrs. Hutchinson. This was a little example of foreshadowing, same with Tessie’s comment about having to clear the dishes from her sink before she came to “The Lottery”. The reader is unaware of what this means, but the ending of the story explains it all very clearly.
This story contains a lot of different literary devices. Whether it is was how some characters names showed examples of symbolism, or how people’s attitudes changed throughout the story creating irony, or even how parts of the beginning all tied together to show a form of foreshadowing. All of this information helped get the conclusion that people will follow traditions