Shirley Jackson

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson describes a village that follows a tradition that is inhumane without a question because it is their tradition that has been passed down for many generations. One of the literary critic said, “…it describes man’s victimization by… ‘unexamined and unchanging traditions which he could easily change if he only realized their implications.’ ” In the story, the lottery takes place every single year with the head of the family drawing a paper and one of the family…

Fiction Essay: Social Issues In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” a seemingly quiet peaceful village has a hidden dark side. Once a year, on the 27th of June, the entire town assembles to partake in the lottery, however, instead of winning a tremendous prize the ‘winner’ gets stoned to death. An old black box is the vessel that holds the townspeople fate, and after decades of use, it has become worn and shabby. Every year Mr. Summers tried to convince the townspeople to build a new box, yet…

Today we live in a very different era than what we did 100 or maybe even 50 years ago. We have made plenty of changes to our daily lives to what we follow. It has not always been like this, as the story "the Lottery" by Shirley Jackson expresses. It starts with a positive scenario, but at the end, we learn about a horrible ancient tradition that is followed blindly by the inhabitants of a village, although they are unsure of why they have to commit such an inhumane act like stoning. However, the…

The Lottery was written in 1948 by seasoned author, Shirley Jackson. The short story, originally published in The New Yorker, is about a small village of roughly three hundred citizens that gather in the village square. They are there to participate in the yearly lottery to see who will be stoned to death. Whole families are present to participate, even the children help by gathering the stones that will be used. The lottery consists of two sets of drawings; the first one to be done by the head…

A lottery ticket is a voucher for a prize but not a voucher to end a life. Normally people would be so enthusiastic if he or she had won the lottery. As for the short story, “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson is a different type of lottery; everyone is expecting to see a villager gets execute. The idea seems to be absurd by persecuting an innocent citizen but it’s a tradition to these villagers because everyone has to participate and not question about it. As for the black box itself, it…

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a story about a small village who continues to blindly follow a violent age old tradition. “The Lottery” proves that there can be certain dangers in following traditions. Throughout “The Lottery” there are various examples that display how the villagers are blindly following the traditions in which they have been passed. Old Man Warner, an elder among the group, acts as symbolism for tradition in this story because he has participated in seventy-seven…

(creative verb: cling). In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” a small village, with a population of 300 people, endures an annual lottery (diverse syntax). The chances of being the lucky winner are highly favorable with the odds being 1 in 300. Despite the seemingly encouraging odds, this lottery is not one to relish in as the losers appear to be the unlikely winners, and the winner turns out to be the definite loser (creative verb: relish). Utilizing symbolism and irony, Jackson shows the…

consists primarily of three key elements. These elements are characterization, conflict, and theme. Shirley Jackson’s story, “Seven Types of Ambiguity”, is a very good example when thinking of a short story. The story consists of all three elements characterization, conflict, and theme. In her story, Shirley Jackson creates an atmosphere of the unknown. A.M. Homes said, “The world of Shirley Jackson is eerie and unforgettable. It is a place where things are not what they seem.” She does a…

the lottery by shirley jackson is a short story based on a small town conducting a "lotery" that decides on whether or not who lives based on a simple draw from a box. The reason behind this, whether it be to help the crops grow or to prevent overpopulation, is unknown. Thankfully our society has adapted to be rid of thses horrible traditions, but maybe not entirely. Meaning, maybe our society still has eome of those same awful traitions that are based on ignorance, bigotry, and even religion.…

The blind following of ritual in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is shocking by the way the villagers participate in the lottery without realizing what is actually happening, but no more so than the mindless rituals noticed by modern society. Although some villagers raise questions about the lottery, they all go along with it. Thus, they become unthinking members of a herd, forfeiting their individuality and sending Tessie Hutchinson to her death. I believe that society had become so used to…