Stoning

death. The most important symbol of tradition in “The Lottery” is the black box. As the tradition continues the black box becomes “in some places faded or stained” (Jackson 105). This represents all the innocent bloodshed from over the years of stoning people to death. Each year as a person is picked to die the box gets older and fades more. As the tradition gets older, the villagers are getting more reluctant to add more stains to the black box. The black box, in the villager’s minds,…

to do things. When we stop questioning the purpose of our actions, and become automated, the chances of falling within the cracks of society, and even evil doings, are quite higher. The villagers saw nothing new, nor out of order, in the brutal, stoning of Tessie Hutchinson. A good example of the town's reactions towards the practice of the lottery comes when the narrator tells us how the practice is so old that its symbolism has been forgotten throughout the years. Of the suggestion and…

that actual lottery is, “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones.” This observation goes to show how ignorant the people are about the lottery. They don’t know why they are stoning people, they don’t understand the significance of it, all they know is that they must stone one person yearly. All the previous townspeople have done it for many generations, and they don’t want to be the year that breaks the pattern.…

“Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones.” This was said by the author to inform the reader that many aspects of the tradition were lost yet the part of stoning someone to death still lingers. The reason stoning was part of this society is presumably due to populism. The reason populism works is because the villagers believe that the struggle to get crops will be eradicated when someone gets stoned to death. A quote…

The short story “The Lottery,” written by Shirley Jackson, illustrates to the reader a society that heavily relies on the tradition it was established upon, even though the tradition is barbaric and senseless. Shirley Jackson illustrates to the reader how this barbaric tradition occurs by utilizing a third-person omnificent narrative, which also gives the reader insight into the history of the tradition and how societies understanding of it has changed due to the progression of time. Shirley…

Analysis of “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” encases the ruthlessness of human interaction in a merely 3,738 words (Cellania). “The Lottery” starts by showing you a small town in America, in which the townspeople are gathering for their annual “Lottery” tradition, in which the story is named after. As the story continues the mood changes from seemingly positive and welcoming to a more suspicious and sinister motive. The story takes a disturbing turn and reveals that…

When it comes to stories there is usually characters that we follow and get to know along the way, sometimes we only get to meet a character briefly and then there gone, and other times characters can mean more than who they are in a story. Shirley Jackson does just this in the short story “The Lottery” written in 1948. In this short story where the village has an annual lottery that is taken place in the summer to decide who will be stoned to death as a sacrifice for a tradition that might have…

forgotton the seriousness of stonning and this became natural to them. The similarity between the Lottery and Stone throwing in India: Annual Bash is both have stone throwing occuring. The community are also both blinded on how sacraficing and stoning people are very wrong. People should not decide when someone should end a life. Both the lottery and Stone throwing in India: annual bash also created a game. In the lottery it was like playing a raffle. Stone throwing in india made it as…

The Lottery is a controversial fictional short story that delivers a powerful message of violence within the culture of villages in New England. Shirley Jackson did a wonderful job capturing the attention of many readers, as well as capturing an intense emotional reaction. Whenever discussing death, capital punishment, and or murder there are a variety of emotions that form: resulting in debate and extreme views. The ritual discussed within The Lottery began to be compared to Capital Punishment.…

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. Shirley Jackson uses symbolism in this short story by using objects, names, and the setting to tell the…