The Lottery

that modern America is the superior culture. But in this short story by Shirley Jackson, written in 1948, will provoke a common patriot of this nation to think twice. At first glance the short story “The Lottery” can be read as a brute tale of a barbaric tradition, one that sacrifices a member of the community once a year by stoning them to a slow death. The sacrifice is chosen through two rounds of picking a slip of paper out of a black box and the one who has the black dot they will stone. It easy to judge this village as savage. Yet the story begins with a gleeful description of a beautiful day with a context that depicts the heart-land of America type of farming town,…

For those of us who have grown up poor and wondering where the next meal is going to come from. The lottery is something that created an escape for us, for that one moment you believe you will win and all your money troubles will be over, then reality sets in and you are one of millions of Americans who spent their hard earned money on tickets with belief that this is the ticket that will change my life for the better. Odds are you will never win the lottery in a million lifetimes. There are…

Similarly, in “The Lottery” regular citizens murdered someone each year by blindly following their traditions. The overall theme of "The Lottery" is the dangers of blindly following traditions and the theme was supported by three main literary aspects. In "The Lottery" Jackson supports that there is danger in blindly following traditions by showing conflicts in the plot, using symbolism in objects and situations, and using irony throughout the short story. The conflicts in the plot that…

“The Lottery” Review Nothing feels worse than being stoned to death by family members and friends when one does absolutely nothing wrong. Such is the fate of Tessie Hutchinson, the protagonist of Shirley Jackson’s renowned short story, “The Lottery”. Known for its twisted and macabre conclusion, “The Lottery” contains perfectly executed writing techniques by Ms. Jackson-specifically the narrator’s mysterious, apathetic tone; the story’s transformation from realism to symbolism, and the sudden…

In “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson, the story describes the tragedy of social conformity and the extreme preservation of traditions some individuals strive for, despite the malignant nature of such traditions. Jackson reveals the true reality behind the deeper fabric of society and traditions through foreshadowing, imagery, and symbolism. Foreshadowing plays a very big act in most stories, as it can clue in the unsuspecting reader into the real meaning or plot of the story, and “The Lottery”…

extraordinary stories. One of her most well known stories is called "The Lottery." The lottery is viewed as a stunning and shocking short story that leaves everybody confused. In the short story Jackson use theme, symbolism and irony to demonstrate the wrong doing of the human life. The town lottery comes full circle in a fierce murder every year, an unusual custom that recommends how hazardous convention can be when individuals tail it indiscriminately. Before we realize what sort of lottery…

Literary Analysis People usually see the lottery as a fortunate event for themselves, winning large sums of money, free vacation trips or a free vehicle. That is not the case in the Lottery, a short story written by Shirley Jackson an intelligent and influential author from the 20th century. Once a year the villagers gather in the town’s square to play the lottery every summer as a civic duty, unfortunately the winner of the lottery is stoned to death by the rest of the villagers. The…

What Is The Purpose Of The Lottery? “It isn’t fair, It isn’t right”, Tessie Hutchinson screaming in fear. In the story “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson, which takes place around the 1950’s, shows how important miserable tradition are important to people, even thought at the end of every year’s lottery a person that won the lottery is stoned to death. If a person from your family wins the lottery it's not a good thing, it's actually a deadly thing because you will get stoned to death…

“The Lottery” Questions 1. Are there any books or movies that you have read or seen that are like this one? “The Hunger Games” reminds me of “The Lottery”, because they are similar in many ways. Just like how “the people of the village [begin] to gather in the square” (The Lottery pg23) in “The Lottery”, districts in “The Hunger Games” do the same. A boy and a girl are chosen by drawing two pieces of paper from a bowl, and in the other story, husbands draw in a box. There is no real prize, but…

and now, I think it’s clearer in my head. Normally, the lottery is a fun event, but not in this short story. It really surprised me that we are talking about stoning and death at the end of it. I think the author wanted us to understand what was really happening, only in the end. At the beginning, all the families seem to be normal, even the concept of the lottery seem normal too, and then the author describes some children who are stuffing their pockets full of stones. Until there, we don’t…