The New Yorker

Abstract Both short stories The Destructors by Graham Greene and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson show the reader the destructive facet present in human nature. Although the settings and time frames differ, the character of the stories are quite similar. Both stories expose a surprising end and turn of events as the characters personalities become known. While the climaxes grew, the conclusions to each story became harder to predict. The Bible instructed us to, “love others as you love…

In both Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Ursula Le Guin’s, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”, there is a town in which a person is sacrificed in one way or another in order for the entire community to thrive. These sacrifices are rituals which only these towns know about. “The Lottery” focuses more on an actual ritual where the town draws papers from a box and one person ends up getting stoned in order for the crops of that year to thrive. “The Ones Who Walk Away” from Omelas is a story…

At first, he is bored and dull, no better than one of the "sheep" he makes fun of. Later, as he watches McMahon, the butcher, "Patting his mouth and looking after them, sizing up their joints,”Sammy begins to sympathize with the girls. Then when Lengel scolds the girls and falsely tells them that it's store policy that they have to have their shoulders covered, Sammy realizes, "That's policy for you. Policy is what the kingpins want. What the others want is juvenile…

Bandwagon is a term used to describe a group of people who participate/like a certain thing only due to the fact that it is currently popular. The towns’ people in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, may not particularly like the Lottery game they play every year; however, proceed along with this game due to the fact everyone else does. It takes a special kind of person to swim against the current and to speak out on what she/he believes. Tessie becomes alienated because she is different from…

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…

Unfortunate Luck The odds of winning the lottery are about 1 in 176 million. Most people understand the improbable reality of winning, yet there are those who continue to cling to their slim-to-none chances with the hope of being the lucky winner (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…

result, they do not express their true feelings and opinion, since it can be treated as an action against society. Furthermore, the black box appears in the story as a second main symbol. “Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one…

The author of The Lottery, Shirley Jackson, makes use of symbolism throughout her short story to get her intended purpose across to the audience. Throughout the storyline, the image of the “black-box” is mentioned approximately 20 times. This box plays quite a large role in the plot of the story in that the pieces of paper inside of it ultimately determines the fate of one the villager’s lives. Whichever individual draws the sheet of paper from the black box with the black dot on is plagued with…

Shirley Jackson 's use of Symbolism in "The Lottery" Shirley Jackson 's "The Lottery", is very effective in raising many questions about the nature of humanity regarding tradition and violence. "The Lottery" clearly expresses Jackson 's feelings concerning mankind 's evil nature hiding behind traditions and rituals. As well, she shows coldness and lack of compassion in people. Jackson presents the theme of this short story with a considerable use of symbolism. It being shown everywhere in the…

“The Lottery” In the early to mid-20th century, the life of the New England villages was a quiet, quaint life, but beneath the surface, there was much more to the smiling faces. These small towns were littered with deep-set traditions and ideologies. As referenced northbennington.org, many of the townspeople in Shirley Jackson’s residence of North Bennington were this way as well. The writer mentions anti-Semitic comments towards her father and tense attitudes towards Blacks. These interactions…