Use of Irony in Shirley Jackson's The Lottery Essay

have been following the traditions without even knowing who started the tradition. In Shirley Jackson’s, famous short story “The Lottery”, takes place in a small village, where the whole community participates in a traditional and annual lottery. Shirley Jackson, shows us through her story how society’s blind acceptance of traditions is dangerous. She accomplished this by her use of foreshadowing,…

“The Lottery”is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. The story is about a small idyllic town that follows traditions that their ancestors had begun, even when it is not in their best interest. Villagers convene in the square to participate in the discrete yet reasonable lottery which is ran by Mr. Summers. There is black wooden box in the center of the square where each member of the family selects a piece of paper. If a family member draws a black dot in the middle of the piece of paper…

Shirley Jackson’s theme in “The lottery” is to show the audience how people blindly follow traditions that are insignificant and meaningless. Jackson uses dramatic, situational, and verbal irony to develop her theme by creating a situation which is understood by the audience but not the characters, having a situation where actions have an opposite effect from what was expected, and having the characters say one thing but mean another, or using words that convey a meaning which is opposite of the…

“Mending Wall,” and the short story, “the Lottery.” The “Mending Wall,” shows two neighbors who have conflicting viewpoints on a certain issue but never try to change. The more serious story of, “The Lottery,” is the tale of a town that is blindly following a deadly tradition where the “winner” of their “lottery” is stoned to death. Though both authors incorporate the use of irony and symbolism to show how dangerous it can be to follow traditions, Shirley gives us a glimpse of a more extreme…

Last week in our class we read and watched the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. The story has a main character, Tessie Hutchinson, and her family, who “win” the lottery. This story takes place in a small village. The people there kept their lottery, even though they could have gotten rid of it, because they wanted to stick with their traditions of ritualistic violence. This tradition was first put into use because in the past there were human sacrifices in order to get good crops for…

“The Lottery“ is one of Shirley Jackson’s many famous short stories. Shirley Jackson was a prolific writer, among her over 100 short stories including “The Lottery“, she also published 6 novels. With her amazing works she even influenced authors such as Stephen King. First published in “The New Yorker“ in 1948, “The Lottery“ quickly became one of the most talked about short stories in american history. Horrified by Shirley Jackson’s tale hundreds of subscribers were quick to cancel their…

place to irony and morals, authors create a setting to provide literary elements that enhance a story. The time and place can not only show the time period of the literary work, but the social issues involved at that point of history. Such as Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s sets the scene of To Kill a Mockingbird. At this point in time, race is a prevalent issue and the conflicts of the story revolve around the issue and forms a symbol of acceptance and love. This is especially true in Shirley…

The Lottery,” written by Shirley Jackson in 1948, is an interesting, dark short story. Shirley Jackson fills her short story with imagery, irony, suspense, symbolism, and foreshadowing. The story is about a town full of villagers holding a lottery. However, the story has situational irony due to the normal idea that the lottery is a prize of joyfulness. However, Shirley Jackson creates a new, not typical lottery that has a deeper and darker meaning. As the story continues, word by word, the…

important role in the short story “The Lottery”; indeed, they inflate the theme of the story and make it more impressive. First symbol in the story is the lottery, which stands for the certain ritual and tradition presents in society. “‘Some places have already quit lotteries,’ Mrs. Adams said” (144). ‘“Nothing but trouble in that,’ Old Man Warner said stoutly, ‘Pack of young fools”’ (145). Although there are places where the tradition of holding the lottery has been forgotten, it continues in…

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson takes what seems to be a typical small town setting and turns it into a much more chilling occasion. Jackson’s theme of the dark side of human nature is revealed through symbolism and irony. In "The Lottery," Jackson shows how people in today's society are tainted and will blindly follow a tradition, even if it is immoral. Jackson implants a great deal of symbolism into “The Lottery;” even the title itself is a symbol. A lottery according to our own modern…