Analysis: “The Lottery” (essay on a short story) comp 2

“The Lottery” is told in chronological order, starting with the townspeople gathering in the town square and ending with the winner of the lottery’s prize. The story is told in third person. The story’s narrator tells the story from an objective third person point of view, so the narrator does not tell the reader of the characters thoughts or emotion leaving the reader free to interpret them as he or she wishes. The third person point of view allows the story to be retold or reproduced, which makes the story in the past tense. Although, there is no actual discourse within the story, there is however, a level of discourse between the reader and the characters in the story. Because the “civilized” person would neve

r engage in such barbaric and antiquated practices such as the lottery, there becomes a level of discourse. There is also situational irony found in the story because the reader is led to believe that the lottery will be something good but at the end of the story one finds out that the “prize” in the lottery is really a deadly ritual and results in someone being stoned to death.

The town in “The Lottery” is never named and the time is never stated. This is because the story is meant to make the reader examine his or her own “town”. In using the literary tools of setting, symbols and characterization, Shirley Jackson conveyed her theme of old versus new. I think in a world of war, swift punishment, receiving your just deserts and scapegoats, maybe “The Lottery” is being practiced in this day and age and maybe even in the “civilized” world.

The setting was also symbolic in the way that the town was the center of the economy symbolizing that this ritual was a big part of the town’s life and history. “The post master Mr. Graves followed him, carrying a three-legged stool, and that stool was put in the center of the square and Mr. Summers set the black box on it”(272). The three-legged stool was symbolic because the number three is symbolizes the Holy Trinity. The stool was placed in the center of the town square symbolizes that religion is an important part of the townspeople’s lives. The black box that was placed on top of the stool was also a symbol. The color black is closely associated with death. The black box foreshadows that

Some topics in this essay:
Shirley Jackson, Davy Hutchinson, Holy Trinity, Finally Warner’s, , “the lottery”, black box, town square, shirley jackson, theme versus, third person, third person view, little davy hutchinson, three-legged stool, using literary, story “the lottery”, situational irony, characters story, characterization shirley jackson,