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The Lottery

 

            The damaging effects of blind adherence and religious hypocrisy are just two of the many reoccurring themes mentioned throughout the following literary pieces: "The Lottery," "On The Road," "A Good Man Is Hard To Find," "Young Goodman Brown," and "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings." This following paper will support its thesis through the interpretations and perspectives of, .
             "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson, shows the damaging effects of blind adherence. In the infamous short story, an unexamined ritual has been taking place longer than living has been alive. This ritual is the stoning of one randomly selected person from town on the 27th of June. This small town continues to enact this ritual though it is considered barbaric in modern times.
             To understand the present you must know the past. The original purpose of the lottery was to sacrifice to the god of the harvest. "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon," as Old Man Warner said.(Jackson 852) However, the question at hand is, Is the ritual still necessary? According to the introduction to the story, "The flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green."(Jackson 849) Clearly there is no need for a human sacrifice, it seems that Mother Nature is ensuring a good crop for that year. The harverst god need not be appeased.
            


Essays Related to The Lottery

1. Symbolism in Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

... ; (137). The tradition that the black box symbolizes is transmuting, but the people still blindly comply with the ritual of the lottery. The devices that Jackson layout ingenuity also omen the bloody and shocking end of the lottery. Last, the names of three people in The Lottery are very impressive for the readers felt scared while reading. Summer is a cheerful season and full of life. The lottery is held each summer, and the host of the lottery ritual, Mr ... real personal life is bitter privately. Mr. Summers' name symbolizes the lottery activity is not an ordinary lottery. There are s...

  • Word Count: 2165
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. The Negative Side of Winning the Lottery

... into giving them money; family and friends often feel that they deserve a portion of the winnings. As a result, the winner begins to feel that they're responsible to financially support other individuals and families. After winning the lottery, a person is subject to being overwhelmed because they aren't accustomed to having access to large amounts of money or to their instant fame and ... . They begin to ask themselves, "Are people around for the best interest of them or their winnings." Much insecurity faced by a lottery can result in the lost of their true character. The lottery winn...

  • Word Count: 569
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

... where people began to gather between the post office and the bank around ten o"clock in the morning on June 27th (Lottery 1). The children assembled first, where the feeling of freedom settled around them uneasily(Lottery 1). The men gathered soon after, looking at there children and chatting about the usual, the women coming shortly after their husbands to exchange bits of gossip until the lottery started ( Lottery 1). The lottery was conducted by Mr. Summers, and ... assisted by the postmaster, Mr. Graves(Lottery 1). The black box used for the lottery ... ...

  • Word Count: 1660
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Lotteries And The Poor

... persuade those in search of money to try the lottery. The money spent on advertising for the lottery is an absurdly large figure. Not only are the poor wasting money on lotto tickets, but the government is also wasting money on advertising for the lottery. The government only started to heavily advertise when they saw the annual sale of lotto tickets declining. In 1998, the lottery's "sales growth slowed by two point ... disagrees with this slogan, saying that it is only trying to attract working class "stiffs" and poor people alike. He believes the slogans should stress the educational ...

  • Word Count: 837
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

5. The Lottery - Throwing Stones at Tradition

... to use stones" (Jackson 630). In essence, the rules to the lottery, with the exception of the black box and the stoning, are new. The inability to keep the original rules and paraphernalia for the lottery can be strongly correlated to the abandonment of the meaning of the act itself. This realization by the readers can only bring them to question why the villagers still participate in the lottery without a remembering a reason to do so much ... like any of the traditions they observe today. Subsequently, the characters in the ... ...

  • Word Count: 1719
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. The Lottery - Symbolism

... . There's always been a lottery." He considers the villages' and young people that have stopped the lotteries as "crazy fools" because he fears the idea of change. Nevertheless, the lottery continues because there has always been a lottery in the past. The black box is a physical demonstration of the villagers' connection to tradition and death. The purpose of the box, like the lottery itself, is unclear with the passage of time. "The black box grew shabbier ... was represented by the black box." The villagers' treatment of the box represents their thinking on the subject of the lottery ...

  • Word Count: 907
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

7. The Lottery

... suggested making a new box. The suggestion is always made right before or after the lottery but as the year passes the idea is forgotten. This may also suggest that perhaps when the box can no longer fully be used that in the future the lottery may altogether stop, because without the tradition of the black box, then there is no need for the tradition of the lottery. The black box also creates and ... uneasy feeling amongst the people in the town. When the box is ... taken out to perform the ritual, many of the villagers keep their distance from the box and when their names are called ...

  • Word Count: 874
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

8. The lottery

... causing unnecessary problems. In the story, the annual lottery is the old tradition and the result of this old tradition is the meaningless death of an innocent woman. The Lottery gives a good example of how following old traditions can bring harsh consequences. At the beginning, and throughout the story, the author sets a positive tone. The reader is meant to feel this by the imagery given in the description of the setting. It describes children ... someone even mentions the idea of changing the rituals of the drawing of the lottery. Even though Warner is the towns elder, he does not ev...

  • Word Count: 1253
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Analysis of The Lottery

... work Shirley Jackson communicates to the reader the theme of the story along with its implications concerning traditions. In The Lottery, tradition plays a key role in keeping one town happy and peaceful. The lottery occurs every year on June 27. Although the lottery may be a little morally unjust, it is still a tradition and traditions are hard to break. The lottery for the town is the backbone of the community. The lottery for the town brings a day of ... conversation and happiness. The boys run around and gather rocks ... ...

  • Word Count: 814
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

10. The Lottery, Its Social Order and Male Superiority Issue

... standard for selection in the lottery and fear that lack of productivity may determine the lottery's victim. Symbolic of the social hierarchy of "The Lottery," Jackson discusses the occupations of only three males in the story; three of the most wealthy and powerful, and these three males all play significant roles in the process of the lottery. Jackson first describes Mr. Summers, the conductor of the ceremony as one "who ... specifically through the winning lottery ticket. "It had a black spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers had made the night before with the heavy pencil in the coal...

  • Word Count: 1263
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School