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The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

The surroundings told are associated to certain things that would be usually seen as a positive thing, as if they were gathering for an exciting event actually conveys the opposite by a hidden feeling of panic and fear amongst the villagers. For instance, "Morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green" (Jackson, Pg. 1). As the openings sentence it is set up to be portrayed or felt that the setting takes place in a small town of villagers with old traditions that still bring them together. Although the actual end result leads to death, the opposite of what is being described at the beginning of the story. Likewise, another example of what is being said and something else is being meant is when it is stated that the boys "broke into boisterous play Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones" (Jackson, Pg. 1). The boys are collecting rocks which is seen typically as innocent play for kids, however they are collecting these rocks for later that day to use as a weapon of murder for The Lottery winner. It again is set up so it is believed that there is unity with the village on a day of such tradition as they all band together to celebrate, but nonetheless is actually showing the message behind what is truly being said, which appears to be the opposite. Finally in the setting of the story it is told that The Lottery was to have been taken place on the same grounds "as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program--by Mr. Summers" (Jackson, Pg. 1). Showing again that The Lottery was to be taken lightly because it is held at the same place as every other event that would typically be celebrated. The examples further explain the irony of how the story is set up in the beginning to make the reader think one thing while the very opposite will happen near the end.


Essays Related to The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

1. Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

... , three years after her last short story We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson died (About Jackson 2). The Lottery was set in a small village 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 ... sacrificing them to make people believe their sins were eliminated (Jackson's Lottery 2). Shirley Jackson uses this, along with season...

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

2. setting in the lottery

... . The atmosphere becomes subdued, where the children are "gathered around quietly." The black box is the key that changes the mood from serene and peaceful to ominous. Further foreshadowing by Shirley Jackson leads the reader to consider the town to be odd and peculiar. When Mr. Summers asks for help, everyone hesitates, showing their attitude toward the black box. It is not until the villagers start drawing for the lottery that the reader gets the feeling ... that the lottery is not a good thing. In "The Lottery", Shirley Jackson creates the mood of a typical town on a normal summer day...

  • Word Count: 764
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Shirely Jackson The Lottey

... York College at Oneonta and Richard E. Lee, State University of New York College at Oneonta. The Gale Group, 2001, pp. 161-171. Bibliography Works by Shirley Jackson: • The Road through the Wall (novel)1948, 2nd edition, 1973, published as The Other Side of the Street, 1956, reprinted under original title, 1976. • The Lottery; or, The Adventures of James Harris (short stories), 1949. • Hangasman (novel), 1949. • Life among ... the Savages (semiautobiographical essays), 1953. • The Bird's Nest (novel), 1954, published as Lizzie, 1957, reprinted under original ... ...

  • Word Count: 1406
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Outrage and Confusion - Shirley Jackon's The Lottery

... short story written a few years after World War II. When the story was first published in 1948, the initial responses from the readers were shocking to Shirley Jackson. The readers were outraged and confused, and wanted answers fast. Miriam Friend was a frequent reader of the New Yorker wrote a letter to the editor, "I frankly confess to being completely baffled by Shirley Jackson's "˜The Lottery," will you please send us a brief explanation before my ... husband and I scratch right through our scalps trying to fathom it?" This was one of the many irritated letters that the editor and ...

  • Word Count: 827
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Shirley Jackson

... the community in order that the crops might prosper (Burn 378). Shirley uses this as the theme for this story by having Old Man Warner says "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon (Jackson 297). Shirley thought up the idea of The Lottery one day while pushing a stroller up a hill coming from the grocery store (Alessio 113). Shirley uses a June morning as the day of the lottery took place in the story (Jackson 291). The idea for the setting of the ... village came from the town she lived ... ...

  • Word Count: 1916
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

6. The Lottery

... always been a lottery" (Ja! ckson 461). Once again though these were not the words used in the narration of the story as told by Shirley Jackson, but was visually birthed onto the screen. When reading the story many people were outraged at the so-called tradition, and its barbaric practices, but someone watching the movie may ... interpret that scene as a holding onto of a part of a culture. Another great variation that the movie provides is illustrating the tension involved in the drawing of the lottery ... . As each head of the ... ...

  • Word Count: 1409
  • Approx Pages: 6

7. Irony in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

... don't question it. People go with the flow, so they can "fit in". As mentioned, "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is filled with irony. Shirley uses two different types of irony throughout the story to prove the point that blindly following traditions could be fatal. Jackson does this by using irony in the actions of the towns people, this is demonstrated when the kids are gathering small rocks and pebbles ... . . Next comes irony in the character's names and when and where it ... ...

  • Word Count: 1411
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

8. The Lottery

... die. The author analyzes the attitudes of individual characters to this kind of the tradition and she also uses these characters to manifest the theme. "The Lottery" written by Shirley Jackson Jackson reveals how ignorant and inhuman the society can be when clinging to an old and violent tradition. The plot is set into a small village in the 20th century. The main described event, the lottery, is conducted by the socially and economically dominant men in the town. The whole ... tradition of the drawing slips of paper from a black wooden box has its ... ...

  • Word Count: 2043
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Summary of The Lottery

... don't question it. People go with the flow, so they can "fit in". As mentioned, "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is filled with irony. Shirley uses two different types of irony throughout the story to prove the point that blindly following traditions could be fatal. Jackson does this by using irony in the actions of the towns people, this is demonstrated when the kids are gathering small rocks and pebbles ... . . Next comes irony in the character's names and when and where it ... ...

  • Word Count: 1411
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

10. Evil YGB and The Lottery

... a protectant of his soul and body. He uses Faith's name to resolve moments with the Devil, to strengthen him. In "The Lottery", Shirley Jackson uses the name Mr. Graves as a symbol or sign of death. Mr. Graves runs the Lottery throughout the short story. Mr. Graves is the symbol of killing in the lottery. Even though Mr. Summers ran the lottery, Mr. Graves had say over him. In "Young Goodman Brown", Young Goodman Brown ... is expressed as a Young, good faithful man. He loves his wife, Faith. "My love and my Faith" (187). In "The Lottery", Shirley Jackson uses the name Hutchinson as a sy...

  • Word Count: 1021
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

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