Analysis Of The Lottery Essay - 1446 Words

These two short stories characterized many of the same elements, but also have many stark contrasts. When I was reading them, they both stood out with several core themes. Traditions and how communities thrive were the backbones to the two stories, and I constantly found myself comparing them metaphorically to what we do today. Poisonous or potentially problematic traditions often justify themselves as sustaining, as in life would only be worse without them, and therefore no one questions them. In The Lottery, the scene is immediately set within the town square, and we zoom in on a gathering that clearly of great import. We are enlightened that there is to be a lottery, which immediately invokes a positive feeling in the reader. A lottery tends to signify something won, something gained, or at the very least lotteries tend to give us hope at little to no cost for us. Throughout the story, we learn the true intention behind the lottery, however. Prior to the lottery beginning, we are told that the entire village, upon gathering, has also amassed a large pile of rocks that were gathered primarily by the children. It seems to be a very family-centered village, as well as patriarchal, since the men were the last to gather around the ring, and the leaders and instigators were all men as well. Of the numerous reason a lottery involving the entire town could be had, the simple, almost mundane justification for it was intriguing and bothersome all at once. The lottery was simplyShow MoreRelatedCritical Analysis for The Lottery1205 Words   |  5 PagesCritical Analysis for â€Å"The Lottery† Shirley Jacksons short story, The Lottery, aroused much controversy and criticism in 1948, following its debut publication, in the New Yorker. Jackson uses irony and comedy to suggest an underlying evil, hypocrisy, and weakness of human kind. The story takes place in a small village, where the people are close and tradition is paramount. A yearly event, called the lottery, is one in which one person in the town is randomly chosen, by a drawing, to be violentlyRead MoreAnalysis Of The Lottery 1036 Words   |  5 PagesSince reading The Lottery by Shirely Jackson, I’ve been thinking more about culture, traditions, and perspective. Not just that, but how it can sometimes take adopting an unbiased, non judgmental, or outside perspective in order to see things for what they really are. The way that the narrator in this story adopts such a position allows for a clearer view of the events of the story. In The Lottery, the narrator speaks to us in a non participant and objective manner. We hear and see events unfoldRead MoreThe Lottery Character Analysis Essay708 Words   |  3 PagesThe Lottery Character Analysis â€Å"Justice is doing for others what we would want done for ourselves,† -Gary Haugen. Gary Haugen is trying to say that seeking justice for others is important because that is what people would want done for themselves. In Jackson Shirley’s short story â€Å"The Lottery†, the main character, Tessie Hutchinson, must bring justice to her community. Tessie must try to get her village to realize that their annual lottery is not just. Tessie believes this is not just because theyRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson Analysis732 Words   |  3 PagesFollowing other people may have a positive or negative effect, but when it reaches a certain point where you blindly follow others it may not have a positive outcome. â€Å"The Lottery† made by Shirley Jackson is about a small community of villagers that gather together every year to perform a tradition. All of the villagers gather together and draw small slips of paper from a black wooden box, whoever draws th e first slip with the black dot on it, their family has to draw first. Now all of the membersRead MoreAnalysis Of Jackson s The Lottery899 Words   |  4 PagesAnalysis of Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† In the story â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson, we see the different literary elements she uses to unfold her story. Literary elements help readers to interpret and appreciate the works of a writer. In this Essay I will show you the three most prominent literary elements that were used, and how they add to the suspense, and surprise of the story. These literary elements are point of view, theme, and tone and style. The first literary element of this story isRead MoreAn Analysis Of The Lottery By Shirley Jackson744 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"The Lottery† - For Analysis 1. There are multiple examples to suggest that â€Å"The Lottery† is a ritualistic ceremony. In several instances â€Å"The Lottery† is referred to as a ritual: â€Å"..so much of the ritual had been forgotten..† and â€Å"†¦because so much of the ritual had been forgotten†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . In addition, the ceremony happens annually on June 27th, a t0:00 a.m., suggesting a ceremonial quality. This happens with such regularity that the citizens â€Å"†¦only half listened to the directions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . This ceremonyRead MoreLars And The Lottery Analysis1585 Words   |  7 Pagesthe community issues that affect everyone and that personal opinions are appreciated. A shared emotional connection is the part of shared history or a sense of the community’s quality of interactions. Communities in Lars and the Real Girl and â€Å"The Lottery† both have the attributes of membership, influence, and shared emotional connections thus making them true communities. The film Lars and the Real Girl is about a man, Lars Lindstrom, who lives in a small town in Wisconsin. Lars’ mother passed awayRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Lottery 1123 Words   |  5 Pagesquestion why. Suzanne Collin’s novel The Hunger Games and Shirley Jackson’s short story â€Å"The Lottery† best illustrate this point by showing how a violent annual tradition affects a society and its innocent people. The Hunger Games has such uncanny similarities to â€Å"The Lottery† that it almost seems as if Collins used Jackson’s story as a source of inspiration for her novel. Both The Hunger Games and â€Å"The Lottery† are extremely similar thematically in the sense that sheepishly following tradition can oftenRead MoreThe Lottery Literary Analysis1538 Words   |  7 Pagesday; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green† (Jackson). In this first sentence of the The Lottery Shirley Jackson establishes a pleasant illusion, creating a sense of serenity. Jackson proceeds to mention that children begin to gather in the village, frolicing and conversing about school. The initial scene and satirically labeled title, The Lottery, provide a somewhat satisfying first impression to the reader. The introductory scene is eminent to intentionally implementRead MoreThe Lottery Character Analysis1525 Words   |  7 PagesShirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† is a story that ventures among years of traditional values that a small community is continuing to keep alive, through a yearly event in order to ensure a good harvest. This yearly event that became a tradition where it involves everyone in the small town to participate has become known to them as â€Å"The Lottery.† Though their lottery winner did not receive any money or reward, they instead are chosen as the yearly â€Å"sacrifice† to ensure successful crops. Even though