Lottery Analysis Essay - 1514 Words

This Lottery is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. It was first published in the New Yorker on June 26th 1948. The story takes place on June 27th in a small American village with a population of around 300 people. June 27th is the annual celebration of the lottery, which, in the story, takes places on the same day in nearly every city, town and village. Every person in the village has to take place in the lottery. Due to the small size of the population, the takes place in less than two hours. The townspeople gather in the town square where Mr. Summers, the lottery official, and each head of household draws a slip of paper from an old black box. One of the characters, Tessie Hutchinson, arrives at the event at the last minute,†¦show more content†¦The first paragraphs paint a picture of an idyllic rural area where everything seems perfect and serene. However this couldn’t be further away from the truth and as the story progresses it becomes clear that, beneath the flowers and sunshine, the village hides a dark secret. The opening of the story serves to increase the impact the gruesome ending has on the reader. Irony is also present as the story reaches its ending, specifically when Davy Hutchinson is spared the execution on this day, and the crowd is relieved. It is clear that the townspeople believe that the murder of a mother is preferable to the murder of a young boy, even though the act in itself is completely unnecessary. Within moments of being spared his life Davy Hutchinson is handed pebbles. He is expected to take part in the murder of his mother and be involved in the same horrific ritual that he just escaped. The older children are happy when they find out they didnt ‘win’ the lottery, even though they know that their mother is about to die. Foreshadowing plays a large part in the story and serves to build suspense as the outcome of the lottery is slowly revealed. It gradually becomes clear that this is not an ordinary lottery and the author uses several situations to express this. As the men gather, they do not approach the pile of stones that the boys in the village have been gathering. It almost feels like no-one wants to be involved in the drawing process because when Mr. Summers arrives withShow MoreRelatedAnalysis 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 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 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 MoreAnalysis Of The Movie The Lottery 1216 Words   |  5 Pagesabout the lottery, was the one who gets the paper with a black dot. She always wanted to participate each year but this year she wasn’t so happy about it. She complained because her family’s names were also included in the lottery drawing. Bill Hutchinson, Tessie’s husband, was the one who drew the lottery, in the end. Even though Tessie complained and protested about the lottery, he acknowledged it because it was apart of the town’s tradition. Old Man Warner has partaken in 77 lotteries over theRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Lottery 961 Words   |  4 Pagesname. Why has Jackson left out these seemingly significant details? The time and place in The Lottery are purposely dubious as a result of the focuses Jackson wished to make. Anyplace, at whatever time, individuals can be convinced to be supporters, to indiscriminately hold fast to custom, and to make substitutes. Notice that in the story, is the setting ambiguous, as well as the purpose behind the lottery is misty. Individuals in the town don t know why they are doing what they are doing, thus theyRead MoreCritical Analysis of The Lottery695 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"The Lottery,† written by Shirley Jackson takes place on the twenty-seventh of June in a small town in the United States. The beginning of the story starts off talking about the local children gathering around and the town square where the lottery is held. At the square, the little boys begin to gather stones from small to large ones and pile them up. The next people to show up at the village square are the husbands as they are discussing daily life amongst each other, then fina lly, the wives beginRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Lottery 916 Words   |  4 Pages The Foreshadowing in â€Å"The Lottery† On a warm day in late June, villagers gather in the square to participate in a lottery run by Mr. Summers. The children arrive first and begin collecting stones until their parents call them to order. Mr. Summers calls each head of the household forward to a black wooden box, where each selects a slip of paper. Once the men have chosen, Mr. Summers allows everyone to open the paper and see who wins. Bill Hutchinson wins and his wife immediately starts protestingRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Lottery Essay1370 Words   |  6 PagesThe Lottery is a fictional account of a group of villagers who conduct a yearly ceremony to determine at random who among their community will be ritually sacrificed. The villagers have come to believe annual participation in this ceremony will result in good fortune. Specifically, it is believed the success of the corn harvest and continued provision of sustenance in the community can only be assured through human sacrifice. Though only a fiction, Th e Lottery conveys to the reader a messageRead More Analysis of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Essay693 Words   |  3 PagesAnalysis of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson was written in 1948. The story takes place in a village square of a town on June 27th. The author does not use much emotion in the writing to show how the barbaric act that is going on is look at as normal. This story is about a town that has a lottery once a year to choose who should be sacrificed, so that the town will have a plentiful year for growing crops. Jackson has many messages about human nature in this short