Kenley Duke D.E. English Professor Walker October 9th 2012 Analyzing Literature: “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson Tradition, defined my Webster’s Dictionary, is an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior. Not once does it say that tradition is meant to have good intentions. Such is the case in the “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. The villagers in this town gather annually to conduct what they refer to as “the lottery.” This gruesome event selects one of the town members to meet their untimely death by the mid-evil process of stoning.
Shirley Jackson was the author of “The Lottery” and she showed death by community. Once a year the townspeople gathered together and took a piece of paper from a black box. The first round of the drawing is just for the head of the family. Whichever man has the dotted paper then it is on to everyone in that family taking a draw. Now whoever has drew the paper with the dot on it is the one who gets stoned to death by the townspeople.
Symbolism in “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a short story filled with an immense amount of symbolism used in a way that conveys to readers the evil nature of society and traditions. Every year the community gathers to select a winner for the year’s lottery and this year it is Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson who is the lucky winner to be stoned to death. The story begins in a setting so real it could have taken place any where right here in America but it does not give an exact location. This signifies that these evils of humanity and tradition that take place in the story can take place any where we live. The time period the event occurs in is not stated either, signifying that such cruel acts can take place at any time.
Citera Propst Jon-Paul Wimer Introduction to Fiction November 2, 2011 The Lottery The Lottery, written in 1948 by Shirley Jackson, is a short story about a small village that holds an annual drawing of the lottery. To most the lottery is perceived as positive if won. In Jackson’s story the winner of the lottery is stoned to death as a sacrifice a good season of crops. The winner of the lottery is more than likely the rest of the village, and the loser being the one who was sacrificed. The Lottery can have multiple themes, but an interesting theme to focus and analyze would be tradition.
3 March 2015 Evil Disguised as Tradition “The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson that tells the story of a town and its tradition of a yearly lottery. In this story, the townspeople come together once a year to pull slips from a box to see who will be stoned to death. The lottery is the main subject of this story and the rules of the lottery are simple. One person from every household (usually the man of the house) pulls a ticket from the traditional black box of slips. Whoever pulls the slip with a black dot, must draw again, only this time the only people that will draw from the black box with be the members of the household that pulled the slip with the black dot first.
They conclude that Medea is guilty and needs to be punished. Her intent is to see Jason suffer; therefore killing his father in law, wife, and two children. Nevertheless, he is obviously grieving these sorrows cast upon him. Medea’s wish is fulfilled, however it has cost her own family. This woman sacrifices her loved ones for revenge and hatred.
Indirect suicide In Susan Glaspell’s Trifles Minnie Wright is a woman who when was young was once outgoing and lively until she married a harsh, cold hearted, and anti-social farmer. Her isolation and her husband’s cruelty slowly drove her to murder her husband; she tried to have some sort of happiness. But Mr. Wright kills the only thing that makes her happy. Susan Glaspell is trying to say that Mr. Wright’s murder is then inevitable and justified. Glaspell shows in this play that because of Mr. Wrights controlling nature he isolated Minnie Wright.
As Arthur Miller states, “Naturally, the best proof of the sincerity of your confession was your naming of others whom you had seen in the Devil’s company – an invitation to private vengeance” (“Why I Wrote The Crucible”). Essentially, blame is something that can be loaded onto scapegoats to facilitate acts of revenge, and to “get back” at someone who has upset, annoyed, or wronged society. “Half-Hanged Mary” by Margaret Atwood highlights some of the offenses that Mary Webster, the work’s main character, is targeted for: “I was hanged for living alone, for having blue eyes and sunburned skin, tattered skirts, few buttons, a weedy farm in my own name, and a surefire cure for warts; Oh yes, and breasts, and a sweet pear hidden in my body. Whenever there’s talk of demons these come in handy” (Atwood). Atwood’s list of reasons that explain Webster’s hanging draw up two conclusions about the party who commit her botched execution: they dislike the notion that Webster is an independent woman, and they dislike the unique aspects of her physical appearance.
Cassandra Fyffe English Composition I In Shirley Jacksons “The Lottery”, the author demonstrates how people follow the crowd and it leads to a bad outcome. It’s June 27th, a clear and beautiful day. The flowers are blossomed, the grass is luxuriously green. The kids are out of school for the summer, but they aren’t too thrilled. After school a few of the kids start collections stones, soon after their parents started to call them to gather up to get ready for the lottery .Bobby Martin has his pockets full of rocks.
Jett McCoy Composition 1 Online 09/22/2012 Why moms kill their own children. One of the most unthinkable crimes is when a mother kills her own children. Over the past few decades due to media coverage they have talked more about this topic. There are many different reasons for this type of crime. A very popular reason is post-partum depression.