Literary Analysis Of The Lottery

Figurative language is a strategy that authors have used over the years to give the reader different perspectives on the piece that they are reading about. In her short Story, “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson writes about a small town that has a tradition known as the lottery. The way that the lottery works, is that there is black box with pieces of paper in it. The pieces of paper have the family names of every family in town. The last name standing then has to go into an elimination round with the people within the family. Each family member draws out of the black box, and the family member that pulls the slip of paper with the black dot gets stoned to death. In her short story, Jackson utilizes symbolism in the form of Old Man Warren, the black box and the pile of stones to demonstrate how tradition can be blinding without even knowing it.

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a story filled with sunny weather and boisterous play and a town filled with a what seems like a burden--a lottery to see who will be the one to leave their town and the Earth forever. For many people, this story is dark, compelling, and mind boggling, yet it also feels that it gives a warning to humanity and to the entire face of the Earth. I believe that Shirley Jackson is warning us about what humanity is capable of doing, and how people conform blindly to society’s expectations. Throughout the story, many signs of this is shown from the year the story was written to the very last sentence.

The literal level of "The Lottery" illustrates a town's chilling tradition of a random selection of death by stoning of a certain person. Figuratively, however, one aspect of Jackson's short story bravely reveals the reality of society's control over women by placing on them expectations and limitations.

Luck always plays a hand in chance, but when the luck runs out, who’s there to lend a hand? In the story, The Lottery, a small New England town graces the reader’s eyes. Within this town, there is a deadly tradition about taking a chance. Tessie Hutchinson ends up being the one to risk it all and her fate is sealed with the sweet kiss of many stones. Symbolism plays a major key in this story, and it’s shown by names, objects and the setting, which conceals the true meaning of the lottery.

“The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, is a story about a small town that conducts an annual lottery and whoever wins dies. Throughout the story, Jackson employs the use of situational irony to emphasize her theme of not everything is as normal or good as it seems.

The Lottery written by Shirley Jackson is a story about the villagers preserving a deadly tradition. The villagers are unaccepting of change and will not tolerate it. They see the lottery as part of their culture. During the lottery the villagers use a black box to draft who will be the winner. Until they are picked the villagers seem to not care.

The Lottery is a story filled with many hidden and unclear symbols and underlying themes; it is a story filled with plot twist and irony. The story starting out as a peaceful town gathering for “The Black Box drawing” or “Lottery” and turning into someone drawing a paper and winning death. The writing style of the short story is very bland and not overly emotional, the plot of the story is mid summer in a village of time origin unknown. The underlying message throughout Jacksons story is Following traditions; even though the towns people may not want to stone another member of their society it is a custom they have followed for years and is habit now. “… but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box.”(255)

Imagine a world where one person a year is chosen to die. That is the world that Shireley Jackson thought of as she wrote the story “The Lottery”. Even though the plot of “The Lottery” is on the morbid side of literature, Jackson had a deeper meaning to the horrid event. In the story, Jackson shows that big change is a slow process by looking back on how things used to be. First Jackson looks back on what has been lost, the people’s reluctance to give up the past, and the insight from two characters.

“The Lottery” Analysis “’Some places have already quit lotteries.’ Mrs. Adams said (4). ‘Nothing but trouble in that,’ Old Man Warner said stoutly (4). This exchange of dialect in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” reveals a small village’s exhalation of the lottery, an annual meeting in which villagers draw paper slips from a black box to elect one person to be stoned. However, the horrid appearance of this event is deceiving.

Ice Cream, warm weather and summer vacation, most people are excited for summer, once June comes around, people enjoy pass times such as going to the zoo or relaxing on beaches. Meanwhile, in a village nearby, villagers are getting prepared to have their name drawn to be stoned to death by their fellow villagers. In the story “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson, the sky is clear on June 27th, while most mind are fogged with the thought that either themselves or a loved one might die that day. Tensions are even higher in the town where The Hunger Games, directed by Gary Ross, takes place. A similar event will soon happen here except two tributes from twelve districts will be put in an arena to fight to the death. There are many ways in

As once said by Professor John P. Kotter," tradition is a very powerful force" (qtd. in AZQuotes). In Shirley Jackson's chilling story "The Lottery", a town celebrates a special custom of stoning people to death every year. Jackson perfectly depicts a possible event that may occur from blindly following tradition without evaluating the purpose or usefulness of it in the first place. Jackson’s use of plot, theme, and symbolism reveal the evil reality of blind faith, tradition, and their consequences.

Firstly, the theme of carelessly obeying traditions is explored near the beginning of the story with the seemingly innocuous village children gathering the stones needed for the event. Initially, readers can assume that the stone gathering had no relation to the "lottery" and was just a harmless little way to pass the time. It is only at the end that we realize the true purpose of gathering the stones, to throw them mercilessly at the "winner" of the lottery and ensure a brutal death. Amazingly, it has been made clear that the villagers have long forgotten the main purpose of this bizarre ritual with some noting that certain parts of it has been changed over the years, yet still intend to uphold it anyway simply because it has been ingrained

Deliberate authorial choices become crucial in getting the readers attention in a said literary work. Authors spend their whole career developing these techniques to create a style that is their own. Shirley Jackson displays her talent to the reader in her writing of a pessimistic short story that she is most famous for. Her famous short story “The Lottery” is one to keep the reader interested not only in the content but in the way she presents it and the emotional toll that it has on the readers. The story follows a town which partakes in a ritualistic lottery. Each household draws from a black box and whomever draws the black circle wins. The family who wins draws again and the winner of the family gets stoned. Jackson presents an pessimistic story which reveals all the story’s meaning at the end. It is through her deceiving style, her deliberate technical choices, Shirley Jackson first lulls her reader then shocks them as she reveals a story that takes a look at following blindly and the danger of misinterpreting religion and traditions, that is a result of evil hiding in the ordinary elements of life.

“The lottery” is written by Shirley Jackson, was first published in Newer Yorker magazine in 1948. The story is setting in a peaceful and quit small town. Naturally, this is a beginning of a joyful or love story. However, in the end of this story, a man is stoning to die by all the community. In a deeper level of understanding, the author is tried to talk about tradition. Although tradition is always considered as truth and people must follow, something it could turn to totally negative. Jackson use symbolism to show the reader, follow the tradition without question is dangerous.

This is a literary analysis essay about a short story “The Lottery” By Shirley Jackson. Jackson’s writing style is considered to be a “gothic fiction” that refers to a style of writing that is characterized by “elements of fear, horror, death, and gloom, as well as romantic elements, such as nature, individuality, and very high emotion.” (www.study.com) In this essay, I will be analyzing a short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson based on these areas: setting, tone, foreshadowing, and characterization.