Mystery of The Lottery
Sometimes, evil surfaces from the most ordinary and unpredictable everyday surroundings. This is most apparent on the short story, "The Lottery," published in 1948, in which author Shirley Jackson writes of a mysterious and barbaric tradition that stems from seemingly ordinary town settings. Coulthard describes the reason of continuing appeal of "The lottery " is because of its "nihilistic undercurrent, and not the surface attack on subservience to custom"(The Explicator 226). Through the use of narrative structure, foreshadowing, and ironic setting, Jackson is able to reflect her views of society at that time, create an engrossing plot that draws readers in, and shock readers with its sudden ending.In "The Lottery," Jackson weaves a tightly knit narrative in which external events follow each another in a very organized fashion. Through the use of this narrative structure, she is able to draw in the audience and give them a sense of ordinary life in an ordinary town. The story is based on what seems to be an ordinary town, which conducts a yearly lottery. Jackson starts out the story describing the people of the town gathering for the lottery. On the 27th of June, all the townsfolk gather together for the lottery. They act a
The method in which Jackson portrays the setting of the story also plays a major role in the plot. The setting in this short story molds its characters into a belief which most readers do not deem proper. As people growing up in this town, they come to think of the lottery as a regular part of their lives. The whole setting is kind of ironic because no one seems to be worried about the lottery, an event that could possibly cause the end of his or her lives. They don't seem to think of it as anything out of the ordinary. There is talk of taking the lottery away and of how other towns had abolished the lottery, but the townsfolk blow it off as a bunch of nonsense. They are forced by a sort of peer pressure to accept the lottery and everything that comes with it. Only when they are chosen to die do they suddenly feel the need to plea for the unjustness of the lottery, as does Tessie first when her family is chosen; "You didn't give him [Bill Hutchinson] time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair" (Jackson 595), and then later when she was chosen; "It isn't fair, it isn't right" (Jackson 597). The way the people were brought up in the town causes them to accept the lottery even though it might not be right. Through the use of tight narrative structure, Jackson was able to establish the seemingly normal town. With foreshadowing, Jackson slowly reveals the truth about the lottery. Also through her establishment of the setting, Jackson is able to show how the violence is forced upon the people of the
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1033
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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