Lottery
Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” depicts a seemingly average village with average citizens. The citizens of this village participate in an annual lottery in which the winner will be stoned to death. It is believed that the death of the winner will bring heartier crops to the village. Jackson introduces the lottery as a tradition that has been performed and will be done for many years to come. Jackson also stresses the importance of human nature, which is that humans are conditioned to do what is taught since birth. “The Lottery” tells that it is not tradition but ignorance and cowardness which justify the ritual. In the beginning of the story Jackson paints a picture of a normal village getting ready to celebrate a joyous occasion. She goes further by setting the time of the event. “The people of the village began to gather in the square… so it can begin at ten o’clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner” (74). The villagers’ acceptance of the lottery and its schedule is justified by tradition. Although some people will read this and say “so what? It’s traditi
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery”, Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth McMahn, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk. 5th Ed. Upper Saddle, NJ: Prentice Hall 1999. 74-79. on.” However, although not mentioned in the introduction this seemingly normal village is preparing for a murder. The lottery’s ritual can be defined as tradition, but to accept the fact that a murder can be committed prior to sitting down for noon dinner is absurd. The citizens in the story reflect this as they gather amongst themselves and “…smiled instead of laughing” (74). Tension within the village is seen throughout yet no one objects or questions the lottery because they are scared to disrupt the routine of life. In the last scene, Tessie Hutchinson picks the paper form the black box that reveals a black dot. She is the one that will be stoned to death. The reader can see that Jackson foreshadows the death of Tessie Hutchinson by her happily engagement in the lottery and then her rejection as her family was picked. Readers might read this and say that she was not forced to join the lottery so she must accept the consequences. But this also shows that human nature makes Mrs. Hutchinson reluctant to accept the final decision. She then realizes the insanity of the lottery when it is to late. Also at her stoning, her little son helps gather the rocks and
Some common words found in the essay are:
Shirley Jackson’s, Davey Hutchinson, Tessie Hutchinson, Warner Adams, Prentice Hall, Jackson Shirley, readers read, human nature, black box, Robert Funk, “the lottery”, readers read argue, little davey, lottery tradition, tessie hutchinson, stoned death, jackson writes, normal village,
Approximate Word count = 938
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
