The Lottery

A detailed Summary of The Lottery

Although the writer gives ample clues throughout the story, the reader finds itself so shocked at the end of "The Lottery". The reader feels the evil of this tradition held in their community. The Lottery is a yearly drawing of families in the community for the death by stoning would be the outcome. To the end with such a climactic feeling, the author uses several forms of literary devices in the setting that created irony. Irony exists in this story from the very beginning in the form of the title of the story, "The Lottery." We usually associate the term "lottery" with something good something we would like to win. In this story, however, the person who wins the lottery is actually the loser, that is, they are to be stoned.

The day itself is a day beautiful enough for a picnic. It was "clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green." (272) The descriptions here make you think of people getting together for a celebration. The author goes on to describe the children gathering first quietly, the

n later they joined together in "boisterus play." (272) Also casually mentioned is the "great pile of stones" (272) gathered by the boys. Later the men began to gather. They stood together, away from the pile of stones. (272) Again the pile of stones is mentioned, yet they seem to have no bearing in the story. And last come the women, in their faded housedresses and sweaters. The are described as gossiping as they would on any other day, although this is definitely not any other day. (273) The author has created a setting that portrays something exciting and something to be eagerly anticipated.

Irony is also in use when Old Man Warner's responds to talk of other villages giving up the lottery by saying, "Pack of crazy fools...Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore, live that way for a while." (276). In his way of thinking, giving up the lottery would be barbaric and a tradition of human cruelty by stoning a person to death is considered to be civilized.

Some common words found in the essay are:
, Irony Warner's, Bill Jr, Shirley Jackson, Summers Don't, Clyde Dunbar's, pile stones, pile stones 272, play role, evil tradition, story lottery, giving lottery, stones 272, throughout story, story hutchinson,

Approximate Word count = 755
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

join now Save Paper

Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

"Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
Jack M.
"With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
Brian P.
"I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
Sara J.
"I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
Rachel W.
"I love this site!!!"
Marie N.

The Lottery

Related Essays

Professional Essays

Saved Paper

Newest Essays

Testimonials