The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Free Essays

There are many characters that are named in Shirley Jackson’s short story, â€Å"The Lottery†. Mr. Summers, a kindly man who runs a coal business, Mr. We will write a custom essay sample on The Lottery by Shirley Jackson or any similar topic only for you Order Now Martin and his sons, Baxter and Bobby. There is Mr. Graves, the man who helped Mr. Summers prepare the lottery, and Old Man Warner. There is Mr. Hutchinson, Mrs. Hutchinson, and their daughter Eva and son-in-law, Don—just to name a few. And although Jackson’s story has many characters, she is most interested in the social phenomenon of the lottery than she is in the characters, themselves. Instead, the characters serve as a means to depict â€Å"a graphic demonstration of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in people’s lives† (213). From the start of the story, throughout, and in the end, Jackson defines her view of society’s insouciant attitude toward violence with the villagers’ apathetic way of life. Every year on June 27th, the families of the village (and of other towns, too) gather in the center of town and participate in a lottery which culminates with the stoning death of a member of one of the families. This heinous tale takes place amid a pleasant setting, â€Å"The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green† (213). She writes of the children playing and little boys gathering stones that are stockpiled and guarded and ready for the kill. Jackson stupefies the reader as she describes how the lottery is meticulously prepared by Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves, with such pomp and circumstance: â€Å"There was a great deal of fussing to be done before Mr. Summers declared the lottery open† (214). Then there’s poor Mrs. Hutchinson, who, in her ominous late arrival, is greeted by Mr. Summers, â€Å"Thought we were going to have to get on without you, Tessie†, and she jokingly replies, â€Å"Wouldn’t have me leave m’dishes in the sink, now would you, Joe? † (215). It is this kind of small-talk among the villagers that makes this incredulous social phenomenon more significant than the characters. As fate would have it, Mr. Hutchinson draws the slip of paper with the black dot on it. â€Å"You didn’t give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair! † (217). Fair? Because her husband draws the paper with the black dot on it, it is inevitable that someone from her family or even herself, will be stoned to death. â€Å"Be a good sport, Tessie. All of us took the same chance† (217). Even the innocent children are included in the lottery. Do these people have any sense of right or wrong? Tessie Hutchinson draws the paper with the black dot on it. Her neighbors, her friends, â€Å"and someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles† (218), with which to hurl upon his mother. This sick ritual spares no one. The mere thought of this annual lottery is mind-boggling. The matter-of-fact way in which the villagers carried themselves throughout the event as though they are conducting an election of some sort is unconscionable. Jackson’s writing is brimming with obdurate expressions. As the stoning begins, â€Å"All right, folks, let’s finish quickly†, (218). They want to â€Å"be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner† (213). Unbelievable. Hello Lisa, I really enjoyed the insight you offered in your journal. You make very good use of the book by including a great number of citations in your essay and your vocabulary definitely adds to the reader’s understanding of your journal and the passage overall. While you have ample evidence to support your claims throughout your entry, I found a few grammatical and technical errors that I would like to point out: 1. ) â€Å"And although Jackson’s story has many characters, she is most interested in the social phenomenon of the lottery than she is in the characters, themselves. – You do not need a comma before â€Å"themselves†, as a comma separates the thoughts and almost prepares the reader for a new thought. 2. ) â€Å"She writes of the children playing and little boys gathering stones that are stockpiled and guarded and ready for the kill. † – A better way of writing this could be: â€Å"She writes of children playing and gathering stones to be stockpiled, guarded, and readied for the kill. † 3. ) â€Å"Jackson stupefies the reader as she describes how the lottery is meticulously prepared by Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves, with such pomp and circumstance†¦Ã¢â‚¬  – Again, you do not need a comma before â€Å"with such pomp and circumstance†, as you are not introducing a new thought. 4. ) Putting â€Å"unbelievable† at the end of your journal weakens it a little bit as you do not further the claim and give it some evidence. Overall, I think you did a really great job answering the question and giving solid evidence to your claims. From your journal essay, I was able to see that the social phenomenon that the writer is talking about is the desensitizing of our culture as a whole! Good work and good luck for the rest of the semester! How to cite The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, Essay examples The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Free Essays The Lottery by Shirley Jackson tells an intriguing, thought-provoking and disturbing story, by using conventions of symbolism, dialogue and foreshadowing. The conventions used help bring together, emphasize and create meaning for the reader, that people blindly follow traditions that have lost meaning . Jackson has cleverly used symbolism in the short story to form a multifaceted meaning that challenges the readers to broaden their thoughts in regards to the tradition. We will write a custom essay sample on The Lottery by Shirley Jackson or any similar topic only for you Order Now The convention of dialogue misleads the reader at the beginning to think that the community spirit is strong but toward the end it reveals dispute and injustice. Foreshadowing subtly and progressively gives the reader captivating clues to the unfolding event. â€Å"The Lottery† tells a fascinating story about an unrevealed village which blindly follows an annual tradition passed down from long ago. This tradition involves the whole community of about 300 people, one of which is stoned to death. Shirley Jackson has combined the convention of symbolism into ‘The Lottery’ to create a deep and more profound meaning. The black box a symbol/ icon used in the story is an old, worn, well used box. This box is an important feature of the villagers’ annual tradition. For example, â€Å"Mr Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box†. The box is so important that the people are too frightened to renew the box in case the tradition is lost, even though the meaning has already gone. The reader infers that the colour of the box, which is black, is to allow them to easily depict the idea of death, as the colour black usually correlates with death. The black box is symbolic of a coffin as they both are a form of a box. The black box is described in detail. â€Å"The black box grew shabbier each year, by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood colour, and in some places faded or stained† A coffin in the ground is there for many years and in that time it becomes dilapidated, this gives an impression of an end to a life, death. The dialogue leads the reader to believe there is a real sense of community spirit among everyone, people converse easily in a friendly and matter of fact manner. Even laughing and joking. Clean forgot what day it was,† she said to Mrs Delacroix, who stood next to her and they both laughed softly. â€Å"Thought my old man was out back stacking wood†¦. and then I looked the window†¦. and then I remembered it was the 27th and came a running. † The community act and talk so casually about such a disgusting tradition because they have forgotten the meaning of why they are doing it. The continu ing dialogue hints to the reader an idea that something is about to take place, it may be exciting but not unpleasant or disturbing. Until towards the end when the characters dialogue change from casual to disagreements, anger and unfairness, this then alerts the reader to an uneasy feeling that something is wrong all is not what is seems. A climax is about to take place, ending with desperation in Tessie’s voice. â€Å"It isn’t fair† she said. But they don’t realize what harm they are actually doing to the communities well being. The title ‘The Lottery’ foreshadows of what is to come. This convention is used to imply winning whether it is money or a material prize. The word lottery is usually associated with winning. The story begins with the gathering together in expectation of something that will take place as the story unfolds. â€Å"a sudden hush fell on the crowd as Mr. summers cleared his throat and looked at the list. â€Å"All ready? † he called â€Å"now, I’ll read the names†¦. and the men come up and take a paper out of the box. Keep the paper folded in your hand† the reader still is unaware of the winner as no hints have been aroused. The villagers do not even know the meaning as to why they are coming up and receiving a slip to maybe be the one to die. The event is important to the villagers but no one knows why, as in the end the winner is actually not a winner but a loser. â€Å"It’s Tessie,† Mr. Summers said, his voice was hushed† this quote gives the hint that whoever is the so called winner is not such a good thing. This normal calendar event actually has no meaning it is senseless tradition carried out by the village people who have not stopped to question ‘why are we doing this’. Shirley Jackson has effectively used narrative conventions such as symbolism, dialogue and foreshadowing to create meaning of a meaningless tradition in the short story ‘The Lottery’. Symbolism is used in the story to create a meaningful plot, dialogue was combined into the ‘the lottery’ to fool the reader into thinking the climax would be civilized and humane when it was not and foreshadowing hints to the reader the climax but keeps it unknown. ‘The Lottery’ is a captivating, sickening and unpredictable story with a clever meaning about it, telling the reader of meaningless traditions being held by a small community. How to cite The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, Essay examples The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Free Essays â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson opens on a warm June day in a town of about three hundred people, and describes an annual event in the town, a tradition that is apparently widespread among surrounding villages as well. While the townspeople, more than 300, await the arrival of Mr. Summers, and the black wooden box from which everyone is to draw a folded slip of paper, adults chat while children play a game in which they gather stones. We will write a custom essay sample on The Lottery by Shirley Jackson or any similar topic only for you Order Now The event for which they gather is a lottery conducted by Mr. Summers, a neatly dressed, jovial business man with a wife, but no children. Although many traditional customs associated with the lottery seemed to have been lost over time, Mr. Summers still has †a great deal of fussing to be done† before he declares the lottery open. He has created lists of households, including the heads of households in each family, and members of each household in each family. Just as Mr. Summers turned to the assembled villagers, Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson, a house wife, arrives late just then, telling Mrs. Delacroix that she â€Å"Clean forgot what day it was† until she noticed that her children had left her house, and remembered it was the day of the lottery. Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson than makes her way through the crowd to her husband, while the villagers comment on her arrival. Mr. Summers begins the necessity of confirming everyone’s attendance, and clarifying whom will represent the family. When everything is finalized , each representative is called up one after another, and nervously draws a folded slip of paper from the black box. While people are called up, one of the villagers presents the idea of other towns giving up the lottery. Old Man Warner snorts in reply, â€Å"Pack of crazy fools, Listening to young folks, nothing’s good enough for them. Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore, live that way for awhile. Used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.’ First thing you know, we’d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There’s always been a lottery.† This statement sets the importance of this annual event, and the strong beliefs of the town. When the big moment arrives, everyone is silent until the name of Bill Hutchinson rapidly spreads throughout the crowd. Tessie Hutchinson, Bill’s wife, shouts out to Mr. Summers that he didn’t give Bill enough time, and that its not fair. Tessie is silenced, and Mr. summers recons for the family of Bill Hutchinson to come forward. Bill, Tessie, and their three children than proceed as every family of the lottery ever has, and draws a new folded piece of paper from the black box. One by one the family unfolds their piece of paper to determine the sacrificed. Tessie Hutchinson , the declared winner, was led to the center of a cleared space, and with her hands desperately held out in front of her she was hit with the first stone. Everyone then closed in on her, picked up the rocks, the â€Å"proceeds† of the lottery, and stones her to death. â€Å"Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual, and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones.à ¢â‚¬  How to cite The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, Essay examples The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Free Essays â€Å"Children will watch anything, and when a broadcaster uses crime and violence and other shoddy devices to monopolize a child’s attention,† (Newton N. Minow). To clarify, this quote represents how easy it is to manipulate children’s minds to do exactly what you want. We will write a custom essay sample on The Lottery by Shirley Jackson or any similar topic only for you Order Now In The fiction short story, â€Å"The Lottery†, by Shirley Jackson children are also manipulated by their elders to carry on the tradition of stoning a person at random annually in their village of 300 people. Jackson foreshadows that death is going to occur. Foreshadowing is a literary device in which an author gives a vague indication of what is going to happen later in a story. Jackson creates foreshadowing by the illustration of the black box, the explanation of a child’s pocket, and the dialogue between Tessie and Mrs. Delacroix. To begin, Jackson foreshadows that death is going to occur by the illustration of the black box. In the passage, the black box is getting ready to be used by Mr. Summers. â€Å"The black box now resting,† (Jackson,1). This quote literally means that the box is sitting upon the stool. However, the word â€Å"black† has a negative connotation. It commonly symbolizes death and sorrow. Also, â€Å"box† latently means a sarcophagus. It is where the dead â€Å"rest† after death has struck them, and where they will stay for the rest of the eternity. Jackson creates foreshadowing through the connotation. This quote makes the overall feeling sad and even death like. To summarize, Jackson foreshadows death by the black box being on top of a stool. Moreover, Jackson foreshadows that death is going to occur by the explanation of a child’s pocket. In the short story, Some of the children are gathering stones. â€Å"Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones,† (Jackson, 1). The literal meaning of â€Å"stuffed† is â€Å"packed† or â€Å"gorged. On the other hand, the word â€Å"stuffed† is also a term given to a dead animal that has been treated, so it would be preserved. And like many animals that are stuffed they die a savage and horrible death. Jackson uses foreshadowing through the diction put forward from the quote. Much like how animals are killed ruthlessly Tessie Hutchinson is also murdered the same way. To clarify, Jackson uses foreshadowing by the fullness of a child’s pocket. Furthermore, Jackson foreshadows that death is going to occur by the dialogue between Tessie and Mrs. Delacroix. In the text, Tessie has just arrived late to the lottery drawing, and is talking to Mrs. Delacroix. â€Å"She tapped Mrs. Delacroix on the arm as a farewell and began to make her way,† (Jackson, 2). Jackson uses the word â€Å"farewell,† which literally means â€Å"good bye. â€Å". Also â€Å"make her way† means that Tessie is walking away through the crowd. However, there is a deeper meaning of these words. â€Å"Farewells† are something you do at a funeral to a dead person that you once knew. It is the last time people get to see the body before the corpse is buried. Also, â€Å"make her way† means that her soul is going to leave her body, and will take a journey where it will have to either â€Å"make her way† down to Hell or up to Heaven. Jackson is creating foreshadowing through this quote; in the end of the story Tessie stoned to death, and by the diction of the quote the reader is able to infer what will happen later on in the short story. To conclude, Jackson foreshadows death by the farewell that is given by Tessie. To sum up, Jackson foreshadow the events to come; he illustrates the mysterious dark box, explains the fullness of a young boy’s pocket, and describes the conversation of Tessie and her friend. Jackson illustrates the color of the box, and how it is positioned; by doing so he foretells that there is going to be tragedy later in the story. Furthermore, by explaining the space left in a boy’s pocket, Jackson, foreshadows that the people in the village will act savagely. Lastly, the discussion that Mrs. Hutchinson had suggests that she will be leaving. The overall picture of the story is that violence is in everyone no matter how young or old. People are naturally violent, and even though people evolved from cavemen they act no differently. How to cite The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, Essay examples