The Lottery is a short story by Shirley Jackson which is about a tradition, the lottery, held in a village every year. The theme of the story is about the danger of following a baseless and illogical tradition. Throughout the story, irony is heavily used on the lottery itself. In the beginning of the story, Jackson positively described the setting of the story by stating “The flowers were blossoming and the grass was richly green.” (pg.74) and the villagers talking to each other gracefully. However, a person is about to get chosen to get stoned to death.
Throughout history we find that “fertility rites took place on Midsummer Eve (that is the 23rd of June) or on Midsummer Day (that is the 24th of June). So one may wonder at this point which line of the cabalistic tradition this story follows” (Schaub). In the story Jackson writes of an old saying that is the words of her character Old Man Warner, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (Jackson). This saying reveals that the vindication of the lottery by the townspeople is that they believe that by holding the lottery there will be a good harvest. Sacrifices or traditions like this were not uncommon in history, but are not so common anymore.
This adventure begins when Nick finds his neighbor, Gatsby, stretching “…out his arms toward…a single green light…” (20-21) in which we later find out to be the same “green light that burns all night at the end of [Daisy’s] dock” (92). Readers will soon find out that Gatsby and Daisy were in love when they were both young, but he had “taken her under false pretenses,” (149) lying to her about his financial situation. Because he couldn’t support her, he worked his way up through shady business deals, obsessing over that moment when he would finally be able to get Daisy back, reliving his happiness with her. Once he finally made his fortune he eventually met up with Daisy one afternoon, thanks to Nick. According to Nick there were moments for Gatsby “that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams because of the colossal vitality of his illusion” (95).
Chris Mercer 2/18/13 RR-5 Typically when we think of a lottery, we are under the impression that the prize has some sort of monetary value and brings joy. Shirley Jackson’s story "The Lottery" starts off with this belief, and then opposes the idea we are a custom to. It is ironic this story may be thought of as the lottery of death, as well as the lottery that grants’s continued life. It comes down to the same thing. Everyone is issued a ticket at birth, and the ticket is renewed every year after.
However it’s when others choose an identity for an individual or a group because of their circumstances that we get negative value identity or in equal identity. As people we all have an identity, the most simple of which is personal identity, this is your individual knowledge of who you are, but there are many more identities to consider. We construct our identities by what we do, where we go, people we interact with. A social identity is both an individual-a specific person and group identity referring to others whether different and the same. Identities relate to each and every person; however a lot of social identities are characterised by inequality.
Even if the use of Native American culture in our sports teams is not offensive to us, it may be offensive to somebody else. Shakley’s talks about many college teams that use Native American names and mascots throughout his article. The Fighting Sioux, the Fighting Illini, and the Florida State Seminoles are some examples of that. He states that most of the controversy with changing the team names is not so much with the discrimination of the Native American culture, but that it has been associated with the school for decades. Even if they wanted to change the name, it would cost money and even more disappointed fans.
Starting with a lovely pleasant playground of children and villagers from the 18th century, enjoying the fresh air around them and the spring smell of harvested crops and plants, but something tipped the scene and the century upside down causes massive disruption to every living thing during that century. The Industrial Revolution was born. Before Britain’s changes had taken place, Britain was a very green and glorious land to live in. It was very hard to keep in touch with people in other parts of the country. News was spread by travellers or through messengers and goods were distributed largely within the locality in which they were produced.
Illegal kidney trade is reliable because kidneys gotten from black markets come from a living donor which could last a person a lifetime compared to an organ from a cadaver which is estimated to function for about ten years. In third world countries, people do anything for money especially the poor who are vulnerable to anything that involves money; so they sell their organs for about $1,000. By my understanding, a lot of bad and evil things happen on this earth. People kill for diabolical reasons, others trick their fellow humans into doing things and making decisions they
Situational irony exists in a story when a discrepancy occurs in what the character or characters think will happen and what actually happens. Situational irony occurs in “The Lottery” in the imagery depicted in the opening paragraphs, the characters and their dialogue with each other and the introduction of Mrs. Hutchinson as she arrives late. The most ironic point of the story is the attitude of the villagers, which will be addressed in each of the examples above. In the opening sentence you find a description of the day. “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full sunny day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green.” With this description you don’t anticipate the dark events of the end of the story.
Having a sense of being different makes it difficult to belong Identity and belonging are inter-related, they go hand in hand. The groups we chose to belong to and the ways we connect with others help to form our identity. Together these issues go to the heart of who we are and how we present ourselves to world. We humans are social creatures and the need to belong is innate. It is funny in a way, as we all long to be free, to be who we truly are, yet we conform and do everything asked of us in order to belong to some kind of community or group.