Damien Gradney Mrs. Williams March 26, 2011 Eng 1302 Symbolism on “The Lottery” The author showed a variety of different signs of symbolism in the story. There are people all over the nation who perform different yearly traditions like decorating Christmas trees, being involved in Easter egg hunts and plenty more. People are accustomed and comfortable to yearly rituals. However, in “The Lottery,” the practices they carried out was not likely comfy at all what so ever. Normally most people would associate the lottery with something superior like winning cash money or some type of prize and so forth, but in this particular story it was the complete opposite.
Alanna Stokes English 115 – TR 3pm February 13, 2014 Paper 1 Ann Boyce Compare and Contrast Force In the short stories, “The Lottery” and “The Cask of the Amontillado” the authors use characters that use force to control others. Also, both stories have victims that killed as a simple punishment that they didn’t deserve. Fortunato and Tessie Hutchinson are these two victims. The people in control, Montresor and the whole town, thought they were doing the right thing. These people were supposed to be their friends.
Ali Al-Ali Professor Griffin Assignment #1 9/23/2012 Review of Underlying Themes in “The Lottery” In the year 1948, American literature took a shocking turn when Shirley Jackson published a short story entitled “The Lottery”. Not only did this story shock the nation, but it also left many people wondering what the story was truly about. It was not long until people were coming up with their own opinions on the story, many of which differed from each other. One man, Fritz Oehlschlaeger, wrote down his opinions on the meaning of the story. He uses examples from other authors to support his own ideas and to convince the reader that his point of view is the most logical explanation of “The Lottery”.
A Lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of lots for a prize. However, in “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, a lottery is not what we all know it to be. Shirley Jackson uses irony as an essential theme throughout the story. The setting, plot and characters, all go hand in hand when uncovering the irony of the story. The setting set forth by Shirley Jackson in the beginning creates a mood of calmness and serenity.
Traditions, Logical or Illogical Writers often use symbols to help convey underlying themes and ideas. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery is a perfect example of a story that can be so loosely interpreted or misunderstood without understanding the stories symbols and underlying themes. At a glance “The Lottery” is just a story about an unusual and morbid village whose people share the love for murder. By analyzing the short story’s symbols, the story becomes much more than a morbid village full of pointless hate. The lottery itself, the black box, family, and the lottery rules are all symbols that build the underlying theme of the story, tradition.
“The Lottery” Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” portrays a small town in which the citizens gather for a yearly lottery. Unlike a typical lottery, this is one you would not want to win. The lottery in this story is used for public stoning contrary to the first thing that comes to the readers mind when they think of winning the lottery; a big sum of money. This work of fiction demonstrates conformity and rebellion, while suggesting that the lottery is a ritualistic ceremony. “The Lottery” focuses around a village on their annual lottery.
In conclusion, Tessie Hutchinson adheres to the tradition of the lottery by coming to the lottery, cheering her husband on while he draws, and even drawing her slip of paper. The Lottery shows the shocking theme of conformity, ignorance, and cruelty all things that we can find in our modern society. The lessonthat we should take away from this story is that there is danger in following tradition and just blindly following
Ironically, she “wins” the lottery and it is implied that she will be stoned. A friend, Mrs. Delecroix grabs the largest stone to throw, and rushed another woman along. Even Mrs. Hutchinson’s own son is given pebbles to throw. The short story “The Lottery” uses irony, comedy, and a calm tone to draw readers into what is much more complex than it seems. It its implied that the people village in the story are cold, uncaring, hypocrites.
Although many students were moved by the war, it also caused great changes to politics in the United States. It was an extremely trying time for student during the Vietnam War. Although you were able to avoid the war as a student once you graduated you were at risk for the draft. However, the war escalated and a Selective Service System operated on a lottery system was enacted forcing some students to join the war. These lottery systems lead way to college students using their campuses for large protests to stop the war in fear that if it continued they would be drafted (History and Records, 2009).
She told Mrs. Delacroix that she “clean forgot what day it was” (Jackson 215). Mrs. Hutchinson’s whole attitude changed when she found out she was the winner of the lottery. She immediately began telling the villagers “It isn’t fair!” when she drew the paper with the black dot (Jackson 218). It was ironic how Tessie was in a good mood until her name was announced, and then her attitude quickly changed to despair. Jackson used irony when she chose the title “The Lottery”.