The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Text|Response| Because so much of the ritual had been forgotten or discarded, Mr. Summers had been successful in having slips of paper substituted for the chips of wood that had been used for generations. The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. 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. ...; they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play.|Both of these text from the short story, give me an idea of how long this Lottery event has been taking place in this town. They both show me that this has been a tradition with rituals by the old Black Box as well as describing Old Man Warner as “the oldest man in town”.
Pete Ms. Issasi English 1302 10 June 2008 E1A: Lottery and Omelas At first glance the town in The Lottery would seem to be a wonderful place to live, beautiful scenery, kind townspeople, and a peaceful atmosphere. The story takes place on a summer morning that is described as a day only pictured in an old tall tale. With children playing around and giggling to themselves at the town square, the adults begin to gather mingling amongst themselves but never becoming to loud. There was actually a great foreshadowing of the entire story that lead to the horrible scene of the stoning, but was brilliantly disguised by what seemed like normal behaviors, actions, and descriptions. Even to the point of the actual stoning was apparently treated as their usual conspiracy that jus simply takes place.
The town’s people think she is going to kill herself because Homer had put an end to their relationship. Surprisingly, she is also seen buying men’s items that would be suitable for a wedding. Homer eventually leaves town along with Emily’s cousins. However, Homer soon returns and is last seen entering Emily’s house. Emily rarely leaves after that;
Annie Keene Mr. Cummings English 9H 29 October 2013 “The Lottery” In the short story, “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson focuses on a small town whose villagers conduct a yearly lottery, in which the person who draws a piece of paper containing a block spot on it gets stoned to death by the remaining villagers. Although within this tradition there involves a human sacrifice, the villagers remain obedient to the society there were raised in, and contribute to it. It is through the loyalty of characters Old Man Warner and Davy Hutchinson, the setting of an old fashioned town, as well as the symbols of the black box and black spot that display the primary theme that people born into a society follow its traditions, reluctant to change, for they
When people tend to hear the word tradition, without a doubt they would think of something in relation to good or positive. Yet it was a different scenario in “The Lottery” and was very shocking to many readers. People were stoned and killed year after year for apparently no reason other than it being a tradition. No one knows where it came from or how it all started, they just kept it running. Everyone in town participated in the lottery from even the youngest children to the oldest people.
The Analysis of the Lottery The short story “The Lottery” narrated a story about the people of a small town held an activity of lottery and the person who got the lottery would be hit to death by stones for the sake of harvest of the following year. Read through the whole story, we can know that the lottery completely show the blind obedience, less of rationality and cruel coldness of human nature of the whole town people. In the beginning of the story, the author described a quiet and peaceful, common and beautiful scene of the small town. For example, the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. These descriptions of the surrounding environment gave readers a kind of quiet and peaceful feeling so that it made readers think there would not happen anything bad.
“Tradition is an explanation for acting without thinking”-Grace McGravie. In the short story The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, a seemingly idyllic small town participates in a barbaric ritual or “lottery”, in which the winner (or loser depending how you view it), gets stoned to death by the entire town. The theme of destructive tradition pervades the text, beginning with the town nervously anticipating the outcome of the lottery and, of course, ultimately leading to Tessie Hutchinson’s death from the hands of her neighbors, friends, and family. Though Tessie Hutchinson at times appears to rebel against the traditions of the lottery, she for the most part 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. “Clean forgot what day it was…I looked out the window the kids was gone, and then I remembered it was the twenty-seventh and came a-running.”(294) This statement shows that Tessie accedes to the lottery by showing up.
Patti Mullins Professor Nelson Composition 1302 2 August 2011 “Lottery Symbolism Revealed” In "The Lottery," Shirley Jackson’s shocking short story seeks to caution her readers to question their own existing traditions, social rituals, and customs and to bring attention to the inhumanity prevalent in society today. The tradition of “The Lottery” in this case is similar to religious traditions because religion in most instances is passed on to children at a very early age without question and children rarely openly question their parents’ choice in that matter. In addition, the villagers in this story sacrificed a symbolic scapegoat as their means of atonement. The 300 townspeople of a small New England town gather
These two authors understand and realize the importance of setting in telling a story that holds the reader’s attention. “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson is about a lottery done in a small town. This is not just an ordinary lottery for money or goods, the winner of this lottery is stoned by the townspeople. This is a tradition that has gone on in this town for many years and the people of the town seem happy that the lottery has come around again. The setting is set up by the author to distract the reader from the ultimate horrific ending of the story.
The Bells” by Anne Sexton In the poem “The Bells” by Anne Sexton, illustrates how an adult expresses their memories of going to the circus with their father. I believe this poem is about an outing to the circus with her father. In lines one through five I believe Anne describes how the circus poster was scabbing off the concrete wall, how the children may have forgotten about the poster, or even if they noticed its deteriorating condition at all. And for assurance of the occurred Anne asks her father do you remember? In this stanza I believe that Anne and her dad had gone to the circus so long ago; because of the current state of the circus poster.