Deconstruction Essay

870 Words4 Pages
“The Lottery” is a story of Jackson’s legitimate opinion about human beings and their evil intentions. The tradition of the lottery had been forgotten long ago, and the black box rested on the bench had to be placed into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. Mr. Summers spoke regularly to the villagers about making a new box, upon hearing the suggestion everybody present there was upset with the new strategy as the tradition of black box had to be kept alive.

The anonymous and generic town where it happens “The Lottery” and the macabre twist that gives the story to a ritual as common as the lottery promote a sense of discomfort that the contemporary reader group violence in the story could be happening in any place and at any time.

Details of the present-day small town American life were matched with an yearly ritual known to be “The lottery”. 300 residents in a small village including the locals were in a mood that was normally different from the usual. To ensure a good harvest kids and young children gathered stones , while the whole townsfolk assembled for their annual event, that was practiced with great enthusiasm and with a great deal of zest. The head of each family drew a slip of paper that was the ritual during the first round of the lottery, ; Hutchinson one day gets the slip that was distinct with a black spot, this clearly indicates that his family was chosen for the lottery. Tessie who had arrived late gets the marked slip. Tessie, according to tradition, which is just a useless tradition in some other adjoining communities, tragically Tessie is sacrificed in the presence of everybody (stoned to death) (Jackson, 2008).

Regarding the conclusion of this short story, to everyone’s surprise it was a shocking end although Shirley gave hints as what might happen at the closing stages of the story.After reviewing “The
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