THE LOTTERY The Lottery, written by Shirley Jackson in 1948, is a mirroring of totalitarianism of Nazi Germany and the inherit evils of other societies; even our own. Written three years after the liberation of Auschwitz, Jackson's point hits home for an American culture that was simply judging Germany with out any thought of it's self. In the story, the reader is introduced to a picturesque little town in which an annual lottery is conducted to choose one townsperson to be stoned to death by the other townspeople. The stoning is rooted in tradition and is seldom questioned by the participants. A couple of themes are apparent throughout The Lottery; the first being that tradition is rapidly deteriorating in the story in the way that tradition
One example of a character is Old Man Warner. When someone tells him they have quit doing the lottery Burge, 2 in other communities he says “pack of crazy fools” (Jackson, 3). Another character that explains theme is the Hutchison family. Even though everyone was worried that Little Dave would get picked no one resisted against the lottery. Also Tessie tried objecting and no one took her side and helped her.
Summers tells the crowd all the rules. Every time he said a name, the family heads came up and draw a paper. Nobody was allowed to look at this paper until everyone went. Mr. Summers then finishes saying all the names. Everyone says that Mr. Hutchison got the paper and Tessie states that the lottery wasn’t fair because he didn’t have enough time to choose the paper.
During the Simon’s (Matt and Marie’s son) birthday party, there were some conversations between Kate, Daniel and Kate, Marie; Marie told Kate to face the truth that Matt’s life was not a failure, and he love his son, his family and the farm. The most important thing that bothered Matt, however, was that Kate cannot forgive Matt and cannot understand him. Daniel also has made some progress (Page 281-282); he tells Kate to look at real world too; also, Daniel point out that Kate had put the story in a place that was too heavy. Actually, Matt did not change after being a famer. He can be a scholar; however, he just found out he like farming, too.
“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.
Alaura Bouvier Bouvier 1 Anna Wauthy English 091 January 30, 2012 The Lottery In the short story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, a horrific tradition occurs every June 27th and no one in the village tries to put an end to it. Every year an innocent person, or child, names are entered into a black box. This box is made from an older black box and it contains relics from the past. Then someone’s name is drawn and then killed by the villagers. Everyone in the village is okay with allowing a murder to happen because of this tradition.
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
In “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson describe June 27, the day the lottery is held as a normal everyday life for the towns people in a small town called Anytown, USA, in the story Jackson addresses the day of the lottery as a normal quite and pleasant day. In my opinion the lottery is a cruel bizarre tradition that note of the towns people thought to question the ritual on why an individual get stoned to death their very own towns people. Jackson uses simple objects to symbolize cruelty and unfairness to human life. In the beginning Jackson describes how the children were getting out of school the girls talking among themselves and the boys gathering stones. The stones symbolize horrific murder weapons.
When a young girl shows concern for her friend, Nancy, Old Man Warner seemed disappointed saying “people aint the way they used to be.” The author uses irony in the story to show the nature of the villagers. Tessie Hutchinson, who serves as the protagonist, shows up to the lottery late mentioning to Mrs. Delecroix that she had “clean forgot what day it was.” It is at this point the tone begins to change. As the drawing begins the reader can tell by the seriousness of the crowd that there’s more to be learned. When it is Mr. Hutchinson that draws the marked slip of paper, Tessie begins to rebel. Ironically, she “wins” the lottery and it is implied that she will be stoned.
There’s always been a lottery” (1217). Old Man Warner firmly believes that the lottery is what holds the town together, and without it, the town would suffer. He has a strong belief in religion and fears change. Normally traditions are things such as family dinners, holidays, or family heirlooms passed down from generation to generation. Ironically, the tradition in this case is the murder of a villager by stoning them to death.