After Mr. Summer declares the lottery open,the heads of household of each family select a paper in a black box. Bill Hutchinson takes the marked paper. Then the Hutchinsons repeat the raffle among themselves. At this time the lucky one is Tessie Hutchinson. Actually it is not luckyness but great luckyless.
He points and arguments prove true when I read Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”. This, in my opinion, dark story, we visit a community that follows the tradition that has been around for years. As cruel as the “prize” for the lottery is, no one seems to care to stop it. My argument is that if someone or something has control over what a society sees or reads or thinks is the norm, they could potentially brainwash them to doing whatever they want, even if it is right or wrong. In Jackson’s “The Lottery”, she tells a story about a close-knit community of hard-working families that gather every year for a lottery.
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”. Clearly, this Lottery is very important to the citizens. Although I am not aware of the “Grand Prize” of winning this lottery, I can assume that it is a very good prize based on the manner of the town including the children. The author describes the boys and girls running around playfully and in “boisterous play.” As well as the women engrossed in gossip amongst each other, gives me an idea of how great this event is. I assume that they are talking about the lottery or who is going to win.
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. The whole Hutchison family comes up to the front and the all draw a slip of paper. They found that Tessie was the winner of the lottery since she had picked the paper with the black dot. All the villagers begin to grab the stones that the kids had already piled up. They get around Tessie and start throwing them at her while she screams that it is not fair.
If the villagers had truly valued the tradition of the lottery the black box would have been kept with better care, yet the careless storage of the box depicts the villagers are feeling the need to continue the regular tradition. Lastly, as noted by an elderly villager there “used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon’” (48) which clearly explains that the lottery was once a ritual performed to ensure a prosperous crop. But as time wore on, the belief of sacrificing an individual in return for a good crop was exchanged with the fact that the villagers just needed to hold the lottery because it was an event that always existed. The author states that tradition can have an impact on the human kind causing us be more simplistic and ignorant. It can be concluded from both
Catching Fire and The Lottery Have you ever read a story that was similar and different in many ways? Well, the stories “The Lottery” and “Catching Fire” are just that. These two novels were surprisingly alike in many ways, but they also had their differences. “The Lottery” is a short novel by Shirley Jackson that shows conformity to the next level. Everyone in town would gather in the square every year for a ritual held by Mr. Summers.
In the story Mr. Graves help little Davvy select from the box. If a child draw from the black box and get the one with the dot he/she will be the one to get stone. Also brother and sister, Nancy and Bill Hutchison are laughing as people draw from the box. Little do they know that it will be out of there own parents to determine who will get the black dot and it turns out to be there mother Tessi. As Tessi drew from the box Mr. Hutchison is the one to show everybody that it is Tessi who drew the black dot and he does not stand up for his wife at all.
Money is not only thing that can make someone happy; it’s the littlest things that can bright up someone’s life, which is what the author shows in I am the Messenger. The desire for prosperity in The Great Gatsby contradicts to the quality of a good human being, which the author expresses. Similarly in the novel I am the Messenger, Ed’s good will leaves a mark on people’s heart as he delivers the messages. Ed finds out that the last three messages are about his closest friends and when he reaches the last he says “I don’t want to waste time. I’ve come so far since the holdup.
La`Michael Boles English 101 Leah Halliday Little Black Box In the story “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson, the people of the town believed in holding a lottery every year. They picked one name and then the winner would be killed. They held on to an old black box which they all knew they needed to get rid of, but didn’t. The black box in “The Lottery” represented old traditions, loyalty, and lack of knowledge. The black box represented old traditions in the community.
Old Time Rituals and Traditions The short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is about a shocking tradition that takes place in a small American village. She writes this story to send the message that old-fashioned attitude and values are important in societies. People resist change and follow thoughtlessly the models of their ancestors. One tradition of the villagers is called the lottery, it takes place every year in “the morning of June 27th,” is based on a drawing which has been practiced by every member of the village for as long as everyone can remember (Jackson 213). Throughout Jackson’s “The Lottery”, literary elements of symbolism, irony, and tone reveal the author’s perspective on the theme of rituals and traditions.