The story continues and we learn that the lottery is based from families, the head of which is the one to choose from the pot. The lottery begins and each head of household draws a folded sheet of paper from the black box; Bill Hutchinson, head of the Hutchinson family, has chosen the individually designated slip with a black dot on it. It is now that the tone changes; the chosen family doesn’t seem as celebratory as the reader may have expected, rather in denial. Mr. Hutchinson’s family of five, Mrs. Hutchinson and his three children, are then sent back up to draw, but now each of them must instead of only he. This time, it is Mrs. Hutchinson that draws
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.
The fact that the box is so worn symbolizes how old the lottery tradition really is. “But most of the history of the lottery and the black box is somewhat vague, creating a feeling of uncertainty” (Shields 417). Another symbol is the use of the flimsy slips of paper instead of the older wood chips in the lottery. “Mr. Summers had been successful in having slips of paper substituted for the chips of wood that had been used for generations” (Jackson 2).
The Lottery In The Lottery on a clear sunny summer day, on the morning of June 27th the people of the village began to gather in the square. Mr. Summers arrived to the square carrying the black wooden box, which contained the slips of paper with everyone from the villages’ name. Mr. Summers declared the lottery open and the head of each house hold is to go up and get a slip of paper as their names are being called, The Dunbar’s, Delacroix’s, Grave’s, and Hutchinson’s all stood there with their slips of paper quietly and nervously. When Mr. Summers announced that the lottery was over there was a long breathless pause as everyone looked down at their slips of paper, hoping to see a blank paper. When Tessie Hutchinson saw that she had a black dot on her paper, she was declared the winner and everyone in the crowd breathed a sigh of relief.
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
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.
The story is set in a village on a summer day and begins with several boys gathering stones for the lottery. In a short period of time the villagers gather in the square most of them in a hurry to “get this over with”. The fate of the people in this village lies in the contents of an old black box full of papers. These papers have the names of every family in the village. These papers determine the fate of someone in one of these families.
Ironies in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is spectacularly shocking story which starts with a warm June day in a town of about three hundred people and describes an annual event in the town. A tradition that every person in the village becomes a part of it every year and is apparently widespread among surrounding villages as it is mentioned as well. What is interesting that lottery turns out that it is not what they win but what they lose. There are lots of factors which make the story fantastic, but ironies which can be felt in every line of the story have the major impact on the story. Despite the fact that narrator uses different ironies which can be seen in every part of it, whole story is definitely based
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.
As the antagonist of this story, the villagers’ show the danger of following tradition with questioning their origin or purpose. The processes leading up to the lottery that are described in this short story are relatively detailed in comparison to the small amount of information provided as to why it ever began. The lottery has been occurring for at least 77 years and in not just in this town, but other surrounding ones. The closest explanation as to why the lottery began is the mention, ”Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (220). This suggests that the process and sacrifice of the lottery may lead to a bountiful agricultural harvest.