Category: The Lottery

How much would you anticipate in a game of chance where logic and reason surrender for fate to reign? It is exactly your guess that Shirley Jackson portrays in her story, The Lottery. The setting of the story is a small population in a very small town that portrays an enormous opportunity for growth and development.

The clear and sunny morning adorned with flowers blossoming profusely and richly green grass simply affirms splendor and hope for days to come. The turnout for the lottery symbolizes unity and cohesion among the villagers.

Entrusting Mr.Summers with the responsibility of conducting the whole affair demonstrates leadership that enjoys the peoples faith and confidence. Ironically, this supposed hope turns into disillusionment characterized with anger, mistrust and disunity and a prematurely ended day.

The title of the story creates a playground where optimism and pessimism are the major players. This kind of technique manipulates the readers mind leaving them guessing the outcome without necessarily being biased.

The title of the book The Lottery alone is a great example of how Shirley Jackson topples reader expectations (Smith, 2011). The extremes of the consequences of lottery normally create anxiety and dissatisfaction amongst the participants.

Little wonder then that the villagers descend on Tessie after she emerges the winner, &and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her &a stone hit her on the side of the head. The title therefore sets the pace of the story, and interestingly keeps the story alive throughout.

Jackson further perfects this captivating tact by creating suspense at least in every paragraph. In fact, the title in itself is suspense. This urge to want to read more and more opens up the readers mind and exposes them to the reality of life. Consequently, the title is a justification of the unfolding events  after all it is a lose-or-win situation, in which the winner takes it all.

The choice of characters for plot development is superb, although there may be need to introduce more characters to sustain the story thereafter. This is because more themes are generated as time goes by. For instance, themes such as arbitration, justice, change, among others would require new characters to develop.

Tessie faces mob justice no sooner has Mr.Summer declares her the winner. There are also possibilities of Mr.Summer himself facing the wrath of the villagers.

If that would be the case then his family and close allies such as Mr.Grave would not fight in his support. This would exacerbate the situation thereby causing many more casualties, hence, the need for dialogue and arbitration.

The writer tactfully creates conflict of interests among the villagers. First is the difference in ideology between Mr.Adams and Old Man Warner. The former is trying to sell an idea to the old man who strongly and heartily holds onto traditions. His sentimental attachment to the old-style norms prompt him to even call people names, Pack of crazy fools.

On the other hand, Tessie questions the credibility of the lottery process, which in essence is directed to Mr.Summer. She describes it as unfair and succeeds to convince Mr.Summer to employ a fair method.

Unfortunately, the supposed fair method finally plays against her by making the crowd turn against her. There is likelihood that more conflicts of interest would still arise in future.

This can be attributed to the individualism factor that lottery implants and nurtures in the villagers. In fact the way they join forces to stone Tessie, a lady, without consideration of the consequences paints a picture of a rooted norm. This is a good test for their unity, and for sure it fails to stand the test.

Jackson intellectually provokes the reader to ask a number of questions: Is it a coincidence to have the stones available in the lottery square? Do all the villagers approve the lottery as a sign of bountiful harvest? Is there need to embrace new ways of life? Does everyone understand the rules of the lottery?

The answers to these and many more questions would arrest the confusion and disillusionment that arise from this communal rite. Such questions may be championed by characters such as Mr.Adams who has realized that their neighbors are considering abandoning such practices, &that over in the north village theyre talking of giving up the lottery.

The space of the woman in the society is also portrayed in the story as a compromised one. They are the last to arrive at the lottery square. Tessie Hutchinson arrives even later because she was still performing some domestic chores. Tessie, a woman, is also the same one at the receiving end of the villagers wrath.

The picking would rather be done by their older sons instead of them, Dont you have a grown boy to do it for you, Janey? Mr.Summer asked Mrs.Dunbar. This shows that women play a second fiddle to men.

Such a society is likely to suffer from inequality and inequity, hence an upsurge of hatred and contempt. Again this portends more fights as the women would at some point need more space, which men may not be willing to relinquish.

The perpetual reluctance to replace the black woodenbox with a better one, and the usage of the pieces of the box that had preceded the black one, all point at one thing: resistance to change by the villagers.

The hypocrisy that mars the lottery event seem to be deep rooted; the Old Man Warner ascertains that he has witnessed the ceremony seventy seven times, Seventy-seventh year I been in the lottery, Seventy-seventh time. Along with hypocrisy, the Lottery presents a weakness in human individuals.

Listening to the young folks, nothings good enough for them. Next thing you know, theyll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore, live that way for a while. Used to be a saying about Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.

First thingyou know, wed all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. Theres always been a lottery, he addedpetulantly. Bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody&

In summary, it can be deduced that a game of chance such as lottery creates uncertainty and anxiety to the participants. This leads to fear, and with fear there comes underutilization of resources, hence slow rate of development.

Choices made are determined by ones level of optimism and pessimism, and in either, one has to remain very courageous. Jackson has succeeded in conveying one message: human hypocrisy knows no gender, no age and no time. Given that we are not told whether such a death has occurred in the previous years, we may insinuate that it would be a turning point for the villagers.

Works Cited

Kosenko, Peter. A Reading of Shirley Jacksons The Lottery. Spring, 1984.

Lori, Voth. Analysis of The Lottery, a Short Story by Shirley Jackson. NY: Contributor Network, 2005.

Smith, Newman. Analysis of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Quirk Books, 2011.

In Shirley Jacksons short story The Lottery, the story illustrates how people can get so completely caught up in following the customs and practices of their culture that they lose the meaning of the action. The history provided of the lottery within the story is sketchy at best as people begin gathering around a black box and organizing in a strict patriarchal hierarchy. The discussion of the lost original paraphernalia emphasizes the degree to which much of the original history has also been lost: At one time, some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery; a perfunctory, tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year & but years and years ago this part of the ritual had been allowed to lapse (119). While there is a subtle hint that perhaps the lottery is tied up with ancient traditions of fertility and the harvest, this is as close to the history or usefulness of the lottery as the story gets. Although there doesnt seem to be much of the original materials, practices or meaning of the lottery available to the reader, the degree to which people have become slaves to tradition is emphasized in the idea that the villagers themselves also seem unsure of the tradition. As the drawing gets underway, there is some talk in the crowd that there are other villages thinking about getting rid of the lottery. Mr. Adams brings up the subject to Old Man Warner who immediately scoffs at the foolishness of such new ideas. According to Old Man Warner, there has always been a lottery and this is, apparently, reason enough for it to continue. No tangible or spiritual reasons are offered for its continuation while it would seem the emotional attachment to a meaningless practice would be far outweighed by the emotional losses of mothers, daughters, husbands and sons as the lottery is played out. While people within the village have questioned the reasons for the lottery, they remain dedicated to its practice as the victim is finally selected. Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones (123) as Tessie is stoned to death.

Although todays world is no longer accustomed to using physical stones as a means of beating a sacrificial offering to death, it remains true that people in the modern world continue to devote themselves to meaningless ceremonies and practices that can often have detrimental impact on the family unit or social relationships. Todays world is increasingly globalized, meaning various people of different cultures and belief systems continue to come into closer contact with each other. As this continues to happen, individuals begin to understand that many of the things theyve always taken for granted as a natural way of doing things is not necessarily considered so natural in other parts of the world and forces us to begin questioning what makes us so sure that our way of doing things is the right way. This concept is perhaps most evident in the arena of religious practices although it is by no means exclusive to this arena nor universally applicable. In encountering people of other beliefs, it is sometimes the case that the individual will adamantly defend their faith as the only one and true faith without ever having examined why they believe this to be so. In much the same way, there are people within the business world that have firmly held beliefs regarding how things should be done who find it difficult to question the efficiency or effectiveness of their efforts or to change the status quo. However, just like in The Lottery, there are a number of ways in which the traditional ways of looking at things are requiring a new approach. While there is nothing wrong with believing in a particular faith, it is important today to understand why you believe these concepts so that you are not sidetracked into some warped version of the original just as in the business world, when something isnt working or could perhaps be done better, it is foolish and ultimately self-defeating to refuse to examine the issue and consider change.

There are many elements of literary devices, imagery, style, and tone that contribute to the creation of the overall spirit of works in literature. They shape the readers perception of the plot, the main characters, and the overall message of the literary piece. These elements are often used in their direct meaning, thus enforcing a direct effect on the reader; however, there also are cases when they are used controversially, making the impression from the read piece stronger and even more emphatic. This papers main goal is to compare and contrast The Lottery and The Rocking Horse Winner and examines themes, characters, settings, and literary devices of the two stories.

Stories Tones and Plots

The tone of the work is significant in its terms as well because it creates the fleur of seriousness, light-mindedness, sadness or cheerfulness, introducing the reader to the world of the literary work, and even making him or her the participant of events. Symbols are the fruitful addition to the literary stylistic devices, since they add the third dimension of the plot and message, showing what cannot be expressed by words, and making the work lively.

All these issues have found their direct and at times, sophisticated realization in the works of Shirley Jackson and D.H. Lawrence. These two works are remarkable from the perspective of investigating the impact of tone, style, and symbol in a literary work. Thus, for example, the topic of the question of tone becomes extremely topical in Jacksons work The Lottery that in itself represents a contradiction, controversy, and conflict.

The opening lines of the short story presuppose some cheerful scenario, some picturesque place, and a holiday-suggesting lexicon: The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green (Jackson, 1949, p. 5). The beginning clearly suggests a lovely landscape, a beautiful day, and a similarly pleasant continuation of the plot.

Nonetheless, the short storys essence, plot, and message are quite different from the beginning, setting people in a positive tone and perceiving the lottery as something rewarding and exciting for the villagers. The only fact that the ritual is of vital importance does not cause any doubts since there is much attention to every detail, to every participant of the events, to the black box, and the responsibilities of the lotterys chairman as well.

The meaning of being the chosen, picking the black spot from the box, is not evident until the end of the work, though the tone comes to its correct form by the end of the short story. It changes rapidly after the choice falls on Mr. Hutchinson, and the fierce protection he gets from his wife, Tessie, the ultimate victim of the medieval, bloody tradition.

Irony in the Stories

In Lawrences story, The Rocking Horse Winner, the tone is plain and unhappy. Moreover, the story is much more consistent in terms of plot, and style. However, though the mood of the story is quite pessimistic, gloomy, depressing, with short sentences and broken phrases, there is much irony at the beginning of the work. The irony shows that the author himself does not consider the hardships faced by the family so hard and awful as they are depicted. From his point of view, the problems are over-exaggerated.This irony may be quite well felt in the phrases such as:

&there must be more money. The father, who was always very handsome and expensive in his tastes, seemed as if he never would be able to do anything worth doing. And the mother, who ha a great belief in herself, did not succeed any better, and her tastes were just as expensive (Lawrence, 1926, p. 552).

The irony is striking  people who cannot find any money to let their children study well can afford expensive tastes, and at the same time, they call themselves the poor members of the family (Lawrence, 1926, p. 553). They buy expensive toys for their children, use the services of a taxi, but they remain poor because they do not live up to their wishes and ambitions.

The talk of the mother with her son Paul is also quite ironic, though it also contains some symbolism of the concept of luck. Their family traditionally ties luck with money, but Paul dies a young and rich person, which cannot be considered luck at all. Hence, the crisis of belief, understanding, and morale in the family is shown through an ironic representation of their so-called poverty and the dramatic effect of that perception imposed on Paul at an early age.

The irony is also present in The Lottery, though it is quite far from being ironic in its complete sense. The talk between Old Man Warner and Mr. Adams is very ironic  Old Man Warner compares the refusal from the lottery in other towns to degradation  theyll be wanting to back to living in caves, nobody work anymore (Jackson, 1949, p. 14).

However, it is clear that the ritual is a remnant of the dark, medieval, illiterate, cruel, nearly pagan times when people believed that killing one chosen person was useful for their harvest  Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon (Jackson, 1949, p. 14). There are multiple examples of imagery in The Lottery, meanwhile The Rocking Horse Winner abounds with metaphors.

Symbolism in the Stories

Contrasting the works according to their style and tone, one should surely note that they can also be compared concerning the symbolism in works; besides the proverb about the good harvest, the symbol of the black box is powerful in Jacksons story, and the symbol of the rocking horse also occupies the central place in the work The Rocking Horse Winner.

It is evident that the mistaken perception of luck compared directly with money leads to further misconceptions, and the boy draws a parallel between his luck and the rocking horse. Hence, these symbols distinguish both works and allow a reliable comparison between them. From this comparison essay, symbolism in The Rocking Horse Winner and The Lottery is evident.

As it comes from the present comparison and contrast, the stylistic devices such as tone and style are vastly used by writers to enhance the impact on the reader, to create the spirit of the unexpected, to surprise him or her, and to make the work highly emphatic.

Symbols are also widely used equally to the characters of the stories, as they produce the impact on the characters only by their presence, by the profound meaning they have. If to compare and contrast The Lottery and The Rocking Horse Winner,it is possible to say that both authors have skillfully used the discussed techniques, though each of them in their own way.

References

Jackson, S. (1949). The Lottery. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus.

Lawrence, D. H. (1926). The Rocking Horse Winner. In D.H. Lawrence. Full Score: Twenty Tales by D.H. Lawrence (2008). Rockville, MD: Wildside Press LLC.

Modern fictional scripts analysts stress on strict text interpretation. Assumptions and conjectures regarding a writers objectives or booklovers reactions are unacceptable. The study is dominated by accurate structure and terminology analysis. A writers state of mind or how a script is received must not be used as a basis of study.

America has had prominent novelists over the years. Authors employed various writing styles to narrate their tales. Divergent writing techniques have raised most writers to fame. Fictional stories reviewers have had interest in works by an American author Shirley Jackson.

The Lottery story by Shirley Jackson received incredible interest from literary analysts. The detractors considered the Lottery script as a tale exclusively developed for fright. Conversely, scare was never Shirleys intention when writing the story. In fact, she was recognized for creating stories concerning jovial people waiting for obscurity. Shirleys objective was to illustrate humanity living in a bizarre situation (Stelly p. 1). The Lottery tale started in a relaxed daybreak. The day was intentionally selected by the author on the 27^th of the sixth month.

A European traditional fete commemorated on the 21^st had past and the American independence day of 4^th July was further ahead. Therefore, Shirleys chosen date appeared central to the two significant days. The European fete was occasioned by peculiar cultures while the American sovereignty date manifested liberty of persons. The fourteen days in between the two major occasions were cut in half by the 27^th day. Shirleys preferred date symbolized the disparity amid illogical evils and coherent equality.

Variances in the events signified a vital character in the Lottery story (Shields p. 4). The Lottery tale was centered on practices of societal brutality and injustice. Similarly, a midway date exemplified the dissimilarity between the two occasions. Furthermore, Shirley Jackson sought to draw attention to the existing events in Europe at that time. The date was used as a platform for the Lottery tale.

Shirley employed diverse writing styles in the Lottery story. She utilized imagery to characterize humanity as impure despite individual or group perceptions. The figurative approach assisted Shirley in her quest to explain humanitys wickedness (Mccullough p. 1). Images represented what was intended and were applied in many areas of the tale. As a substitute to numerous terminologies, an image was used to represent expressions.

The lottery story was likewise based on sarcasm. Pleasant speeches and a grant to the game of chance were worth a celebratory affair of hope. However, in contrast, the tale ended in a brutal death (Voth p. 1). Irony in writing engaged readers and kept them in suspense. The technique allowed the author to twist her script to a desired direction. Satire in the tale made it lively and intriguing.

The lottery story had predictions in its writing. Shirley wrote about how youngsters gathered pebbles, residents picked grain and other incidences to point to the method used for victimization at the final end. Tessie Hutchinson was illogically chosen to be stoned (Shields p. 9). Mockery in the written script teased the reader into imagined intentions by the author. This technique kept the reader connected to events of the story. A mock pointed to the main event but it was not the experience.

Shirley maintained a specific subject matter throughout the Lottery story. She stressed on how the people of New England town held on to their culture. The town was not ready to alter anything not even the black box. The inhabitants preferred to maintain everything as they were (Blaylock p. 1). Retaining a definite idea in writing enhanced the flow of events. A reader always requires easy follow through when reading a story or document. Therefore, adherence to a particular topic is recommended in writing.

The Lottery was a short story but had enormous literature richness. Shirley applied professional writing skills that earned the Lottery story much approval. She sustained a uniform topic throughout the story and used good writing methods. Although the work was done in early 20^th century, it continues as a reference point for most learners. Such precision and adherence to literature works ought to be encouraged in writings study.

Works Cited

Blaylock, Janet K. Sort Story Review. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. British Literature. 2003. Web.

Mccullough, David. Lottery. a Breakdown of Jacksons Symbolism. 2002. Web.

Shields, Patrick J. Arbitrary Condemnation and Sanctioned Violence in Shirley Jacksons The Lottery. Contemporary Justice Review. Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 411-419. 2004. Web.

Stelly, Timothy N. Shirley Jacksons Short Masterpiece The Lottery. 2005. Web.

Voth, Lori. Analysis of The Lottery, a Short Story by Shirley Jackson. Associated Content. 2005. Web.

The story applies to conscience of a reader. One can hardly deny there is barely a thing more compassionate than a child being offended or harmed. In this case this is exactly the matter.

Chris Abani in his short story Lottery describes an event that occurred in Nigeria in the 1970-ies in an ordinary village market place. The event is seen through the eyes of a 10-year old boy.

A 10 year-old child, completely happy with the life, walks out of the house with the aunt to go to the store. Nothing seemed to foreshadow trouble. There was something in the air. The child smelled it  it was a mix of wet earth and the dry roughness of rope. The next moment the author, Chris Abani, shows the sharp difference of where the kid has been flying and what the smell perceptions were right until they stepped into the store: other scents of the market broke through the scents of wet earth  the throat-burning sharpness of peppers, dried fish, the animal funk of goats and chickens. A man was accused of steeling something and desperately tried to approve himself, but in vain. After getting a slap in a face from the aunt, a chief ran out to the courtyard where the justice awaited!

It was so called mob justice held by the elders of the community. The justice they dispensed was never questioned, though the actual crimes were never investigated. The man was lynched! He was burnt alive out front! Everybody saw that, moreover the crowd wanted the children to watch it in order to learn a lesson. There is nothing more terrible and disgusting I know than making kids watch such processes, especially on purpose. Moreover, one of the actions of making a sacrifice was to spit on the victim.

I have to admit that the title of the essay does not tell us from the very start about the content. While reading you get so frustrated and multi-feeled about all the participants of the action, that there are mixed feelings of disgust and sympathy.

The author declares that the aunt was a religious fanatic. This is very important, for she later contradicts herself doing what she has done. The society of those times brought up a cruel and savage generation. Even though people went to church and believed in God, the whole image of faith was wrong. The lynch sentenced a chief to death, saying he will not burn in hell once he is burning here. This expresses the entire anger and violence of those times.

One more feature of character worth discussing is aunts coldness. Young Abani drew close to the aunt in fear but yet she shook off his clutching hand. Why would she do this? To seem more cruel? I do not think so. These were the times of political unrest in Nigeria, so the calmness to such lynching was evoked by the environment. On contrary, the aunt wanted her nephew to get ready for the future life, and may be, to learn some lesson indeed. On the one hand it was pretty irresponsible of a grown-up to treat a kid like that, but on the other, I doubt that he will ever want to do that same thing!

The Lottery is set in an idyllic place with beautiful nature and a peaceful atmosphere. It is portrayed through imagery such as descriptions of beautiful flowers and children running around (Jackson 1). Thus, the author has deliberately created an atmosphere in which people are busy with their day-to-day chores, and the subsequent sacrifice, seemingly, does not affect the village in the slightest.

First, children are being described as looking for stones, which only later becomes evident that the stones are necessary for the sacrifice. The villagers do not appear to be overly worried or trying to protest the lottery.

There is a distinction between the rest of the villagers and the old man (Warner), who does not understand why other nearby villages have stopped performing the yearly ritual. Warner believes that it is inevitable, and the tradition cannot be avoided (Jackson 2). This exemplifies that the lottery has been around for a long time, and multiple villages either share the same tradition or have just recently changed their way of life.

The man of the household is the one picking the piece of paper that ultimately becomes a death sentence for one member of the family. If men cannot do this, the son is to replace them. This illustrates the patriarchal values since the men are responsible for either saving or killing one of their loved ones.

The Lottery is a sacrifice performed yearly because of an old tradition that suggests this will facilitate better crops. However, the participants never expect the victim to be them, which is why the Lottery does not create worries within the community become the victim is known. Thus, the lottery cannot have winners since death is guaranteed, yet people are ready to follow traditions blindly without realizing the atrocities.

The author has chosen an innocent title and an idyllic atmosphere illustrated at the beginning of the story to allow the reader to understand that the community engaging in the ritual did not consider the deed a murder. The Lottery is a gambling game in which one loses, and one wins, and this is precisely how the blind followers of the old tradition look at it. No one realizes it is murder until they themselves become victims.

Works Cited

Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. The New Yorker, 1948.

Conformity and rebellion are the controversial social issues that make people think about their roles and possibilities in regards to the circumstances they have to live under. It is not an easy task to create a good story about conformity and rebellion as the reader expects a lot from such work: positive social foundation, a direct message, several realistic characters for comparison, and the emotions that can prove that the chosen story is worthwhile.

Shirley Jackson introduces her own vision of society and the rules, which people prefer to follow. The Lottery introduces a small town with its citizens, who have nothing to do but to live according to the norms they have already set, confirm the expectations, and neglect the ideas of rebellion as they just do not have a right on it. In spite of the fact that the main prize of the lottery is death, the citizens continue believing in the power of the order and the necessity to organize the same event annually.

Though Jacksons work is regarded as a cruel story with unrealistic characters, events, and an unexpected end that changes the understanding of human relations in society, The Lottery remains to be a powerful and educative short story and an exemplary literary piece of work about conformity and rebellion as it has a clear message to the reader, causes a number of different emotions, and makes the reader think about human morals, ethics, and duties that have to be fulfilled anyway.

The relationship between an individual and society is hard to establish properly as certain sacrifices and some explanations may be needed, and many actions cannot be avoided, and Jackson creates a good message for the reader on how to develop this kind of relations.

Jacksons Lottery has a clear message  society may be created in accordance with peoples demands, still, people should be ready to neglect some aspects of their lives to achieve the necessary results. Though some readers are not able to understand this particular message in the story due to its abrupt and rather cruel end, still, it is wrong to deny the fact that the author leaves a message and pays a certain attention to it.

Another aspect of a powerful literary work is the ability to cause readers emotions, and The Lottery is one of the short stories that may cause a number of various emotions at the same time. People have to follow their traditions, respect the cultural norms they choose and treat each event as something inevitable and indestructible.

The story tells that all citizens show the same attitude to the lottery as children assembled first& stuffed& pockets full of stones& the men began to gather, surveying their own children& the women& greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip (Jackson 1). It seems to be the usual description of ordinary life. However, in the end, when the reader gets to know that the main prize of the event is to be stoned to death, the emotions appear immediately.

On the one hand, it is impossible to believe that the interests of society are above the interests or even the life of one individual. On the other hand, such an explanation of the lottery is powerful evidence of a good story about conformity as people do not have a chance to choose but step in the already prescribed future.

Finally, Jacksons story makes the reader think about the necessity to be a considerable part of society and accept all the challenges required.

Though it is not easy, and sometimes unacceptable, to believe that parents are ready to stone their children just to meet the demands of the village, the story proves its goals and makes the reader evaluate, compare, and analyze different situations thrown about the story like when Mr. Summers told about the necessity of making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box (Jackson 1) or when a saying lottery in June, corn be heavy soon (Jackson 4) was mentioned.

However, peoples attitudes to the event, inabilities to rebel the already set traditions, and unwillingness to fight for their own lives weaken the story. As a rule, literary works should teach the reader to be better, stronger, and ready for any kind of challenge, spread positive messages, and explain that good thoughts and actions must prevail over the bad ones.

It is hard to believe that death may be the only possible solution. Still, the presence of the above-mentioned factors and a general impact of the story show that Jackson succeeds in her intentions to describe the idea of conformity and rebellion neglect using unexpected still very powerful ideas and examples.

In general, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a good literary example of how people set rules and follow them neglecting personal demands and ideas. It does not actually matter what readers may think about the story, its plot, the reality of its characters, or the quality of the messages. They still think, use their emotions, and learn the authors message. And this is what makes good literature that excites, teaches, and inspires people from different parts of the world anytime.

Work Cited

Jackson, S. The Lottery. 2015. Web.

Introduction

This essay contains a literary analysis of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. It is known as one of the most horrible but still realistic short stories about human life, traditions, and interests inherent to society. From a Marxist perspective, it shows the objectification of social relations. Due to such unusual ideas and attention to violence, Jacksons story undergoes considerable critics and analyses of many sophisticated writers and thinkers for a long time. For example, Bernice Murphy attempts to evaluate the domestic horror and causality that become the core of violence and the death of innocent people.

Main Themes of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

According to this and many other critiques which analyze The Lottery, it is possible to admit that this story is full of symbolism that perfectly describes violence through everyday traditions and human imagination. There are numerous themes in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, but the most evident are the ideas of violence, devotion to traditions, and fear to change something due to the concurrence of circumstances.

There are numerous essays on the symbolism of The Lottery. Many critics underline the idea that the work by Jackson is hinged upon the symbolism of the notorious tale (Murphy 5). It is not very difficult to discover how skillfully and maturely the author can demonstrate a perfect use of symbols to describe all those issues many people are afraid of but still cannot evade.

The evident symbol of the story is a three-legged stool, and the box that is made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it (Jackson 7). It is not only the symbol of something predictable or inevitable; it is also possible to recognize the idea of the trinity that usually has some religious roots. The Lottery itself symbolizes all that cruelty, violence, and death which exist in the world and cannot be avoided by ordinary people.

Though the Lottery is something so-called normal and ordinary (Murphy 248), this symbol represents some strange, terrible, and even horrible event that is unfair towards the citizens as it is stated by the main character Tessie Hutchinson when the stone hit her on the side of the head (Jackson 21).

Her sacrificed murder is not supported by the author as well as in some of the literary criticism. Her death is as stupid and unnecessary as many traditions and customs people like to follow and believe in. It causes bewilderment and questions. While the vast majority of people in the story cannot comprehend the necessity of this Lottery, they also cannot understand how miserable and cowardly their faith may be.

This violence, inhuman attitude to each other, and the belief that someones death may change and improve the current state of affairs and human future are the central ideas in the story. Human weakness is the fact that people cannot comprehend that they sacrifice their present and lives to have a chance for some future.

However, Jackson cries how unfair all this is through the words and emotions of Mrs. Hutchinson. However, even if it isnt fair, it isnt fair (Jackson 21), nobody can interfere in the situation even those who take your hand several minutes ago and say that everything will be okay.

Conclusion

This essay is a literary analysis of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. It describes the storys themes, interpretations, symbolism, and the main literary devices used by the author. In summary, The Lottery is a compelling and symbolic story about life and demands which have to be met by every people in a particular community. Among the variety of aspects described in the story, the reluctance of many people to reject cruel traditions and stop violence seems to be the most powerful. Thats because people are so absorbed in the idea of destroying violence that they become weak due to this power and its charms.

Works Cited

Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. Mankato: The Creative Company, 2008.

Murphy, Bernice. Shirley Jackson: Essays on the Literary Legacy. Jefferson: McFarland, 2005.

The lottery is a short story that revolves around life in an agricultural village, whose setting is in summer; when flowers are blossoming and lawns exceedingly green. The village is composed of a population of about three hundred people, who know each other very well. The men are generally farmers, while the women are homemakers and school teachers.

The build up to the lottery draw, keeps the reader in suspense as to who is going to win the prize that is expected to be material in nature, but sadly enough turns out to be a death sentence; which begs the question as to why one would subscribe to such a lottery in the first place.

There is plenty of irony in the literature, that is observed where Bill Hutchinson, who won the lottery in the first round; by picking the paper with the black spot, is adjudged by his wife not to be the true winner, because of technical reasons. What is strikingly odd is that his wife Tessie, purports that Mr. Summers did not give her husband enough time to pick a paper of his choice, yet the whole village asserts that everyone was given the same amount of time, to pick a piece of paper from the box.

One wonders why a second draw should be made, to pick another winner yet a winner had been expressly identified. This is a deviation from the normal rules of a conventional lottery. The sentiments are echoed by old man Warner who intimates that, Its not the way it used to be (Jackson 19).

Evidently, the annual lottery conducted by the village is not a typical lottery in the sense that, the person running the lottery is also a participant.

Mr. Summers and his assistant Mr. Graves, take part in the ill fated lottery too. Additionally, Mr. Summers is charged with the responsibility of preparing the lottery materials, giving him the opportunity for foul play, by carefully engineering a ploy to avert picking the condemned lottery ticket; since all the materials are kept under his care at the coal factory, a yearly routine he engages in.

There is some bit of satire in the literature, where we see the names of certain characters, coinciding with the events that are unfolding in the village. For instance, Mr. Summers name; who is the organizer of the lottery, coincides with the period that the aforesaid event is supposed to take place.

Furthermore, the annual event takes place on June 27^th of every year, during summer time. Furthermore, his assistants name, Mr. Graves, coincides with the penultimate outcome of the lottery; the stoning of the winner, who in this case is Mrs. Hutchinson.

Due protocol was not followed in the second draw of the lottery, where Bill Hutchinson unfolded his lottery ticket, before his name was called out.

Ordinarily, one ought to unfold his or her lottery ticket, after the calling out of names by Mr. Summers. In the first draw, Bill was overly cautious when unfolding his ticket because he did not know the contents of the paper, but we can see clearly that he was beaming with confidence when unfolding his lottery ticket in the second draw; showing that he knew his fate with regard to the second draw.

This is clearly evidenced by his snatching of the lottery ticket from his condemned wife, Tessie. We can see from the first draw that Tessie is quite empathetic to Bill when he picks the winning ticket , and tries to defend her husband, by claiming that the process was not fair to him; because he wasnt given ample time to pick a ticket of his choice. What is strange about this is that when Tessie gets into the same predicament, her husband does not come to her defense.

Seemingly, the village chooses to give the other rituals of the black box a wide berth; like the recital and the ritual salute, but is never oblivious of the grotesque act, of stoning the winner of the lottery to death. This goes to show that people are not interested in the credibility of the lottery process, but are solely interested in the aftermath of the entire process. The original paraphernalia of the lottery had been lost long ago (Jackson 7).

The lottery ritual had been stopped in other towns, which have a very large population; where people could take up to two days to conduct the lottery, yet this village with a marginal population, chooses to adhere to this yearly ritual that robs them of a member every year. Conventional wisdom would dictate that, a town with a small population quit this ritual before the one with a big population, because the population of the former has closer personal relations that the latter.

The oldest man in the village, Mr. Warner, has participated in the lottery on seventy seven occasions, but has never been unlucky enough to win the lottery (Murphy 105). Mathematically speaking, men start participating in the lottery at the age of sixteen, so if we do some bit of arithmetic; old Warner is ninety three years old. Why would one want to stone a ninety three year old man to death, yet he is in his sunset years and can die at any time?

Mrs. Delacroix, who is the first person Mrs. Hutchinson greets when she joins the villagers, is the one who picks the largest stone to kill her; yet they appear to be close friends in their earlier interaction (Bloom 27). One is left wondering, whether the farewell tap that Mrs. Hutchinson gave Mrs. Delacroix was a final one.

It is also questionable as to whether Mrs. Hutchinson had an intuition that something would go wrong, since she was the last person to join the crowd, and she was the one who won the condemned prize. Given that her intuition was right, she ought to have had second thoughts about taking part in the lottery.

In all odds, the villagers do not seem to be disturbed by what they do; they want the process to be hastened, so that they can complete their barbaric and sadistic mission, in time to have their noon dinner. To them, it is normal for one of their own to die after the lottery, for it to be successful. The title of the book itself is ironical, in the sense that; one expects that the winner will be given a reward in material terms, but what is observed in the end is worth being called a death game.

The lottery is a captivating short story, which elicits a lot of feelings of suspense to the reader. It starts with a very flowery description of a village and its residents, but ends tragically with the death of Mrs. Hutchinson; a village member with a very magnetic personality. The death is as a result of inhuman acts of the village members, who don not show any remorse for their misconduct.

This narrative makes one wonder where this kind of ritual originated from, and why the villagers still adhere to it; yet it is clear that everybody fears winning. Every village member is tense when unfolding a lottery ticket; as we see when Mr. Hutchinson, wins the first round of the lottery. All in all, it is a thoughtfully written piece of literature, which is academically invoking in all aspects.

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. Comprehensive Research and Study Guide: Blooms Major, Short Story Writers. Broomall: Chelsea House Publishers, 2001. Print.

Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. Mankato: Creative Education, 2008. Print.

Murphy, M., Bernice. Shirley Jacksons Essays on the Literary Legacy. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 2005. Print.

The Veldt/The Lottery

The Veld and The Lottery are two different pieces of literature that differ in terms of genre, topics, authors, characters, etc. However, both stories have hidden meanings, essential themes, and certain symbols that drive the reader to reflect upon them. None of the pieces have a regular happy ending, which adds a layer of complexity and originality. Both The Veldt and The Lottery are stories that dive deep into the topic of human nature, traditionalism vs. modernization, and the notion of family that can have various meanings and aspects. Furthermore, The Veldt and The Lottery challenge the reader to reflect upon topics such as traditions, modern technology, family, and humanity.

The Lottery

The Lottery is Shirley Jacksons short story that was published in 1948. It is considered one of the most popular short stories, but there were many controversies regarding the subjects and topics it touches upon. It is set in a small American town that follows a ritual called the lottery. Each family participates, and based on the lottery results, one person ends up being stoned to death. This time, Tessie Hutchinson ended up being executed by the whole village in the name of the annual sacrifice.

The Main Themes

The Lottery touches upon many themes that subsequently relate to the overall meaning of the story. A crucial one is the contrasting harmony and violence that is portrayed by the writer. The action takes place in a quiet small town with beautiful flowers and children having fun (Jackson 1). This calmness and peaceful atmosphere give the reader, who does not expect the violent events that are going to happen, a sense of safety. The children were not just playing but collecting rocks that will then be used to stone a person to death. When the realization comes, the whole peaceful setting becomes irrelevant.

Tradition is the other theme that characterizes the story. The lottery is nothing but a tradition that is most advocated by the oldest person in the town. He suggests that without this ceremonial sacrifice, the town will suffer (Jackson 4). While some people know about other villages that do not follow the ritual anymore, no one is ready to get rid of the barbaric sacrifice that does not have any meaning to it. None of the participants are safe from being unlucky in the lottery, but no one is willing to protest against it. This suggests how powerful and stagnant some old values and traditions can be.

Gender roles hold significant importance in The Lottery. The main idea of the tradition is the heads of the families drawing the first pieces of paper from the box. When the man is not present at the ceremony, the older sons and the wife are next in the hierarchy. Bill Hutchinson, the father of the family, ends up jeopardizing his wife by drawing the marked piece of paper in the first round. While Tessie Hutchinson appears to be much more outspoken than her husband, she is not considered the head of the family.

Insights and Understanding

The Lottery was widely criticized for some of the topics portrayed by Jackson. The whole idea of human sacrifice being committed in present times was hard to swallow for many readers. The other problematic aspect was the feministic undertone of the story. Tessie Hutchinson, the main character, is the most outspoken participant in the lottery. The fact that she ends up being stoned to death suggests the incompatibility of feminism and traditional values. A strong woman is not a suitable fit for a patriarchal society, so the lottery has a bad outcome for her. The lottery symbolizes old traditions and values that are blindly followed, and there is no place for uniqueness or female individuality within this system.

Value

Literature that touches upon topics such as feminism, patriarchy, traditional values, and flowed systems holds value in terms of progress and innovation. The story was published in 1948, a time that was not necessarily linked to womens emancipation. Jackson portrays a strong female that does not fit into the grand scheme of things, and fate ultimately kills her. The writers protest against old-school values and traditions is the most valuable thing about The Lottery and its legacy.

The Veldt

The Veldt is Ray Bradburys short story that was first published in 1950. In the story, a family deals with issues related to communication, understanding, and support. The Hadleys live in a technologically advanced home, and there is a room called the nursery, which provides virtual reality experiences for the children. The parents (George and Lydia) are concerned with their kids fantasies after encountering aggressive lions in the nursery (Bradbury 4). After the parents punish Peter and Wendy, the kids lock them inside the nursery with the animals, which causes their death.

The Main Themes

Consumerism and technological advancement are recurring themes throughout the authors stories and novels, and The Veldt is no exception. The parents are almost useless as the house does everything for them, including entertaining, educating, and taking care of the children. In this reality, people are entirely reliant on technology for everything, which has a negative impact on their families. Since George and Lydia Hadley make no effort to spend time and engrain specific values into their kids, the children end up choosing technology. The nursery is more important to them because it seems more real than their own family.

Family values are distorted in Bradburys story. It is mentioned that the Hadleys are wholly reliant on the house for specific tasks, including taking care of the children. Peter and Wendy Hadley do not view the parents as valuable assets that improve their livelihood. Their values are twisted, preferring virtual reality to their mother and father. This is suggested by the fact that their final choice is to remain happy and contempt in the nursery after sacrificing the parents who are threatening to get rid of the source of their happiness.

Insights and Understanding

The Veldt is the authors critique of the technology that replaces common human interactions and family values. This is contemplation upon possible future advancements that may interact with people on an emotional level, leaving them soulless and empty. The children in The Veldt portray the future generation that may be more advanced in terms of technology but primal when it comes to sentiments and emotions. While the parents seem to correlate with an older generation that can still objectively assess the danger of virtual reality, kids are drawn to modernization. This causes them to forget specific values that they have not even been taught due to lack of parental involvement.

Value

Literature that touches upon themes such as consumerist and possible dangers of modernization allows the reader to reflect on these topics. The value of such stories lies in the predisposed excitement in the face of technological advancement. However, there is a negative connotation that correlates with the new system. The author highlights that future can be connected to a sense of emptiness and lack of moral boundaries caused by overstimulation and isolation from human interaction. Such topics of discussion are valuable because they allow for a contrary point of view that differs from common beliefs.

Comparison

Both stories have a revolutionary subtext that is suggesting by the endings. Bu mentions that comparative reading gives a better understanding of the topic. By comparing the stories, it is certain that there are differences and similarities between the two. While Jackson argues that traditional values are outdated and, perhaps, dangerous, Bradbury views modernization as a path to moral and ethical degradation. Both authors use symbolism as a subtle way to influence the readers into contemplating upon the premises of the literature. Jacksons black box symbolizes traditions that are useless in the modern world, and Bradburys nursery is a symbol of new parental care that does not actually involve parents.

The short stories both have tragic endings that reflect the authors points of view regarding traditionalism and modernization. In one instance, the only glimpse of hope, Tessie Hutchinson, ends up being sacrificed in the name of ancient values. On the other hand, George and Lydia Hadley are sacrificed by their children in the name of new values and a future where human life is less valuable than technology.

Conclusion

The Veldt and The Lottery are two seemingly different stories that feature opposite topics. However, both are challenging something that damages society and makes it heartless and soulless. Jackson is a supporter of new principles that would replace the old and unnecessary ones. However, Bradbury takes the role of the devils advocate, portraying the dangers that humanity is to endure if technology takes the place of fundamental human relationships and family values. Nevertheless, both The Veldt and The Lottery make the reader reflect on greater themes such as traditionalism, modernism, human nature, and family.

Works Cited

Bradbury, Ray. The Veldt. Simon & Schuster, 2012.

Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2005.

How Books Can Open Your Mind. YouTube, uploaded by TED. 2013. Web.