Category: The Lottery

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 Jackson’s 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 women’s emancipation. Jackson portrays a strong female that does not fit into the grand scheme of things, and fate ultimately kills her. The writer’s protest against old-school values and traditions is the most valuable thing about The Lottery and its legacy.

The Veldt

The Veldt is Ray Bradbury’s 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 author’s 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 Bradbury’s 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 author’s 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. Jackson’s black box symbolizes traditions that are useless in the modern world, and Bradbury’s 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 devil’s 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.

Modern fictional scripts analysts stress on strict text interpretation. Assumptions and conjectures regarding a writer’s objectives or booklover’s reactions are unacceptable. The study is dominated by accurate structure and terminology analysis. A writer’s 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 Shirley’s intention when writing the story. In fact, she was recognized for creating stories concerning jovial people waiting for obscurity. Shirley’s 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, Shirley’s 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. Shirley’s 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 humanity’s 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 Jackson’s Symbolism. 2002. Web.

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

Stelly, Timothy N. Shirley Jackson’s Short Masterpiece ‘The Lottery’. 2005. Web.

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

“The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, focuses on traditions throughout the story. The story’s overarching subject is conveyed through the employment of fiction elements such as setting, verisimilitude, and point of view. The writing is persuasive and compels the reader to go over it again and again. The narrative tries to educate readers that all customs, regardless of whether they are included, are not always righteous.

The third person tells the story to offer the viewer the finest comprehension. The storyteller was not a resident of the community who had to go through the Lottery’s rites. Obviously, the story was given from an omniscient perspective because the speaker was well-informed about everyone “…Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town….” (Shirley, 2014, p. 137). The listener gains a clear picture of the locals and their strange traditions by providing this perspective throughout the play. If the narrative were presented from the perspective of one of the villagers, it would appear to be more biased and less detailed than it is. This point of view explains the Lottery’s tradition in great detail, including how the Lottery should be prepared and the rituals involved.

The backdrop and characters depict average, everyday people gathered in the town square for an event. At the beginning of the story, there is nothing extraordinary about this day or the happenings of the day. A toddler playing with stones is not unusual, yet it may raise questions in the minds of the readers about the nature of this Lottery. The audience gets a strong sense that something horrible is going to happen as the story progresses with the Lottery’s background, setup, and name-calling. The truth does not sink in until all of the men glance at their pieces of paper, and Tessie Hutchinson begins frantically shrieking. The sorrow and desperation allow the readers to empathize with Tessie and imagine themselves in her situation. This is why, while Tessie’s family members are stoning her to death, the audience may get disgusted with the townsfolk and the story’s whole theme. The truth is that no one wants to be connected with a species that is willing to kill a friend or family member every year just because tradition dictates it.

In order to offer the reader a better comprehension of the story, the environment is described in great detail. The quote “The morning of June 27th…” informs the audience of the Lottery’s time and date (Shirley, 2014, p. 136). The time range for the Lottery is also revealed in the story. The narrative also provides the Lottery’s time frame: “…so it may start at ten o’clock in the morning… allow the locals to return home in time for lunch” (Shirley, 2014, p. 137). It illustrates the day to be a beautiful and pleasant day, giving the readers the idea of a peaceful setting. With the information about the setting earlier on, it is almost as if the speaker wanted the audience to assume this was going to be a peaceful story with a happy conclusion. The events of the day are as familiar to the residents of this town as any other: “The lottery was held – as were the square dances, the teenage club, and the Halloween program…”

The reasonableness of the events in this story demonstrates how this irrational custom has conditioned the villagers. Traditions from any group of people or religion can appear odd or illogical to others who are unfamiliar with them, but just because something is different from how one group does things does not imply it is wrong. Shirley Jackson’s goal with this narrative may have been to test what kind of reaction it would get from the general public. The purpose of the story is not how an entire village stoned one person to death but how one custom binds the community together and keeps them connected to the only thing they know: their past. The reader can choose whether or not tradition is a positive or bad subject. The power to choose the true meaning of the story is what actually distinguishes it.

Reference

Shirley, J. (2014). The Lottery. In E. V. Roberts & R. Zweig (Eds.), Literature: An introduction to reading and writing, compact edition (6^th ed.). (136-137). Pearson College Division.

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 Jackson’s 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.

Jackson’s “Lottery” has a clear message – society may be created in accordance with people’s 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, Jackson’s 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, people’s 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 author’s 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.

“The Lottery” is a short story by Shirley Jackson about the impact of social conventions on real life. The story uses a utopian plot, in which in a country where people are constantly at war state, there is a tradition to hold a mysterious lottery every year. At the end of the story, it is revealed that the point of the lottery is to select a victim among the community members and collectively stone her to death. This paper argues that the story clearly illustrates the absurdity of myths or traditions, which do not pass the test of common sense.

Summary

The story describes a festive summer day, when fellow villagers gather to hold a lottery, as a result of which one of them will be stoned to death. The absurdity of the situation is aggravated by the fact that no one from the community condemns what is happening. On the contrary, the lottery is perceived by the villagers as something mystical and filled with a higher meaning. Some of the participants recall the unique cases when all the sheets in the box turned out to be white and say that this happened only once in a hundred years, and after that, the authorities came and forced the villagers to hold the lottery a second time.

Among the hundreds of people gathered, including women and children dressed nicely, as if for a Sunday mass, one can hear no more than a dozen timid disgruntled voices condemning the tradition. But in general, no one runs the risk of violating the ritual, which has existed for about two hundred years. After a random selection chooses the family of Bill Hutchinson, residents watch with bated breath how the lottery is now being played among family members, including Dave, who is apparently less than seven years old. The lot falls on Tessie, the wife, and the crowd does their duty responsibly, surrounding her and stoning her to death.

Analysis

The author skillfully uses details to convey the horror of the situation. Outrage at the absurdity of tradition is expressed by ‘fools,’ in muffled whispers, and at the risk of being expelled from the community. The children have been collecting stones all morning, which are neatly stacked next to the meeting. On the eve of the lottery day, the lottery man responsibly fills the Black Box, and equally responsibly puts a circle on one of the sheets. From the dialogues between senior men, the reader learns that the tradition is in every possible way supported by the ruling military dictatorship.

One of the most emotional elements of the plot is the ending of the story when a blind lot must choose between members of the family of Bill Hutchinson. Even more terrifying, when the lot falls on Tessie, the reader is left with the feeling that things didn’t turn out so badly. The choice could fall on Bill, which would deprive the family of a livelihood, or on one of the children, which would be excessive cruelty. It is noteworthy that in the course of the narration, the author points out that some families got into the lottery several times. Therefore, Tessie’s death in no way provides full protection for her family in the future.

Thus, the lottery village has a value system that is in conflict with civilized society. The tradition of the lottery is cruel and unjustified, but because it is supported by the succession of generations, it continues. The lottery is not the idea of ​​a military dictatorship ruling the country, it was introduced a hundred years earlier, and the regime found this tradition useful. Such a tradition conflicts with the fundamental values ​​of a civilized society. Despite this, unfortunately, even today, events such as the storming of the Capitol or mass executions of civilians due to free access to weapons demonstrate the absurdity and unacceptability of some established traditions.

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 aunt’s 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.

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, “It’s 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 assistant’s 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 wasn’t 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: Bloom’s Major, Short Story Writers. Broomall: Chelsea House Publishers, 2001. Print.

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

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

The Lottery was written by Shirley Jackson and was first published as an issue in the New York Times in 1948 (Sari & Tur, 2019). The story has been adapted in several ways, including the radio version, graphic novel, and the 1969 film (Sari & Tur, 2019).). The text and film versions present the same characters, plot, themes, and styles. However, they contain distinct similarities and differences, as discussed in the following sections.

Firstly, the text and the film versions have a similar plot and theme, presenting contemporary life in a small American town where the residents practice the “lottery ritual”. The precedence of preparation events before the ritual is the same in the film and the text. While the ritual is meant to prepare the villagers for bulk harvest, the idea of “scapegoat” is followed blindly in both text and film. The text embraces suspense, which drastically unfolds in the film, with people quarreling uncontrollably. The horrifying scenes created in the text unfold visually in the film, heightening the levels of suspense among the audience.

The major difference between the text version and the adapted film is the nature of the presented. The film is in audiovisual format and its length is assessed in “duration”. The text, on the other hand, can be measured in “pages”. The contract between the two formats extends to the adoption of styles and characters. Readers are expected to create a mental picture of the disagreement and rebellion that arises on the northern side of the village. In the film, the chaos arising is directly presented to the viewers, aiding them in grasping the provided content. The textual format allows the readers to make divergent conclusions on the themes while the film presents all that the target audience needs to know.

Reference

Sari, F. A., & Tur, A. P. A. (2019). Reshaping the Society Face through The Culture of Horror Told in Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery. NOTION: Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Culture, 1(1), 1-7. Web.