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The word lottery implies a fortunate outcome: the lottery will result in a winner who will receive a treasure or money. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson contradicts the positive connotation of a lottery: in the story, the villagers participate in an annual tradition by having a lottery to choose a winner, someone they sacrifice to ensure a plentiful harvest for their survival. The plot unfolds on a full-summer day around 10 in the morning, with children gathering stones and heading to the town square with their families. Narrated in the third person, the story depicts a normal ritual for the villagers, even Tessie Hutchinson, until someone in her family may be a lottery winner. Tessie declares the lottery an unfair exercise when the village learns her husband Bill Hutchinson draws the marked slip of paper resulting in a lottery among her family members to determine the winner. Tessie draws the winning slip of paper with a black dot on it. This event brings about the story’s unexpected outcome: Winning the lottery, Tessie will be the village sacrifice and lose the gift of life. By creating a normal atmosphere among the villagers and leading readers to a plot twist, Jackson uses situational irony to convey the theme of “The Lottery”: Individuals may follow traditions without realizing their potentially dire consequences.
Jackson uses character interactions to engage readers’ expectations that the village lottery is just like any other: the person who wins the lottery will receive a prize. According to Webster’s Dictionary, Situational Irony is “irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected” (2). Old Man Warner the oldest man in the village, speaks of it being his 77th year being in the lottery, which reveals how long the traditions have taken place. Jackson sets up her readers at the beginning of the story by introducing the village on a “clear and sunny day” (pg.1) which later results in someone being stoned to death. On page three of the text, when the villagers begin to arrive in the town square, someone from the crowd says, “Watson boy drawing this year.” The following dialogue occurs:
“A tall boy in the crowd raised his hand. ‘Here,’ he said. ‘I’m drawing for my mother and me.’ He blinked his eyes nervously and ducked his head as several voices in the crowd said things like “ Good luck.” and “Glad to see your mother’s got a man to do it.” The above dialogue is considered ironic because as stated, “Wife draws for her husband” on (page two) reveals that even though the wife may draw for her husband, the village traditions are based in a largely male-dominated society, where wives are secondary to their husbands in village matters. For some readers, Jackson may superficially portray Tessie as the winner of the lottery, but Jackson gives her readers clues as the story progresses so that they know appearances may not be the reality.
At the beginning of the short story, it details, “Mrs. Hutchinson came hurriedly along the path to the square, her sweater thrown over her shoulders, and slid into place in the back of the crowd. ‘Clean forgot what day it was,’ she said to Mrs. Delacroix (1). With an in-depth analysis of this conversation, it would be a possible theory of Tessie Hutchinson being chosen as the sacrifice due to her arriving late, forgetting about the lottery, and rebelling against the sanctioned rules.
The power of tradition in “The Lottery” upholds the customs created by their village founders for reasons unbeknownst to readers until the end of the story. To convey the theme of “The Lottery”: Individuals may follow traditions without realizing their potentially dire consequences. Foreshadowing is defined as “the anticipated turn of events that may or may not go along with our expectations” (2). The usage of Situational Irony throughout the story can also signify the argument at hand with foreshadowing. Many of the seemingly inapplicable details in “The Lottery” foreshadow the heinous conclusion. Seemingly Shirley Jackson never details the information about the lottery until the first stone hits Tessie Hutchinson’s head. At the beginning of the story, it is noted children gather rocks and stones in the town square,“ Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix — the villagers pronounced this name “Dellacroy” — eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys” (3). With no explanation of the events about to arise, the children gathering rocks foreshadows the possible outcome of what may occur in the town square. The Old Wooden box was black with an ominous omen presiding over it, “The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained.” In ‘The Lottery’, one of the originals can be found in the ‘sovereign or pioneer model’. The image of the black box speaks to custom practically like the pioneer prime example. The power of the black box and the custom that it holds leads over the entire town. Despite the mischief and murkiness of the custom, the original that the case holds maintains the town in control. This identifies with the subject of the custom as a standard. The custom has turned out to be such an ordinary piece of the town individuals’ lives that the town would lose control if the convention quit administering over them.
An interpretive analysis of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson reveals her use of literary devices foreshadowing and situational irony. The usage of situational irony conveys the theme that following traditions from past generations can lead to dire consequences. The lottery is narrated in the third person narrative and details the lottery as an annual event commenced by the founders of the village to bring crops for the following season. This event brings about the story’s unexpected outcome: Winning the lottery, Tessie will be the village sacrifice and lose the gift of life. The central idea Jackson communicates that readers should consider is the concept of human traditions and the normalcy behind such acts that may be violent and heinous.
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