Essay on The Lottery - 777 Words

Shirley Jackson’s insights and observations about man and society are reflected in her famous short story quot;The Lotteryquot;. Many of her readers have found this story shocking and disturbing. Jackson reveals two general attitudes in this story: first, the shocking reality of human’s tendency to select a scapegoat and second, society as a victim of tradition and ritual. Throughout history we have witnessed and participated in many events, where, in time of turmoil and hardship, society has a tendency to seize upon a scapegoat as means of resolution. The people of the village had been taught to believe that in order for their crop to be abundant for the year, some individual had to be sacrificed. quot;Lottery in June, corn be heavy†¦show more content†¦She does not appear to take the ritual seriously, as she comes rushing to the square because she quot;clean forgot what day it wasquot;. The villagers are aware of her rebellious attitude and they are weary that she may be a possible cause for their crops not to be plentiful. quot;It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,quot; Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her. We can understand how traditions are easily lost through the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another. It is how traditions that lose their meaning due to human forgetfulness can cause dreadful consequences to occur. Although quot;the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original box, they still remembered to use stonesquot;. Do people just pick and choose which part of a tradition they want to keep? We tend to remember the actions and the objects necessary to proceed with a ritual, but we always seem to forget the purpose or the reason behind it. Are we correct in still continuing the tradition even though there is a victim involved? It seems we, as part of a society, are scared of being ridiculed if we change or end a tradition because everyone around us will still behave in the manner they were taught. quot;The people had done it so many times that they only half listened to the directions,quot; shows that the meaning and purpose behind the ritual had been lost and they were just actingShow MoreRelatedThe Lottery1112 Words   |  5 PagesPAPER INTERDICIPLINARY LITERATURE â€Å"THE LOTTERY† [pic] Compiled by : Nida Agniya Septiara (F1F010038) Laeli Fadilah (F1F010052) Lisa Ayu Christiana Putri (F1F010022) Yunita Marangin Lumbantoruan (F1F010084) JENDERAL SOEDIRMAN UNIVERSITY SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCE FACULTY HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT ENGLISH LITERATURE 2013 INTRODUCTION Read More The Lottery Essay811 Words   |  4 Pagesword lottery, you probably think of winning a large sum of money before being stoned to death. quot; The Lotteryquot; by Shirley Jackson brings this horrible idea to life. While the overall mood of the story depicts a typical day in a small rural town, through great use of imagery and irony, one is set up for an unusual ending. Shirley Jackson uses the element of surprise. The way of the story ends is unlike anyone could predict. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The main object of The Lottery is theRead MoreThe Lottery Essay617 Words   |  3 PagesJacksons most famous short story, quot;The Lotteryquot;. Her insights and observations about man and society are disturbing; and in the case of quot;The Lottery,quot; they are shocking. quot;The themes themselves are not new, evil cloaked in seeming good, prejudice and hypocrisy, loneliness and frustration, psychological studies of minds that have slipped the bonds of realityquot; (Friedman). Literary critic, Elizabeth Janeway wrote that, quot; The Lottery makes its effect without having to stateRead MoreSummary of The Lottery872 Words   |  4 PagesThe short story that this paper will look at is The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. It was first published in The New Yorker on 26 June 1948. It is one of the most famous short stories in the history of United States literature history. This paper is a summary of the story from my point of view. The Lottery is a work of fiction that demonstrates rebellion and conformity while insinuating that a lottery is part of a ritualistic ceremony. The author was born in 1919. She struggled with depression throughoutRead MoreThe Lottery Essay938 Words   |  4 Pagesthe lottery, but not its exact purpose. Do the townspeople know? Is this omission significant? Intentional? No, the townspeople do not know the lottery’s exact purpose. This omission is not significant because it seems there is no point in the lottery and why these people are operating such horrid acts. It is more intentional; the townspeople are playing it safe thinking they are keeping a tradition, yet no one seems brave enough to ask why? 3. Why is much of the history of the lottery andRead MoreAnalysis Of The Lottery 1036 Words   |  5 PagesSince reading The Lottery by Shirely Jackson, I’ve been thinking more about culture, traditions, and perspective. Not just that, but how it can sometimes take adopting an unbiased, non judgmental, or outside perspective in order to see things for what they really are. The way that the narrator in this story adopts such a position allows for a clearer view of the events of the story. In The Lottery, the narrator speaks to us in a non participant and objective manner. We hear and see events unfoldRead MoreLottery Is Good or Not1635 Words   |  7 PagesIs lottery a good idea? These days, a lot of people play lottery and spend a certain amount of money on it while few of them earn back what they spend. Someone says lottery is a kind of tax collected by the government on peoples’ luck and desire to be rich. In another aspect, lottery is also gambling, and it could make people to be a millionaire in a night if the person is lucky enough, however, it has a negative effect that it causes inequality, crimes and so on. So lottery is not a positive ideaRead MoreThe Day Of The Lottery1397 Words   |  6 Pagesin a small town are gathering on a warm, beautiful summer day in the square for the lottery. The children, who have just finished school, are playing while waiting on their parents to meet them in the square and are gathering up rocks into a pile off to the side. Everyone enters the square and the parents call their children over to stand with the family. Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves, the men who conduct the lottery, arrive in the square with the black box. The box is falling apart and Mr. SummersRead More The Lottery Essay946 Words   |  4 Pages The Message Sent in â€Å"The Lottery† nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The shock value of Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† is not only widely known, but also widely felt. Her writing style effectively allows the reader to pass a judgment on themselves and the society in which they live. In â€Å"The Lottery† Jackson is making a comparison to human nature. It is prominent in all human civilizations to take a chance as a source of entertainment and as this chance is taken, something is both won and lost. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;AsRead MoreThe Lottery. The Lottery Has Three Adaptations And Those1428 Words   |  6 PagesThe Lottery The Lottery has three adaptations and those would include the Novel, Film, and Graphic Novel. Out of all three each have a somewhat similar setting and character build but also have a little tweak to each one. Now of course when first reading it I thought the setting was more in the old days but soon I found out it was done in a modern time. Each character has a specific role and they do share a story but out of all the adaptations the graphic novel describes them the best. Of course