The False Assumptions of a Lottery
The thought of a lottery, brings to mind the idea of winning money, prizes, and bonuses. However, In Shirley Jackson's, The Lottery, the word has a completely different meaning. In this lottery, the winner sacrifices his/her life so the rest of the town's people can have food during the year, until the next lottery. The lottery is a tradition these people have been following. The nature of this tradition is contrasted to the square dances, the teen club, and the Halloween program, which are held at the same town square. This makes the lottery seem as joyful as the other activities, when in reality the lottery is very inhumane. The way the story is written makes the reader think that the lottery is a winning event, when in reality the author creates an unexpected ending by revealing the cruelty of this lottery through false impressions in the story by contrasting the setting and the actions.
The setting and the actions are contrasted in The Lottery because the setting does not predict the outcome, creating a completely different meaning to the lottery. The text of The Lottery starts with a description of the morning of June 27th. The day is described as "clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day" (1). This description makes the reader believe that the story will have a happy ending, because the idea of warmth and sun creates a happy setting and a good mood. When reading the first lines of the story, the reader visualizes happiness in the people of the small town. This setting makes it hard to predict that something bad can happen on such a beautiful day because there is no foreshadowing of horror in the setting. The peaceful setting makes...
The Lottery
Yours is a good essay about Shirley Jackson's famous story. What strikes me about Jackson's work is how well she portrays the ritualistic practices of humans. We traditionally associate such practices with native tribesmen but don't realize that they can also be part of modern life. Acting without thinking based on tradition or superstition is as deserving of criticism in a seemingly sophisticated urban setting as it is anywhere else.
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