Preview

Summary Of The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
289 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary Of The Lottery By Shirley Jackson
The Lottery opens with the details of the day of the lottery as s Sunny, warm, summers day. Summer thrives on having days described in the opening sentence and sunny day signifies how normal the lottery is in their society. Despite the fact someone is going to be killed and stoned to death that day. Children gathering stones and also participating in the stoning show that everyone can cast judgement on people. The old black box could represent conservative views government or religion. Mr. Summer claims he’s been in the lottery for 77 years he and the black box both have grown in age. The black box is splintery and is no longer black. Visibly damaged yet they still use it because a conservative mind will only see the past system work and not
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    How Does Shirley Jackson Use Symbols In The Short Story The Lottery
    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How Does Shirley Jackson Use Symbols In The Short Story The Lottery

    First, the condition of the black box emulates how the lottery is slowly becoming outdated and falling apart. The town obviously doesn’t care about the true tradition of the lottery seeing as how the original box that was used had been lost. The black box is described is described as becoming “shabbier each year”, and that…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Chapter Summary: The Lottery By Shirley Jackson
    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Chapter Summary: The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    1.The dark ending was not a typically lottery but throughout the story methods of foreshadowing was used by the author, Shirley Jackson. Characters throughout the story fear the lottery nervously but the dark suspicions are confirmed when “Tessie Hutchinson shouted to Mr. Summers. "You didn't give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair!"”(Jackson 5). Tessie instead of being excited for winning the lottery is extremely against winning which confirms that the lottery is nothing to be excited about. Jackson begins the story picturing the town as a the children were playing around as if nothing horrible was about to happen.…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of Sacrifice In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson
    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Analysis Of Sacrifice In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    The short story, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, is about a village is the past that had some traditions. One of the traditions was that every year one person would be chosen for sacrifice. They thought the sacrifice would bring a good growing season for the crops. This lottery only took 2 hours, but some took as long as two days. The theme is luck goes a long way because mathematically there’s a small chance of winning, luck is random, and luck isn’t always good.…

    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Analyzing Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery'
    • 2906 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Analyzing Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery'

    Thesis/Essay Map Statement: Through the names of the characters used, the ritualized use of a scapegoat, and the actions of the women in “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson symbolistically foreshadowed the unforeseeable ending and portrayed the culture of rural America.…

    • 2906 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Summary Of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Summary Of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    The horror that I felt when looking back upon this story, was only amplified by rereading it, knowing what the ceremony actually would entail. The unsuspecting reader begins the story thrown into a lovely summer seen in a quaint village. Details about children attending school, men and women chatting, lull the reader into contentment. Once the reveal is made, tiny, once insignificant details cast the story in completely new light, an awful one. This contrast between the relive happiness of the beginning, and the grimness at the end heightens the aspect of horror.…

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Tess Hutchinson Character Analysis
    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Tess Hutchinson Character Analysis

    The lottery take places annually in June and everyone in the town participates, but no one wants to win. Old Man Warner believe it should continue because he has done it for many years and is terrified of the idea of change. Tessie Hutchinson never questioned the lottery and was even excited until she became a victim of it. In this short story, Jackson depicts what it is like to do things without questioning the reason behind it. The lottery and the black box represents the past that everyone is struggling to move on…

    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Symbolism in the Lottery
    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Symbolism in the Lottery

    Shirley Jackson uses symbolism in “The Lottery” to show the importance of remaining faithful to tradition and the unknown consequences that seem to occur when citizens lose touch with their village’s rituals. The idea of a yearly lottery in this small village is a very important ritual that has been passed down for such a long time, so long that nobody knows why it was started or why it is necessary to keep following through with it. The old black box that is used in the lottery to determine one’s fate is the most significant symbol in this story. Nobody wants to use a newer box because they feel it is the only thing that ties back to the origin of the lottery. They have only changed the use of wood chips to pieces of paper.…

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson
    • 238 Words
    • 1 Page

    Symbolism In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    In the short story “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson uses symbolism to describe how being oblivious towards the meaning a tradition can lead to dangerous consequences. The box used in the lottery symbolizes an old tradition that the villagers follow. Though “the original paraphernalia for the lottery has been lost long ago” (pg195) and “the villagers [have] forgotten the ritual” (pg201), “they still [remember] to use stones” (pg201) during the execution portion of the lottery. However, the villagers do not know how this started; they just know that “there’s always been a lottery” (pg198), even before Old Man Warner was born. This shows how the villagers are blindly following a tradition that involves the death of a person without knowing why…

    • 238 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Foreshadowing In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson
    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Foreshadowing In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    The introduction of the black box carried by Mr. Summer (456) is a key turning point showing symbolism, which is anything in a story that represents something else, giving the awful ominous answers to all those foreshadowing hints. When the black box is brought in, it's said to be a tradition that no one liked to upset. The villagers kept their distance from the box, as though they feared it (461). More and more the town's peculiarity begins to become apparent. For an example, the names of certain residents hit at the irony and unfavorable events to come. From the author's extravagant detailing of the town, one would expect this "lottery" to be a chance for one lucky family to win some money. Instead, the winner's "prize" is death-by stoning In the story Tessie won the prize when Bill, her husband, forced the paper out of her hand (461). The portrayal of the residents at the end of the story is disturbing--they go about killing the "winner" ritualistically, trying to "finish quickly." (461). They show no empathy at all--they're simply following an ancient…

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mortality And Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
    • 1062 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Mortality And Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is nothing less than a powerful story about a society that gathers once per year and holds a lottery. But this is not a lottery with a winner; it is a lottery with a loser. “The Lottery” is a chilling story because it depicts a sense of normalcy among the towns’ people when they randomly decided to kill a neighbor by practically just drawing straws. This story really asks the question, are rituals always a good thing? If rituals are a good or bad thing do we even know why we do it half the time? “The Lottery”, shows us that even though tradition may have been happening for years doesn’t mean that the traditions we choose to follow are beneficial.…

    • 1062 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Ritual Of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Ritual Of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    It is often said that there is strength in numbers. While it is true that a large group of people has more power than an individual, a single person within a large group will almost always conform in some way. This weakens the individual and leads to fewer new ideas in order to maintain group status and agreement. Many times, rituals or ideas are allowed and accepted just because they are favored by a majority or have been part of that society for so long that they have become almost like a tradition. In "The Lottery", Shirley Jackson uses alarming images to guide the reader to understand the futility and foolishness of blind obedience to these rituals. The lottery “selection” emphasizes the importance of questioning what is right in front of you instead of just conforming mindlessly.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Literary Analysis
    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Literary Analysis

    The tradition of the lottery has been occurring for a period of time: “The lottery was conducted”(1). Jackson illustrates in the short story that this is a familiar tradition known in the village. The irony of the lottery symbol indicates how it is meant to be seen as a good thing; however, in this case, it is looked upon as an unacceptable tradition. The tradition is “represented by the black box” (1). This implies that the black box is a symbol of death and an outdated tradition; therefore, showing how the people in the village rely on the black box which determines who gets prosecuted. Jackson presents Mr.Grave as the bringer of death: “Mr. Graves nodded and held up the slips of paper”(5). The name Mr.Graves hints that there will be a death due to come. The symbols represent the tradition of the lottery;ultimately, creating fear amongst the…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery'
    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery'

    The “Lottery” is about is about how a women or a girl whatever you want to call her, she won the lottery and people didn’t think it was fair so they stoned her to death. A good thing to think about in life is to treat people the way you wanted to be treated. That is always a good thing to remember.…

    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Analysis
    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Analysis

    The short stories, “The Lottery” and “Charles”, have notable differences in writing styles. “The Lottery”, is a story about chance. Will you be lucky enough to live for the day? “Charles” is about Laurie, who is starting Kindergarten and wants attention from his parents. In both short stories, the author, Shirley Jackson, described the characters, the themes, and the situations to create an illustration for the reader.…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Duality Of Human Nature In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson
    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Duality Of Human Nature In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    The Lottery is a short story written by Shirley Jackson in 1948, yet still, leaves a mark on any person who gets their hands on it today. The story starts out by setting an enjoyable atmosphere at the beginning of summer. The community gathers and the story almost fulfills the reader’s idea of a perfect town activity. However, the story has a sharp twist at the end that leaves the reader in shock. Jackson wrote the story to leave an impact and whom how quickly human nature can change. Shirley Jackson shows the duality of human nature in the characters of the children, Tessie Hutchinson, and Mr. Summers.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics