Smith 1 John Smith Mrs.Jones ENG2D1-06 March 5 2009 The Possibility of Evil: Critical Response Journal The Story‚ The Possibility of Evil is a truly interesting story that demonstrates the evil of a community that seems almost perfect. This story demonstrates how there is probably no place on Earth that evil has not reached. The story bases itself on a small suburban town and the people that live there. The reader meets Miss
Premium Fiction The Reader Short story
The day my son Laurie started kindergarten he renounced corduroy overalls with bibs and began wearing blue jeans with a belt; I watched him go off the first morning with the older girl next door‚ seeing clearly that an era of my life was ended‚ my sweetvoiced nursery-school tot replaced by a long-trousered‚ swaggering character who forgot to stop at the corner and wave good-bye to me. He came running home the same way‚ the front door slamming open‚ his cap on the floor‚ and the voice suddenly
Premium Girl The Little Girl Boy
In her critical biography of Shirley Jackson‚ Lenemaja Friedman notes that when Shirley Jackson’s story "The Lottery" was published in the June 28‚ 1948 issue of the New Yorker it received a response that "no New Yorker story had ever received": hundreds of letters poured in that were characterized by "bewilderment‚ speculation‚ and old-fashioned abuse."1 It is not hard to account for this response: Jackson’s story portrays an "average" New England village with "average" citizens engaged in a deadly
Premium Sociology Shirley Jackson Social class
appreciating tradition that lost its validity. In the short story "The Lottery"‚ Shirley Jackson wrote about a tradition of stoning people to death. Use stoning as a punishment is not unearthly and it is practiced in some part of the world. In the case of short story "The Lottery"‚ the tradition of choosing someone using a random selection process or lottery and kill that person by stoning was never practiced in reality. Shirley Jackson wrote a make believe story of a cruel and merciless tradition that was
Premium Capital punishment Crime Prison
At first glance‚ Shirley Jackson’s "The Lottery" seems like a shocking horror story meant to thrill the reader with an unexpected twist and create a sense of uneasiness. The lottery‚ at first‚ appears to be left up to chance‚ and the ’winner’ is just one unlucky citizen of the village. However‚ if the reader takes on an analytical perspective while reading through this story‚ a common reference to ancient tradition surfaces. After considering the literary elements used‚ the underlying theme of barbarism
Premium Sacrifice Symbolism Ritual
The Lottery Shirley Jackson was a short story writer and novelist; however‚ she was also a loner and an introvert. Shirley was born on December 14‚ 1916 in San Francisco‚ CA. Jackson and her family moved East when she was 17‚ were she attended Rochester University. After doing a year‚ she dropped out of school‚ stayed at home for a year and began practicing on her writing. Jackson entered Syracuse University in 1937‚ where she met her future husband. Stanley Edgar Hyman‚ who was at the time also
Premium Short story Short story The Lottery
the town has the courage to speak up about the inhumanity that this tradition of stoning “the winner” to death is representing. As a brief conclusion Jackson’s “The Lottery” marks‚ not a winner‚ but a loser who gets stoned to death by the village.(Jackson
Premium Gender role Patriarchy Gender
Overall Shirley Jackson discusses the movement of the setting‚ the unusual foreshadowing‚ and the outermost symbolism in "The Lottery" to give an overall point of view of the story. Even though a small village made seem peaceful‚ and a good place to raise a family‚ it is not always what it seems to be. The reader is about to enter a world with ritualistic ceremony and religious orthodoxy in "The Lottery." The Lottery takes place on a clear and sunny summer morning around June 27 in a small village
Premium Short story The Lottery Shirley Jackson
The theme of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson Things may not always be as they seem in our lives. This is shown in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson from 1949. The story begins describing a small‚ peaceful town that seems normal and it actually is throughout the story‚ but that is just because the reader doesn’t have all the details and we just assume that everything is alright. There are several themes and hidden messages throughout the story‚ but “not being able to dismiss or reject a certain
Premium William Shakespeare Marriage Short story
There are a myriad of different possibilities for the theme of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson‚ but to me the story represents the concept of blame. As humans‚ we sometimes feel a need to target someone as the root of our problems‚ even if we know that they were in no way involved. This makes us feel better because we are able to take out our anger or stress on someone else. In some cases this person may be picked at random‚ such as Tessie was in the story. This can at times be unfair to the target
Premium