The lottery essay
One of the most famous and at the same time controversial short stories ‘The Lottery’ was first introduced to American public in 1948.
- Setting of ‘The Lottery’
The author of the lottery explained that the major ideas of her brilliant story are the pointless violence and common inhumanity. And the setting in the small town is used by the author specifically to emphasize the shock; it was used for dramatization, to make readers think about the similar things that may happen in their own lives too. That is why it had received a very controversial response from the public and praises from media. People may feel deeply insulted or hurt because of the brutality of the lottery itself and also because they recognize the settings; these are the settings of their lives. The town lottery is popular even among the villagers. Men, women and their children stand together.
- Major themes
There are two themes of ‘The Lottery’ that should be analyzed. The first one is following the traditions. The author wanted to draw attention to the fact that not all of the traditions are good. Sometimes a tradition may be harmful, and following it blindly is dangerous and stupid. It’s outrageous that the villagers do not have a clear understanding of the origin of their lottery, but they stupidly preserve this tradition. It appears that tradition is perceived as the reason for a murder, it serves as justification for the public.
A murder happens each year and it is an allowed ritual, an ancient tradition that became a part of the town’s modern existence. And these people they simply feel they can’t change themselves, their ordinary lives and no one have even suggested changing. That is the theme. If you will not change anything, it will not be changed ever.
Another theme defined by Shirley Jackson is the random choice of the persecuted person. The choice is random, the victim (this time it is Tessie Hutchinson) isn’t guilty and the real horror of the situation is the indifference of the surrounding people when the marked slip of paper is chosen by this woman. The most shocking element of the scene is that the friends and the family of Tessie Hutchinson turn away from her when they understand she’s next victim according to the lottery. The randomness of persecution is connected with the indifference, and the author just hints that these things often happen in real life. The indifference is evil. The randomness of death in the ‘Lottery’ is a universal example of many similar events in our lives. The reasons of persecution may be varied and often they are out of control of the persons who are persecuted. The persecution often happens without any reasons, and Shirley Jackson just frankly speaks about it in her story.
- Symbols
Shirley Jackson uses the symbols in her work, simply because they help the author to represent some important things. They serve as additional elements of her story and form the whole picture.
The first symbol is the Black Box, which is the heart of the event. It combines tradition and it also shows illogic characters of the villagers. This Black Box demonstrates their strong will – it’s obvious for a reader that these people do not want any changes to the existing tradition. It should be noted that the box is quite old because it has been stored for many years, but people keep it. Their tradition, their views, and habits are based on the idea of this box. No one in the village wishes to deviate from their tradition and therefore they continue to hold the lottery the way it’s been done. There is no logic in the actions of the villagers because they do not follow any other traditions, only this one. Black Box is a symbol of these actions,
And there is no doubt that the major symbol suggested by Shirley Jackson is the Lottery itself. It demonstrates that the known way of life (no matter how stupid, violent or important it may be) is everything for the people of the village. The Lottery is the bizarre idea that was received by this generation from their parent and it should be followed without any questions.
- Foreshadowing
Shirley Jackson uses foreshadowing to emphasize the possibility of future violent events, she hints on it by using seemingly innocent details, such as stones in the pockets of the children at the beginning of the story, when it is not clear how they will be used further. Then there is a hint on the last years’ victim, Mr. Watson, which is made in a form of the indirect mentioning of Watson boy situation by Mr. Summers.
The way the author creates suspense in her story is amazing. She does it by giving no explanation of the nature of the lottery during all the text, and only, in the end, the audience understands what’s really going on. For those who’ve noticed this great usage of foreshadowing by Shirley Jackson, it is not a surprise why Shirley Jackson has many followers among the modern authors, including Stephen King. She makes an introduction telling about elements of the tradition, and the audience may follow the process, the ritual, till the shocking end of the story.
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson Essay
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is undoubtedly one of the most famous short stories in American literature, and one of the most tragic ones. When this story was published in The New Yorker in 1948, it was perceived quite negatively by the readers and was even banned by a number of organizations. This is clear proof that this short story had a tremendous impact on the readers and deeply touched their feelings.
The reaction of the public proves that this story is exceptional and that there are clear parallels with our society and reality. I was also shocked and affected by “The Lottery”. In my opinion, the greatest effect of this story is that it forces everyone to think – about our traditions, rituals, cruelty, and indifference that have already become quite common, and about the consequences of such indifference. Thinking over such deep philosophic questions can be painful, and this is why the readers reacted in such a negative way to the story.
At the first glance, the setting of the story is quite ridiculous: in a small village (and in other villages in this area) every year a drawing takes place, after which other the inhabitants of the village, friends, and relatives stone the “winner”. The surrealistic effect of the story is further strengthened by the weird mood of the villagers, festive and sorrowful at the same time. Shirley Jackson manages to keep the attention of the readers and does not reveal the real meaning of the lottery until the very end of the story. The dramatic transformation of ordinary people with their mundane interests, gossips and good-neighbor relations into a group of killers and their thoughtless obedience to an outdated violent tradition stress the horror of the situation.
For me, this story is remarkable because it touches real problems of our society, and reveals a lot of dangerous weaknesses of human nature. “The Lottery” shows how powerful is the opinion of the majority and the influence of rituals and traditions. Shirley Jackson clearly shows in the story that the real meaning of this tradition was already forgotten, and even the black box was only a symbol of the tragic lottery. I believe that our society also has similar “lotteries”, and hopefully, the story of Shirley Jackson can help people to see these “lotteries” and stop them.
The story also emphasizes human inertia and resistance to changes: although most people felt uncomfortable with the lottery (e.g. Mrs. Delacroix) and Mrs. Hutchinson was even attempting to resist the tradition (was late for the lottery), the crowd continued to follow the pernicious ritual. People did not ask questions and even got surprised hearing that in some towns this tradition was ended. I have realized that the effect of the crowd might make people more vulnerable and crueler and that this effect of ‘group thinking” should be avoided. For me, the message in this story is that everyone should think critically and analyze what is happening without relying on the opinion of other people and following only a personal code of ethics.
Another valuable insight that I got from this story is that peaceful setting and spurious well-being should not hinder the understanding of the situation: one always needs to look at the real facts of the matter and should always be alert. I believe that Shirley Jackson was trying to warn people against relying on wrong outdated values and traditions and tried to show how destructive such blind obedience could be. As for me, this story taught me that the real intentions of people should be judged by actions and their ability to take responsibility for their actions, rather than by compliance with social rules.
