Theme And Theme In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson - 996 Words

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a story of an unusual town caught in a trap of always following tradition, even when it is not in their best interest. Jackson uses symbols throughout the story that relate to the overall theme. This helps the reader clearly understand her main message. Jackson uses setting, tone and symbols to convey a theme to her audience. By doing so she creates significant connections to the theme using old man Warner and the black box as examples. The setting and tone in The Lottery are very important aspects that give the reader a sense of where they are and an overall feeling of what the story should be like. At the start, Jackson is very specific in describing the setting of her story. She says The morning†¦show more content†¦He believes by retiring the tradition that Theyll be wanting to go back to living in caves (254). According to Mr. Warner, the lottery is the only thing keeping society stable. As a man of superstition he thinks that a human sacrifice is the only logical answer for insuring that their crops are good, seen in the line Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon (254). Mr. Warner accepts the way things are because this is the way they have always been. Changing tradition would be disastrous in his eyes. The other main symbol in The Lottery is the black box. Unlike old man Warner, the black box represents the absence of tradition. This is because the box itself has not been passed down, rather it has on ly been the ideas and rituals that were passed through generations. Only pieces of the original box remain. In the beginning of the lottery the villagers used wood chips instead of paper. Over the years the small details of the lottery have been lost and all that remains is the true intention of it. The villagers are blindly following a ritual that has lost most of the tradition, and only holding lotteries simply because there has always been one. The theme in this short story is that blindly following tradition can be very dangerous. This is shown to the reader through the bizarre ritual of murdering innocent people just because tradition says so. The town has become so immersed in this tradition that they fail to see the damage it is creating in theirShow MoreRelatedThe Theme Of The Lottery By Shirley Jackson1159 Words   |  5 PagesWhen â€Å"The Lottery† begins, nothing seems unusual about this community, no hint of what is to come, or how heinous an act is about to occur. As they ready themselves for what seems to be a cheerful event, preparing as if to win something valuable, rather than to lose this lottery, eagerness and enthusiasm fill the air. The tradition, this community has been following, is overly duteous, more sheep like, illustrating the extent to which people will go to fit in, to be part of a crowd, to feel acceptedRead More, Symbolism, And Themes In The Lottery, By Shirley Jackson1252 Words   |  6 PagesShirley Jackson’s The Lottery, is a realism story that was written for the main purpose of entertainment. Jackson writes about a small village that gathers every year for an event they call â€Å"The Lottery†. Every head of households comes up and draws a slip of paper from the box. Bill Hutchinson draws the first slip of paper with the black dot but Tessie Hutchinson quickly exclaims the lottery is not fair. Mr. Summers then puts five slips of paper back into the box, one for each of the family membersRead MoreTheme Of Symbolism In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson960 Words   |  4 Pagesshall be purged with death. 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People can be cruel for no reason because that individual is not happy with their life or simply jealousy. Shirley Jackson who wrote â€Å"The Lottery† and Graham Green who wroteRead MoreLiterary Themes InThe Lottery, By Shirley Jackson796 Words   |  4 PagesIn the short story â€Å"The Lottery,† by Shirley Jackson, many literary elements are used. The chronological order i n which the story is told is what makes this short story interesting and its ending shocking. Jackson narrates the unfolding of a village’s lottery ceremony by providing a detailed description of the plot, symbolism, and tone and style to portray the strong commitment between the lottery and the people in the village. As the story begins, Jackson starts to develop the plot by describingRead More Theme of Tradition in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Essay1322 Words   |  6 PagesThe Lottery by Shirley Jackson Americans day after day live much of their lives following time-honored traditions that are passed down from one generation to another. From simple everyday cooking and raising children, to holidays and other family rituals, tradition plays a significant role on how they go by there everyday lives. In Shirley Jacksons short story, The Lottery, the citizens of a small farming town follow one such tradition. A point is made regarding human nature in relationRead MoreGreat Theme of Symbolism in the Short Story, The Lottery, by by Shirley Jackson1033 Words   |  4 Pagesthe short fictions read in the Grade 11 English curriculum, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is by far the most important story read because of the theme, the characters and the symbolism. The Lottery is a story about a community, who every year draws the lottery for someone in the village. A lottery is often associated with positive things such as prizes, and money, however, this story has a twist; whoever gets the black marked lottery ticket is stoned by the community people as it is a long traditionRead MoreThemes Of `` The Lottery `` By Shirley Jackson And The Ones Who Walk Away From 1861-18651553 Words   |  7 PagesSafeAssign Logo Help I have chosen to examine the theme of attempted but failed equality in my final paper. The theme of equality is present throughout many of the dystopian short stories, novels, poems and films we have studied in class. The three stories I feel this theme is most present in are â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson, â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† by Kurt Vonnegut and â€Å"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas† by Ursula Le Guin. In these stories society tries to make everything orderly and just. TheirRead MoreAnalysis of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson993 Words   |  4 PagesSpanish author, When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow. Shirley Jackson was born in 1919 in San Francisco, California to Leslie and Geraldine Jackson. She is most well known for her short story titled â€Å"The Lottery† which was first published in The New Yorker to overwhelming and mixed reviews. The lottery, as portrayed in the short story, is a religious, annual ceremony in the afternoon of June 27. This event is said to be olderRead More Shirley Jacksons The Lottery 946 Words   |  4 PagesShirley Jackson is said to be one of the most â€Å"brilliant and influential authors of the twentieth century.† â€Å"Her fiction writing is some of the most important to come out of the American literary canon.† (http://shirleyjackson.org/Reviews.html) Jackson wrote many short stories and even some books. They are more on the dark, witchlike side, however. Kelleher explains that Jackson stated in some interviews that she practiced magic. No one really knows if she was serious while practicing witchcraft