The Dark Side Of The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Essay

The Dark Side of â€Å"The Lottery† Every year a town in the middle of nowhere has a tradition to annually hold a lottery. The whole town has to participate in this lottery . Whoever wins the lottery gets stoned to death. In the story, Tessie Hutchinson gets stoned after getting picked in the lottery. An analysis of â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson through the historical and feminist lenses, suggests that the story is really about how the lottery is controlling lives by having male dominance in the town, a blind following that people follow , and using someone as a scapegoat to blame everything evil in the town. The separation of the males and female roles in the town has males taking more control in preparing the lottery than the females because the males work harder than females. In the beginning of the story, school has just ended and everyone talks and plays while also doing something else as well. The boys took charge of gathering all the stones that would be used to stone Tessie Hutchinson later on at the end of the story. The girls on the other hand, took no action of helping any of them find rocks. They would just talk and do nothing at all to be involved. In the story, it says: Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix-- the villagers pronounced this name Dellacroy--eventually made a great pile of stones in oneShow MoreRelated 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 witchcraftRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson873 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Lottery† â€Å"The Lottery† was written in 1948 by Shirley Jackson. Mrs. Jackson, born in 1916, was known for her tales of horror and supernatural novels. She and her literary critic husband, Stanley Edgar Hyman lived in a little town called Bennington, Vermont. Mrs. Jackson was not accepted by the town. Her novels, especially â€Å"The Lottery†, revealed the dark side of human nature. Stephen King honored Shirley Jackson by dedicating his book Firestarter to her. â€Å"The Lottery† takes place on JuneRead MoreCompare And Contrast The Lottery By Shirley Jackson1012 Words   |  5 Pages Fiction Essay Young Goodman Brown vs. The Lottery Authors: Nathaniel Hawthrone and Shirley Jackson ENGL 102 Spring Zuidema October 16, 2017 Page Break Nyasia Midgette ENGL 102 October 9, 2017 Thesis Statement: The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthrone stories, Shirley Jackson encourages her readers to question their beliefs, actions, and the world by creating struggle. PageRead MoreSymbolism in The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson Essay748 Words   |  3 PagesThe Lottery: Symbolism In her story â€Å"The Lottery†, Shirley Jackson manages to catch the readers’ attention and ultimately shock them with an unexpected ending; all of which help her emphasize her critique toward the dark side of human nature and the evil that resides, sometimes, in those who we less expect it from. Jackson uses symbolism throughout the story that helps her set the mood and also makes the readers wonder and analyze the senseless violence and cruelty in their own lives. It all startsRead More The Use of Symbolism in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Essay938 Words   |  4 PagesThe Use of Symbolism in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Within the first few lines of Shirley Jacksons The Lottery we are faced with such adjectives as clear, sunny, fresh and warmth. She goes on to paint a picture of small children just out of school for the summer, as the townspeople gather for the annual Lottery. This leads us to believe that the rest of the story is as cheery as the summer day initially described. We as the readers are virtually unaware of the horrible senseless eventsRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson931 Words   |  4 PagesIn 1948 Shirley Jackson composed the controversial short story â€Å"The Lottery.† Generally speaking, a title such as â€Å"The Lottery† is usually affiliated with an optimistic outlook. However, Jackson’s approach is quite unorthodox and will surely leave readers contemplating the intent of her content. The story exposes a crude, senseless lottery system in which random villagers are murdered amongst their peers. Essentially, the lottery system counteracts as a for m of population control, but negatives easilyRead Morehe Lottery by Shirley Jackson710 Words   |  3 PagesHitting the Lottery In the beginning of Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery,† June 27th is as normal as any other summer day in the small village. The morning was described as â€Å"clear and sunny† with â€Å"flowers blossoming profusely and the grass richly green† (Jackson, 1). The attitudes of the children are rather happy and normal as they begin to gather playing â€Å"boisterous[ly]† (Jackson, 1). By the end of the story, the beautiful, normal summer day as described in the beginning is a day that every memberRead MoreComparisonof â€Å"the Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas† and â€Å"the Lottery†,959 Words   |  4 PagesEssay I: Short Fiction In â€Å"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas† and â€Å"The Lottery†, Ursula Le Guin and Shirley Jackson depict a seemingly perfect society built on dark secrets. In the story, â€Å"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas†, Omelas is a utopian city of happiness and delight, whose inhabitants are smart and cultured. Everything about Omelas is pleasing, except for the secret of the city: the good fortune of Omelas requires that a single unfortunate child be kept in perpetual filth, darknessRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson1438 Words   |  6 PagesWriter Shirley Jackson was born in 1916 in San Francisco, California. Among her early works was The Lottery.Do not be fooled by this name.The Lottery was the highly controversial and famous tale about a village that partakes in an annual death ritual. On June 26, 1948, subscribers to The New Yorker received a new issue of the magazine in the mail. There was nothing to outwardly indicate that it would be any different, or any more special, than any other issue. But inside was a story that editorsRead MoreThe Lottery, by Shirley Jackson1468 Words   |  6 Pagesfrowned upon for doing so. In Shirley Jacksons â€Å"The Lottery† she does exactly that by portraying themes like the inhumanity of violence and the tendency people have to follow traditions even when they do not agree with them. In a short biography about Jackson it says â€Å"The story was met with an avalanche of feedback, including hate mail and cancelled subscriptions. Many folks interpreted the story as an attack on the values of small towns America† (â€Å"The Shirley Jackson Page at American Literature†)