The symbol in the story is the black box from which the villagers draw every year. The fact that the box grows shabbier and shabbier without being changed is an evidence of how the people generally cling to traditions and refuse to let go: "Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done. The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color..."(Jackson, 115) the black box is thus a symbol for how certain ideas and conceptions are stored up by people who deny change and novelty.
There are obviously many situations in real life in which Jackson's allegory applies. Clinging to tradition, people refuse to accept new realities about the world they live in. This can often lead…...
mlaWorks Cited
Jackson, Shirley, the Lottery in X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia, an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama (10th edition). New York: Longman, 2006.
Othe chaactes also make a stong contibution to the theme of the stoy. The chaacte of Delacoix is impotant because this name eflects the ole of eligion in this butality, again pointing the eade to the idea that eligion is a contibuting facto to mankind's butality. "De la coix" is Fench fo "of the coss," but the chaacte's name has been bastadized by the villages. This symbolizes how eligion has been bastadized by society to become a tool by which violence is inflicted on othes.
Some of the othe names have evident symbolism as well. "Gaves" is a clea symbol fo death and escape fom butality. That M. Summes is the one who uns the lottey is an ionic name, given what the lottey epesents. That his ole is consideed a civic duty, in line with oganizing squae dances and the teen club, einfoces the idea that the butality of the…...
mlareferences to other countries that have progressed in their values, while there remain segments of American society, driven by twisted religion and a refusal to accept change, that are still brutal and violent. That these traits are ingrained in society and reinforced through ritual, and that the violence is scarcely even recognized as such, is something that Jackson wants the readers to examine, and by ensuring that the characters are either representative of society as a whole, or particular elements of society (i.e. religion), emphasizes the point that she is making about the ugliness that underlies American society.
Jackson was born in San Francisco, to father Leslie Jackson, an English immigrant and Geraldine Bugbee Jackson, who was related to the famous California architects, an association some give credit for driving her sense of place and detail for architecture in her stories. She spent most of her years in Vermont and is associated as a New England writer. The last work Jackson published, like the Lottery was one of a macabre chance occurrence. "Home" (1965), the last work Jackson published before her death, describes an outsider's dangerous encounter with the ghost of a small boy who is trying to return to the country house she and her husband have innocently purchased."
Hall 311) Hall also goes on to state that her early life in the suburbs of California is reflected in her first novel, the Road Through the all (1948), He also noted that many of her early stories…...
mlaWorks Cited
Bloom, Harold, ed. American Women Fiction Writers, 1900-1960. Vol. 2. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2000.
Gelfant, Blanche H., and Lawrence Graver, eds. The Columbia Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.
Hague, Angela. "A Faithful Anatomy of Our Times": Reassessing Shirley Jackson." Frontiers - a Journal of Women's Studies 26.2 (2005): 73.
Hall, Joan Wylie. "Shirley Jackson (1916-1965)." The Columbia Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story. Ed. Blanche H. Gelfant and Lawrence Graver. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. 310-314.
ut there are also similarities in the characters, the setting, the plot, themes and the use of metaphor and symbolism. For example, the setting of the story is in another village, namely, Greenwich Village in New York City, where the main character, Hilda Clarence, works "as a stenographer in a coal and coke concern" (49), similar to Mr. Summer and his coal business in "The Lottery." Ms. Clarence also refers to herself as a "Village die-hard" (49-50), a description close to what the villagers in "The Lottery" represent.
Another main character in "The Villager" is Mr. Harris who comes to the apartment looking to buy furniture for his apartment. Jackson describes him as having "a round agreeable face" (54), much like the face of Mr. Summers. Also, the overall plot in "The Villager" is not clearly expressed until the end of the story, much like "The Lottery" when the reader…...
mlaBibliography
Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery and Other Stories. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1982.
Shirley Jackson is a short story writer known for writing disturbing stories that focus not on horrific events, but on normal events that occur in society. Her stories add new meaning to common events that everyone can relate to, often also making a comment on our society. Three of her stories that have these features are The Witch, An Ordinary Day, With Peanuts, and After You, My Dear Alphonse. Comparing these in terms of theme, style, irony, and characters, the common features of Jackson's work can be identified.
In each of the three stories, the theme makes a comment on our society, using everyday events to accomplish this.
In The Witch, a mother is on the train with her four-year-old son. A man enters and noting that the boy needs entertaining, tells him a story. The story, however, is a horrific one and what would be considered an inappropriate one. The mother…...
mlaBibliography
Jackson, Shirley. 'After You, My Dear Alphonse.' The Lottery and Other Stories. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 1991.
Jackson, Shirley. 'Just an Ordinary Day, With Peanuts.' Just an Ordinary Day: The Uncollected Stories of Shirley Jackson. New York: Bantam, 1999.
Jackson, Shirley. 'The Witch.' The Lottery and Other Stories. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 1991.
Shirley Jackson's the Lottery with Ursula Le Guin's the Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas
Literature has always been a vehicle for change, fueled by the contributions of various writers/thinkers who provide just the right food for thought. One such contribution has been made by Shirley Jackson through the short story The Lottery. Comparable in effectiveness is the work of Ursula Le Guin by the name of The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas. Both stories are fictional by nature and content but make the reader pause and think about the society and its philosophies. The Lottery is set in a small town where villagers gather together in the central square for the annual lottery, which is held just before a crop season. This lottery is aimed at choosing a winning family by way of a marked chit in order to sacrifice it to herald a good crop season. Since…...
mlaReferences
Jackson, Shirley. Lottery and Other Stories. Random House: August 2000.
Ursula Le Guin. The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas. Accessed on March 6, 2003. Available at http://lavka.cityonline.ru/text/hugo/Omelas_.htm
Lottery" by Shirley Jackson and "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne"
Nathaniel Hawthorne and Shirley Jackson like using symbols in expressing their thoughts in stories. "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Lottery" utilize symbols to emphasize themes in each of the stories. While Hawthorne makes use of objects and names to strengthen the theme, Jackson predominantly makes use of names to consolidate her theme; she does not limit to using a single object as a significant symbol to her theme, she may use multiple symbols. These stories present symbols that portray evil. Hawthorne's symbols predominantly describe religion -- which explore both evil and good. Generally, the symbols used by Jackson portray the evil in society. There is an act of symbolism in each of the stories. The short narratives share symbols, although these symbols aim to capture different thoughts in the reader's mind (123 Helpme, 2016).
The Lottery and Young Goodman Brown,…...
mlaReferences
123 Helpme. (2016, August 27). Comparing symbols and symbolism in Young Goodman Brown and The Lottery. Retrieved from http://www.***.com/view.asp?id=16855
***. (2015, March 23). Comparison The Lottery and Young Goodman Brown English literature essay. Retrieved from literature/comparison-the-lottery-and-young-goodman-brown-english-literature- essay.phphttps://www.***.com/essays/english-
That is precisely what generates the shock when readers realize, only at the end of the story, that all of those mundane descriptions were actually the prelude and preparation for murder. Both works involve the manner in which otherwise ordinary communities of church-going, moral people can support and participate in morally heinous practices under the right circumstances and influences.
However, there are significant differences in the circumstances detailed in each work as well. The principal distinction, of course, is that The Lottery is fictional whereas the Salem Witch Trials actually occurred as described. More importantly, The Lottery describes a more horrific situation, at least arguably, precisely because the ritual occurs mindlessly, without any awareness on the part of participants of its purpose, and most of all, because it involves the murder of a person selected purely randomly without even a mistaken accusation of anything justifying the murder. By contrast, the…...
Everyone knows what will happen to her and it seems all everyone can think is how they are glad that it did not happen to them - this year. Tessie has to speak up because she has nothing to lose. She exclaims that the lottery "isn't fair" (218), but no one will agree with her (out loud). Instead, the townspeople are encouraged to get the dirty deed over with so life can return to normal. "The Lottery" demonstrates how we can become fearful of change when we allow our lives to stay in the same rut for too long.
Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" illustrates what happens when we are open to change. Louise did not really know how unhappy she was until she saw the opportunity for change. However, once she accepted the change that life was presenting her, she felt alive. e read that her "pulse beat…...
mlaWorks Cited
Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Lauter, Paul, ed. Lexington D.C. Heath and Company. 1990. Pp635-7
Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Cassill, R.V. ed. New York W.W. Norton and Company. 1981. pp. 617-25.
Shirley Jackson is widely regarded as one of the most prominent American authors of the twentieth century, best known for her works of horror and mystery. Born on December 14, 1916, in San Francisco, California, Jackson grew up in a suburban setting, which later came to influence her writings of small-town America and the often macabre events that unfold within it (Franklin, 2016). Jackson's personal life, marked by both her literary success and her struggles with numerous personal demons, presents a profound context for understanding her most celebrated work, "The Lottery," published in The New Yorker in 1948.
Jackson's upbringing was largely comfortable but not without its tensions. She was often at odds with her mother, Geraldine Jackson, who had rigid expectations for her daughter and disapproved of Shirley's interest in writing (Oppenheimer, 1988). These familial conflicts, particularly with her mother, turned into a recurring theme in Jackson's later works, where…...
mlaReferences
Franklin, Ruth. Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life. Liveright Publishing, 2016.
Oppenheimer, Judy. Private Demons: The Life of Shirley Jackson. Fawcett Columbine, 1988.
Joshi, S. T. Shirley Jackson: A Companion. Greenwood Press, 2003.
Hyman, Stanley Edgar. The Shirley Jackson Case. Ramparts Press, 1976.
Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Specifically it will discuss symbolism in the story, and how symbolism functions as a whole. Symbolism is one of the main themes of "The Lottery," and author Jackson develops and creates the story carefully to make the most of the symbolism she uses throughout it. The story symbolizes the black human nature that can be a part of all humankind, and illustrates how your neighbors can turn against you in an instant if it is to their benefit, or if the community condones it. This shows how close to animals humans really are. Jackson's symbolism is frightening because it is so accurate and so true of humankind.
Jackson's story is an intimate look into human nature and how humans can be intensely evil if they are allowed to be. She uses the symbolism of the yearly community event to show how the town's residents turn ugly…...
mlaReferences
Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." Classic Shorts.com. 2005. 12 Oct. 2005.
Oedipus the King" by Sophocles, "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, and "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore oethke. Specifically, it will interpret and illustrate how the theme of parents may be seen in these three pieces.
Each of these pieces concern the family, but not the normal family unit most people expect. Each of the parents in these three pieces obviously contributes to the lives of their children, but not necessarily in the positive ways most parents are expected to contribute to the growth and abilities of their progeny. Their children grow in spite of their parents, rather than because of them.
The child in "My Papa's Waltz" has fond memories of his father, as this passage shows. "We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf;" (oethke 880). However, as with many childhood memories, these views are distorted. Clearly, the father in the piece is a drunkard, and the…...
mlaReferences
Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." Work of the Scholars in Cyber English. 2000. 10 May 2004. http://mbhs.bergtraum.k12.ny.us/cybereng/shorts/lotry.html
Judd. "Review of Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery.'" BrothersJudd.com. 2004. 10 May 2004. http://www.brothersjudd.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/reviews.detail/book_id/396/Lottery.htm
Nassaar, Christopher S. "Sophocles' 'Oedipus the King'." Explicator 55.4 (1997): 187-189.
Roethke, Theodore. "My Papa's Waltz." The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing, Sixth Edition. Ed. Michael Meyer. 880.
Lottery
Literature that followed World War II in the United States tended towards the cynical, the depressive, and a sense of mortality that has not been as intense before the World War broke out for the first time. Furthermore, there came about a basic lack of trust in traditional, time-worn institutions, including the government and general social values. These mistrust issues and difficulty readjusting to post-war life are exemplified in stories such as "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. In this shocking story, a community's tradition of yearly ritual sacrifice demonstrates general society's lack of basic critical thinking. It also demonstrates the reluctance to discard time-honored traditions, even if these have been proven outdated and unnecessary.
Jackson's short story opens with a deceptively idyllic scene, in which the author describes a clear, sunny day, with rich sunshine and summer colors. Throughout the story, the gathering of people and their interactions give away nothing…...
mlaReferences
Hooti, N. And Mahmoudi, Y. (2013). Black Veil of Ignorantism under the Unconscious Conscience of Human Soul in Shirley Jackson's Lottery. International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences. 5(10). Retrieved from: http://www.irjabs.com/files_site/paperlist/r_1585_131009104635.pdf
Jackson, S. (1948) The Lottery. Retrieved from: http://sites.middlebury.edu/individualandthesociety/files/2010/09/jackson_lottery.pdf
Lambert, S. (2014, Nov. 19). Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" as a Response to the Hypocrisy of Capital Punishment in the Late 1940's. Retrieved from: http://portfolio.snc.edu/sarah_lambert/wp-content/blogs.dir/107/files/sites/107/2013/08/New-Historic-Paper-PDF.pdf
Goodman Brown/Lottery
Literature is frequently employed as a device for social and political commentary. This is certainly true in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," and Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." Both these stories darkly satirize the rigid social conventions that define small town American life. Even though they wrote about a century apart, Hawthorne and Jackson drew similar conclusions about American religious life and culture. Throughout his career, Nathaniel Hawthorne remained concerned about the hypocritical nature of puritanism. Stories like "Young Goodman Brown" darkly satirize religious fundamentalism and mob mentality. "Young Goodman Brown" is about a man who believes he might have dreamed of a strange pagan ritual set deep in the woods. Even his wife, ironically named Faith, attends the ritual. Faith's presumed faith in Christianity is proven false by her attending a Satanic rite in the woods. atching the ritual shocks Goodman Brown literally to death. In "The Lottery," a…...
mlaWorks Cited
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown." Retrieved online: http://www.online-literature.com/poe/158/
Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." Retrieved online: http://www.americanliterature.com/Jackson/SS/TheLottery.html
Likewise, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor illustrates the cruelties of modern life. It too begins with ominous foreshadowing. The efforts of the old grandmother to look beautiful foreshadow her fate: "Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady." The attitude of the family is evident early on when visiting a roadside diner: "No I certainly wouldn't,' June Star said. 'I wouldn't live in a broken-down place like this for a million bucks!' And she ran back to the table." The intrusion of the Misfit into the 'happy' (yet really unhappy) middle-class family's ordinary road trip ironically highlights the pettiness of their concerns, rather than the serial…...
mlaWorks Cited
Elder, Walter. "That Region." The Kenyon Review. 17.4. (Autumn, 1955): 661-670.
October 7, 2008 06:02 Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4333623
Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." Classic Short Stories. October 7, 2008. http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lotry.html
Lootens, Tricia. "Shirley Jackson: A Study of the Short Fiction by Joan Wylie Hall." South
Research-Based Essay on The Lottery
Introduction
"The Lottery," Shirley Jackson's chilling short story, has captivated readers since its publication in 1948. This essay will delve into the story's historical and sociological context, examining how it reflects the fears and anxieties of post-World War II America. Through a research-based analysis, we will explore the various interpretations of the story and its enduring significance in contemporary literature.
Ritual and Tradition
"The Lottery" centers around a yearly ritual in an unnamed village, where the community participates in a seemingly harmless lottery drawing. However, as the story progresses, the horrific nature of the ritual is revealed: the winner....
Delving into the Macabre: Edgar Allan Poe and the Evolution of Literary Horror
Edgar Allan Poe, the master of the macabre, has left an indomitable mark on the literary horror genre. His chilling tales have shaped our perception of horror and continue to inspire contemporary writers. Delving into Poe's works offers a profound understanding of the genre's evolution and its enduring impact on the human psyche.
The Seeds of Gothic Horror
Poe's literary ancestors were the Gothic novelists, such as Horace Walpole and Ann Radcliffe. Gothic literature reveled in themes of darkness, mystery, and the supernatural, creating an atmosphere of suspense and unease.....
I. Introduction
II. Body
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