Essay The Truth in the Lottery - 1338 Words

There are some things we as society will do without ever questioning why, for instance wishing on a shooting star into to get some good luck. Why do we do it? No one really has an answer for it, we just do. Traditions are something that is passed from generation to generation, even if we have no backing for what we do, we just know its â€Å"good† and its â€Å"tradition† so its apart of us. Shirley Jackson mocks our way of blindly following certain traditions. Characteristics of Jackson’s story create a parallel with Catholicism, by harping on our fear of change but our ability to manipulate what we want from our traditions and the basis of Catholicism’s belief of the innocence in children. Jackson uses friendly language among the villagers†¦show more content†¦By calling them young fools, Old Man Warner is criticizing them for changing something that has always been. For a character to know nothing but the Lottery for their whole life, ch anging something as big as thing tradition could be dire to their civilization. With the Catholic religion, it has been active for decades. Whether you are Catholic or not is passed through generations of families. When Catholicism is brought up through a family, children start going to church when they are very young, getting baptized and receiving their first communion all before they learn the age of 10. Through talking with many atheists/agnostics from Catholic families their stories all end the same. People get verbally crucified for not following in their religious tradition. Old Man Warner calling them â€Å"young fools† does exactly that, criticizes a village because of what they have stopped following. This draws a parallel for people’s fear of change. Families fear that their child’s world will completely change due to their lack of faith while Old Man Warner and other community members believe that their town will go to waste with out the Lot tery. The story itself is very detailed. Shirley Jackson gives the reader a lot of information about the lottery and brings up very interesting points. Jackson states that: At one time, some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery†¦ someShow MoreRelatedThe Truth Uncovered: The Lottery by Shirley Jackson616 Words   |  2 Pageswith big problems is a great way to describe the kind of town used as a setting in â€Å"The Lottery†. The town is a covered up mess and consists of horrible, low-down events. For example, some member of the town just cold-heartedly devoured a member of their own community. It all began when the villagers of the small town gathered together in the town square on a beautiful, sunny day for the town’s annual lottery. The author of this short story, Shirley Jackson, is an American author from San FranciscoRead MoreIrony In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson1436 Words   |  6 PagesTh e lottery was authored by a renowned and most celebrated literature icon among his peers during his time and beyond; one Shirley Jackson, and the text would be first published in 1948 the 26 of June (Jackson 110). The storyline is told following a literal trajectory of a cultural performance in a remote setting, known as the lottery. The author of this text describes a chain of themes in his work, and they include; tradition and customs, society and class, as well as family setups and hypocrisyRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson925 Words   |  4 PagesIn â€Å"The Lottery†, written by Shirley Jackson, Jackson uses the third person objective point of view to narrate the story of a small unnamed town – presumably during the early Twentieth century – that practices a dark event annually. True to the fly-on-the-wall description of third person, the narrator of the story details the events unfolding from an objective and unbiased point of view, almost as if he or she is watching the entire scene from the outside. Jacksons’ choice of narration is an effectiveRead MoreThe Lottery by Shirley Jackson Essay987 Words   |  4 PagesThe Lottery By: Shirley Jackson Summary: The Lottery happens in June every year in a small village of about 300 people. Its a tradition held annually for well over 80 years and Mr. Summers who oversees several civic activities in the community like square dances, teenage club, and the Halloween program as well as the Lottery. The Lottery normally starts around ten oclock in the morning and is finished around noon, the townspeople gather at the center of the town. A small old blackRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Lottery By Edgar Allan Poe970 Words   |  4 Pageslike Shirley Jackson, who was an American writer as well. Her stories were horrifying, but truth-telling. The kind that parents would find disturbing and would not want their children to be reading. Shirley just wrote books that explained life, she made people see the truth in others. She wanted to see the capacity that humans had for evil. Her stories were mainly about the reality of life and its horrific truths. Throughout her times she had receive d numerous awards, Edgar Allan Poe Award had been justRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem The Colonel By Carolyn Forche, The Play `` And `` The Lottery ``1220 Words   |  5 Pagescan come up with a presentation of how justice is displayed in our society. This paper will discuss the topic of justice as presented differently in the poem â€Å"The Colonel† by Carolyn Forche, the play. â€Å"No Crime† by Billy Goda, and the story â€Å"The Lottery â€Å"by Shirley Jackson. In the poem â€Å"The Colonel† by Carolyn Forche, the narrator is acting as a witness in a case where the colonel is a victim. The theme right to justice seems to be the author’s objective for composing the poem. From the poemRead MoreThe Lottery Essay1133 Words   |  5 Pagesbeginning of Shirley Jackson’s short story â€Å"The Lottery,† the village congregates in the square on the â€Å"clear and sunny† (247) midsummer day of June 27th. The children are out of school, the flowers are blooming, and the grass is a vibrant green. Ursula K. Le Guin’s short story â€Å"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas,† begins on â€Å"the Festival of Summer,† (242) which includes processions, dancing, singing, bells, and horses. Although the village in â€Å"The Lottery† and the city of Omelas appear pleasant andRead MoreThe Use of Selective Exposition in The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson1315 Words   |  6 PagesA typical story is litter ed with details, explaining the history of the world the story takes place in, who the characters in the story are, all the while remaining correlated to the plot and subplots that drive the story forward. The story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson however does not follow these conditions, as the reader is left to interpret a majority of the story on their own as it progresses. Jackson is not the only writer to incorporate a style of selective exposition in their work; RaymondRead MoreAnalysis Of The Lottery 1036 Words   |  5 PagesSince reading The Lottery by Shirely Jackson, I’ve been thinking more about culture, traditions, and perspective. Not just that, but how it can sometimes take adopting an unbiased, non judgmental, or outside perspective in order to see things for what they really are. The way that the narrator in this story adopts such a position allows for a clearer view of the events of the story. In The Lottery, the narrator speaks to us in a non participant and objective manner. We hear and see events unfoldRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson981 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson artfully uses foreshadowing in order to build suspense and create a shocking ending. Jackson’s success in â€Å"The Lottery† comes from her ability to keep the reader in the dark about the evils, until the very end. She has masterfully set up what the reader believes as a pleasant event. But, it is not until the ending, can the reader see the foreshadowing of the evils to come. Through the use of foreshadowing, Jackson is able to contribute to the story s overall effect