Sunday, September 13, 2009

"The Lottery"

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is an interesting story that shows the cruelty of humans and refusal to stand up to a horrible act. The lottery is an annual event, in which the winning person gets stoned to death by the townspeople.

Irony is also present in the title of the event and the setting. The story starts off by addressing the setting, a beautiful sunny, summer day. A gloomy, cold day would be more appropriate foreshadowing, however the author prefers to make the weather ironic. Calling something a lottery would typically indicate the potential of winning something positive, however in this sense it is quite the contrary.

The story is very ironic in that the villagers look forward to the lottery each year regardless of the brutality of the event. The characters mentioned in the story all come to the town square in positive attitudes, excited for the daily activities. Jackson relates the lottery to the towns Halloween party and other events. This is quite ironic, because of joy associated with these events even though during the lottery someone will end up dead.

One theme that Jackson touches on in the story is how outdated events can continue in society. The story states that the lottery has been around at least 77 years. Even though the event is horrific, the villagers continue the tradition. The lottery could easily be discontinued as other towns have already done.

Arriving late at the lottery, she puts on a false front of joy and an appreciation for the event. The winner of the lottery, Mrs. Hutchinson, shows her real personality after finding out someone in her family will win. She immediately accuses the organizer of tainting the event and also claims that two of her daughters, who have joined other families, should be choosing with her family to potentially win. Mrs. Hutchinson is a hypocrite, changing her feelings of the event once she finds out she has one. While the other townspeople accept the event, is she was against it all the time, I could understand her outrage. But seeing how she has taken part in the lottery before and stoned other people, I cannot sympathize with her outrage.

I enjoyed the story, and the ending was a bit of a twist. “The Lottery” is a discussion of hypocrisy and can be related to life in America.

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