The lottery by Shirly Jackson

The lottery by Shirly Jackson

Introduction

1. Were you surprised by the ending of the story? If not, at what point did you know what was going to happen? How does Jackson start to foreshadow the end in paragraphs 2 and 3? Conversely, how does Jackson lull us into thinking that this is just an ordinary story with an ordinary town?

The end of the story seems to have caught by a surprise since the author provides valid details in both the second and third paragraphs of the story, which tend to build some degree of comfort for anyone who happens to read the story (Yuhan, 13). For instance, the children come together in the second paragraph “before they broke into boisterous play”. On the other hand, the third paragraph indicates how men start to gather and talk of “planting and rain, tractors and taxes” while women portrayed to be gossiping. Regarding the details of the information provided, I did not still have the reason to project that the story would be ending disastrously.

Moreover, Jackson offers various foreshadowing concerning the ending of his story. For example, the author shows how a specific boy had a pocket full of stones while other compiled stone at the corner square. The surprise come is when I realized that the stones were never meant for play but rather to be used against the winner of the lottery.

2. In what ways are the characters differentiated from one another? Looking back at the story, can you see why Tessie Hutchinson is singled out as the “winner”?

In The lottery by Shirly Jackson, the author tends to transform her characters regarding on what every character feels about the lottery. For instance, Old Man Warner tend to be featured, but his strong vindication for the lottery and he even frequently participate in the event mounting to 77 times. On the other hand, Mr Adams is a staunch critic of the lottery, and he even mentions that some parts of the town have terminated the lottery events.

3. What do you understand to be the writer’s own attitude toward the lottery and the stoning? Exactly what in the story makes her attitude clear to us?

Since the book was written at the beginning of World War II of 1958, the author maybe had an intention to mention the various forms of violence in the community (Witek, 81). Miss Jackson had intentionally selected a small village with no name to highlight on the various dimensions of persecution and vindictiveness to humanity. I feel that the culture and the target of war were select with no clear reason. The author’s attitude seems to be negative as she brings out the message that there is something innately dark in a man that thrills in unnecessary violence and that there is always for humanity to distant from the social problems or specific group of individuals. For, example, Hilter used the Jews as an excuse by posing blames on them for the economic issues that affected his nation, so many Germans tended to support the act of persecution on the Jews directly or indirectly, and no one criticized it.

The author indicated that men stood together in the face of evil, “away from the pile of stones in the corner” that speak quietly and “smile rather than laughed.”  She also felt that the society never cared to address the wrong in the society due to the protection of their well-being, she further clarifies that no one even cared about the protest by Tessie Hutchinson but rather treated it with passivity.

4. This story satirizes a number of social issues, including the reluctance of people to reject outdated traditions, ideas, rules, laws, and practices. What kinds of traditions, practices, laws, etc. might “The Lottery” represent?

The author’s story describes in details the various issues within the society such as victimization, society and violence and cruelty of humanity. Such themes tend to indicate cultures and norms that are founded on the story by Jackson. She brings out specific brutal ancient rites in the current situation to capture the reader’s attention with some level of shock and drama by citing violence as clueless and pointless. Jackson mounts her idea between Cold War and Holocaust. The concept of people accepting cruelty is vividly highlighted as the society uses other people or groups as scapegoats referring to them as the “other.” The author further draws her point by stating that historical realities in the past (Holocaust) and current (Cold War) tend to share some levels of similarities based on laws, culture and practices presented in the “Lottery.”

5. This story was published in 1948, just after World War II. What other cultural or historical events, attitudes, institutions, or rituals might Jackson be satirizing in this story?

The publication of the “The lottery” in 1948 faced many critics in the US. The population was made to assume that the Germans acceptance of Nazi death camps actually inspired the story. Jackson satirizes a specific brutal ancient rite in the present that was bad, but the society just decided to assume it (Levine, 20). The story emphasizes on mob mentality and the tradition of embracing a scapegoat such as sacrificing an individual as a way of dealing with evil and encouraging good needs in society.