Lottery Essay

The Lottery Tradition
The Lottery Essay
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a short story on people around the world having a drawing to be
stoned. Jackson infers that The Lottery is not a collective murder because it is tradition, it is like
going the the grocery store. It is normal to the people in The Lottery. The Lottery is a tradition. If
they have laws, the laws are probably set up so that when the winner of the Lottery is killed nothing
will happen because it is their tradition it is all they know how to do. Jackson made The Lottery a
tradition so the laws were made to not have any negative effect on the tradition of the lottery.
Jackson made it morally justifiable to them because it is a tradition, traditions are done without
thinking of right or wrong. It says in The Lottery that people were scared of it and might even
want to end the lottery but they were quickly shut down because it is tradition to have the lottery.
What would they do without tradition? The children made the pile of stones to throw at the winner
(or maybe the loser depending on how you look at it), that is how lightly or morally right or wrong
they thought of it. It was something that came around once a year, it was like christmas for them.
For whatever reason they have for doing the tradition, and the best they could come up with (was
killing someone) does not make it matter if it was...show more content...
That is how the people in The Lottery live their lives through the tradition of the lottery.It says in
The Lottery that people did not want to mess with the lottery because it is tradition and you do not
mess with tradition. If you personally have a tradition you know it was made probably before you
were born and you do it because that is what you and your family does. Jackson uses this to justify
The Lottery because all they know is that tradition and there is nothing wrong with
Get more content on HelpWriting.net

Narrative Essay On The Lottery
It was June 27th, the flowers were blossoming profusely, it smelled like freshly cut grass,
everyone was out playing, but most importantly, it was the day of the lottery. For the kids, the
lottery was a very enjoyable day. We had gotten to collect the best stones we could find so we can
use them for the person who is chosen from the lottery. "Are you excited Harry?" Bobby Martin. "Of
course! I can finally show off my arm to you guys." I replied. "Hey guys come over here," Dickie
said. Dickie and some other kids had made a whole pile of rocks. "Take some," Dickie said. Bobby
and I put as many rocks we could fit in our pockets. The rocks felt cold and rough. "Harry!" my
mom called for me. I ran to her and everyone else followed reluctantly....show more content...
Summers and the postmaster started to get the lottery all set up. They had to make up lists of
families and they had to swear in as the officials of the household. I couldn't see anymore because
someone was standing right in front of me but I heard someone come join the crowd "Well, now,"
Mr. Summers said soberly, "guess we better get started, get this over with, so's we can go back to
work. Anybody ain't here?" "Clyde Dunbar," many people in the audience shouted. Mr. Summers
made sure for everyone who wasn't here there was someone drawing for them. He then started
stating the rules which I found very tedious. What seemed like centuries the lottery had finally
started. Even though there was only 300 people in the village I heard plenty of last names that
were new to me. I didn't pay much attention to the names being called until I heard Mr. Summers
call out "Jones." My father went up and selected a sheet of white paper. He turned it over
nervously and luckily it was blank. Mr. Summers continued calling out names. "Watson" "Zanani"
After that, there was a long pause, until Mr. Summers, holding his slip of paper in the air, said,
"All right, fellows." For a minute, no one moved, and then all the slips of paper were opened. "It's
Hutchinson, It's Bill Hutchinson," I could hear many people in the audience

Persuasive Essay On Winning The Lottery
Has anybody ever have a thought of what it would be like winning the lottery? The wonderful
luxurious things it can bring to our life and to our loved ones. The thought of being able to pay off
any type of debt. Having the chance to explore the beautiful places in this world. The idea of not
having to worry about getting up early in the morning every day to go to work. The chance of
winning the lottery will change a person's life mostly. But winning the lottery is it really a good
thing or bad thing? In the short story of "The Lottery" book written by Shirley Jackson, it explains
how sweet like lemon, life can be to many of us. Shirley Jackson uses many techniques and talent to
describe the story of how people's life change base upon their sacrifices, responsibilities, and faith.
Sacrifices is one of the main thing that many of us is willing to do for our love one's. Therefore,
we often go beyond our capabilities to do what it takes to keep them protected and happy. Even if it
means that we might suffer for the consequences of our actions, just to get the important and
necessary things that must be done. This is the perfect explanation of Mrs. Dunbar's behavior when
she did her part of sacrificing for her family. With a heavy heart, she put herself into the task of
drawing for her husband. Because he cannot make it to the drawing due to an injured leg. (Jackson)
Also, she knows the fact that it is her duty to be responsible to pick up the slack for her family.
Responsibilities does come in many form of duties to most of us, it does not matter if a person is
rich or poor. From the business profession to the general laborers, old or young, we all have some
type of responsibilities in life. This factor is undeniable to all people for generation's, because our
parents teach us the things we need to know to survive. We also follow this procedure and teach
our young children to be responsible and do their part. Like Bobby Martin, he already knows his
responsibilities for the event, and that is to "Stuffed his pockets full of stones". This procedure is a
natural thing for him to do because he watches his parent's and the whole community follow the
tradition of The Lottery for many years. (Jackson)
The people of

The Lottery: A Short Story
Who doesn't want to win the lottery? I certainly want to win. However in this town winning the
lottery means certain death. On June 27, the townspeople performed the annual lottery in a small
village called Stoneridge.
The lottery is a tradition that has been going on for many years, and consists of a lottery worker
letting people draw out slips of paper out of a tatty black box. After they draw the slip, the
townspeople look at their paper if they have a mark their families have to draw slips of paper.
Whoever gets the black mark gets brutally stoned.
This warm summer morning the children and grownups of Stoneridge gathered in the center of the
village. The people never laughed during this time they only smiled. We asked Mr. Summers, how
much preparation goes into this he said, " I have to do so many things, I have to get the box ready,
I have to write out all the slips, it takes a lot of time."...show more content...
Summers comes out after all the preparation is done and announces it to the crowd. His assistant
then placed the box on a stand, and he declared the lottery open. People started coming up one by
one to draw their slip.
The Hutchinson's end up drawing the mark. We caught Tessie's answer to this, "It was fair, you
didn't let him pick the one he wants," she proclaimed. The Hutchinson family went up and drew to
see who is going have the black mark of death.
Tessie Hutchinson ends up drawing the strip of paper with a black mark. She gets dragged up to the
area where everybody waits anxiously with their stones ready to pounce.
"She was screaming as she was brutally beaten with stones." said one of the little kids who helped
stone her.
We had a sit down and asked him how he felt about his daughter getting stoned he replied, "I am
obviously very sad but i'm glad it was not me." The brutal and cruel

The Issue Of The Lottery
We live in a world today where of something isn 't morally right, we get rid of it. There are,
however still things that plays a part in our everyday life that we don 't see the moral issue behind.
Like the lottery. I had never thought about the lottery as a moral concept until I saw an old tupac
interview. In the interview he stated his opinions on poverty, wealth, and the lottery. The part that got
me thinking was when he said, "I mean, nobody should be hitting Lotto for 36 million and we got
people starving in the streets. That is not idealistic, that's just real".That quote stuck with me. If
there are people on the streets starving, then why are millions of dollars just given away. When
you look into it, you start to see it become less and less moral and more of an obstacle that
Americans and the states are currently dealing with. The lottery exploits the hopes of low income
Americans who want to escape from poverty, while also pushing them back into the cycle of it. As
for the tiny percent of people who do win, most end up worse off than they were before hitting the
jackpot, in the matter of a few years. States also could be using this money better for things like;
helping the poor, the hungry, the homeless, education, or research funding. My question is, should
the lottery be abolished? My answer, without a doubt.
Americans spending their money with the hopes of instant wealth that most likely will not happen,
the few that win often end up worse off, and millions of

Essay about The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson
The Lottery
Although the writer gives ample clues throughout the story, the reader finds itself so shocked at
the end of the story, he feels the impact of the stone thrown right along with Tessie. To end with
such a climactic feeling, the author uses several forms of literary devices; however, the two that I
will explore are setting and irony. The day itself is a day beautiful enough for a picnic. It was "clear
and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full–summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and
the grass was richly green." (272) The descriptions here make you think of people getting together for
a celebration. The author goes on to describe the children gathering together, first quietly, then later
they joined...show more content...
(273) The author has created a setting that portrays something exciting and something to be eagerly
anticipated. To achieve the dramatic effect intended, the author has also used irony. Irony exists in
this story from the very beginning in the form of the title of the story, "The Lottery." We usually
associate the term "lottery" with something good—something we would like to win. In this
story, however, the person who wins the lottery is actually the loser, that is, they are to be stoned.
Irony is also in use when Old Man Warner's responds to talk of other villages giving up the lottery
by saying, "Pack of crazy fools…Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to
living in caves, nobody work anymore, live that way for a while." (276) In his way of thinking,
giving up the lottery would be barbaric and a tradition of human cruelty by stoning a person to death
is considered to be civilized. Iron is also present in the fact that the people appear to be concerned
about the women having to draw. For example, when Clyde Dunbar's wife had to draw, Mr.
Summers asked, "Don't you have a grown boy to do it for you, Janey?" (275) However, when it
comes time for the stoning, they show no concern that it is a woman about to be stoned. After it was
discovered that the Hutchinson family was the winner of the first round and the family had drawn
again, the two children, Nancy and Bill, Jr., opened their paper and "both beamed and

Analysis Of ' The Lottery ' Essay
These two short stories characterized many of the same elements, but also have many stark contrasts.
When I was reading them, they both stood out with several core themes. Traditions and how
communities thrive were the backbones to the two stories, and I constantly found myself comparing
them metaphorically to what we do today. Poisonous or potentially problematic traditions often
justify themselves as sustaining, as in life would only be worse without them, and therefore no one
questions them. In The Lottery, the scene is immediately set within the town square, and we zoom
in on a gathering that clearly of great import. We are enlightened that there is to be a lottery, which
immediately invokes a positive feeling in the reader. A lottery tends to signify something won,
something gained, or at the very least lotteries tend to give us hope at little to no cost for us.
Throughout the story, we learn the true intention behind the lottery, however. Prior to the lottery
beginning, we are told that the entire village, upon gathering, has also amassed a large pile of rocks
that were gathered primarily by the children. It seems to be a very family–centered village, as well
as patriarchal, since the men were the last to gather around the ring, and the leaders and instigators
were all men as well. Of the numerous reason a lottery involving the entire town could be had, the
simple, almost mundane justification for it was intriguing and bothersome all at once. The lottery
was simply

Thesis For The Lottery
Being stoned to death by 300 of your friends and family is possibly the worst way anyone would
ever want to be killed. In the short story "The Lottery" written by an author Shirley Jackson, she
mentions about a small village consisting of 300 residents who most reluctantly participate in an
annual lottery drawing. I know, who in their right mind would hesitate to be a part of an event that
gives you a possibility of winning a prize, which makes you wonder what the prize is. At the end of
the story the protagonist, Mrs. Hutchinson, who also happens to be the winner of the lottery is stoned
to death. I argue that Jackson wrote this story to inform us how living in a small community isn't
always a great thing because in a small population people start gossiping about one another, which
can lead to issues and could turn into hatred.
I believe that winning is not always a good thing because it can be...show more content...
One can say that there are certain demons that inhabit the closest people in your life, such as betrayal
and jealousy to protect themselves. To shed more light on this, in the short story "The Lottery" stated
that, "And someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles" –– and closes in on her" (Jackson).
As I read this section of the story, I strongly believe that money tends to destroy the strong bonds
one has with their own family members. Furthermore, after seeing a movie clip of this story, I seen
Davy Hutchinson and Mr. Hutchinson moving away from Mrs. Hutchinson in a clam way, they had
no expression in their face that made them look hurt after what was going to happen to Mrs.
Hutchison (Jackson, Rando). I think that Jackson was showing us that your own family turns against
you and that cruel things would continue to happen in life. In addition, Jackson is trying to say that
winning is not always a positive thing or it's not guaranteed a happy

is lottery a good idea Essay
Is Lottery a Good Idea?
Lottery is one of the best things that has ever happened to human kind especially those that dream
high and but their dreams don't come to life because they don't have what it takes to make it
happen. Lotteries are in various categories such as sweep stakes, scratch off, the Jackpot and even
the green card lottery. The lottery that is being focused in this argument is the jackpot one. When
individuals or people in general buy the lottery ticket their hopes are high, and they anxiously await
with anticipation hoping to win. If they don't win, they never give up, for they know that there is
always next time and they keep playing. Some people urge that playing lottery is a bad idea because
people end up getting...show more content...
The history of lottery started long time ago in the early history of America. The online gov. info
library states that "Lotteries were frequently used in colonial–era America to finance public works
projects such as paving streets, constructing wharves, even building churches. In the 18th century,
lotteries were used to finance construction of buildings at Harvard and Yale." This shows that lottery
has been around for a long time. Today, most states have adopted lottery system especially the
computerized ones like mega millions and Powerball due to the world advancing technologically.
This is so because these states have seen the growth of income that come from lotto. Each state has
rules and time frames in which a prize can be claimed. Some states allows people to be anonymous
like Ohio while others don't have that option. For example, in Indiana winners have 90 days before
they claim their prize and their identity is revealed. In cases where the winning ticket isn't claimed,
the state will get back all the money that it contributed to the unclaimed jackpot. The money is
distributed according to state rules.
Even if the winner comes forward, every state that participates in lottery selling benefits from it.
The state imposes both federal and state taxes on the winner. Winners have a choice to take a pay
out as a lump sum or as an annuity. If the payment is lump sum, taxes are paid out at once and
annually if the prize is taken as an annuity. These

Evidence For The Lottery
"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is about a small village where they have a strange annual
tradition. The tradition is a lottery where whoever "wins" is stoned to death by the other
townspeople. Why would they do such a horrible thing to their friends and family members? They
started the lottery as a sacrifice for good luck. They wanted good crops for the year and they thought
a human sacrifice would help them. But, now most of the people no longer think it helps the crops.
Most probably think it's wrong to murder someone just because they lost the lottery, but they are
terrified to upset tradition, so they blindly continue the lottery.
The first piece of evidence is on page 13, line 8. Here it talks about how the town is small, only
around...show more content...
Evidence for that is on page 22 line 260, where Old Man Warner says the old sayings, "Lottery in
june, corn be heavy soon." This shows that they thought the lottery would bring them luck. Another
piece of evidence is one page 28 line 427. Here, Steve Adams says, "Come on, come on,
everyone." This indicates that the people need to be riled up and they probably don't want to, but
ome people, specifically Old Man Warner, feel they have to.
Another quote from Old Man Warner is on page 23 line 268, after hearing some towns are giving
up their lottery, he says, "Nothing but trouble in that. Pack of crazy fools." This shows that he
disapproves of not doing the lottery. It is all he has ever known and it scares him to think that the
town could be giving up something from him parents and grandparents generations.
This story is about speaking up for up you believe in and to not blindly follow what others in the
past have laid down as the norm. If no one spoke out when people were being discriminated against,
it would never have changed. Instead of standing up and questioning the lottery, everyone just kind
of went along with it and people continued to

Following the crowd can have disastrous consequences is something both first they came by Martin
Niemoller and The lottery by Shirley Jackson have in common. But for different reasons. Both
stories are different but are also the same. Both stories share the same theme but for different
reasons. So these two stories have a lot in common but somethings that are different, so in this essay
I will talk about how they are the same and also different.
Some ways that The Lottery and First they came are the same is that they both share the same
theme. For example, they both share the theme that they both have disastrous consequences from
following the crowd. For instance, in the lottery Tessie follows the crowd by participating in the
lottery with everyone else. And in First they came martin followed the crowd by not speaking up.
The two characters not speaking up led to their death. Which is something both stories had in
common. Another way that you can compare both stories is that both of the characters didn't
stand up for what's right when they should have. For instance, in the poem First they came in
lines 1, 3, and 4 it says ''and I did not speak out'' so this means he did not speak out for other
people. But when he got called he expected someone to speak out instead. In the story The Lottery
Tessie did not speak out about how the bad The Lottery was. For example, the entire story Tessie
didn't say the lottery was a bad idea until she was chosen to get stoned. For instance,

Analysis of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Essay
Analysis of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson was written in 1948. The story takes place in a village square of
a town on June 27th. The author does not use much emotion in the writing to show how the
barbaric act that is going on is look at as normal. This story is about a town that has a lottery once a
year to choose who should be sacrificed, so that the town will have a plentiful year for growing crops.
Jackson has many messages about human nature in this short story. The most important message
she conveys is how cruel and violent people can be to one another. Another very significant
message she conveys is how custom and tradition can hold great power over people. Jackson also
conveys the message of...show more content...
The children do it, as do the family members of whoever is picked. No one stands up and says how
horrible this act is. Jackson demonstrates how people everywhere can do these horrible things to
others and everyone just think of it as ordinary. Another message that Jackson illustrates is the
blind following of tradition and how that can be a terrible thing. All the members of the
community participate in this horrible act because it is a tradition. The people believe that if it is
a tradition it then the lottery must not be a bad thing. When Old Man Warner heard that some
communities had stopped the lottery he called them a "pack of crazy fools." He said, "There's
always been a lottery."(247) Jackson shows how a tradition can be so brutal yet everyone will go
with it because it's in fact tradition. To go against tradition would be to go against the community,
so no one is willing to do that. Jackson shows the long running tradition when the black box that is
used to hold the slips of paper never changes. It shows the inability for change in the community. A
minor message that Jackson conveys is the idea that men treat women as subordinate in their society.
In the story the men always draw from the box for the families. Jackson proves how men treat the
women like objects when Tessie, the women who in the end gets stoned, questions the fact that the
drawing wasn't fair and her husband just told her to shut up.

Essay On The Lottery
Name: Jonathan Roy Teacher's Name: Seyyedesaghar Najafi Course Code: 00002 Date: 23 october
2017 The Lottery The short story "The lottery" is a shocking text to read. I think that the main goal
of this text is to denounce some injustices there was with the community back in the 50s. At the
beginning of the story, everything seems to be normal: "June 27th was clear and sunny, with the
fresh warmth of a full–summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was
richly green" . But after few pages, we can easily see that there is something wrong with these
people. The first thing I noticed is the injustice between men and women. Men are considered a lot
more important than women in this text. For example, when Mrs. Dunbar wanted to pick the
piece of paper for her family, because her husband wasn't there, Mr. Summer told her: "Don't you
have a grown boy to do it for you, Janey?" . We can clearly see here that Mr. Summer don't
consider Mrs. Dunbar able to do it only because she is a girl. Further, when the Hutchinson's family
got chosen by the lottery, Mrs. Hutchinson tried to express herself and defend her opinion, but her
husband...show more content...
At the beginning of the day, everyone knew what June 27th was about, and everyone was acting
like it was a normal day. People were talking about other things without even trying to stop the
stoning. For them, it was a normal tradition to do. Some children were already prepared for the
stoning. They "had already stuffed [their] pockets full of stones" . It's crazy! All these people
don't even realise how cruel it is to stone someone. Likewise, they don't have any empathy for the
members of their community. Everyone know each other, because it's a close community, and they
don't seem to care about who is chosen. It could be their friends or their family and they will
probably still do it. For them, it's a normal thing to do. It's crazy how cruel people can

The Lottery Of Birth Essay
The meaning behind "The Lottery of Birth," is that where you are born shapes the outcome of
your life. From the moment we are born, we are given a "certain class, and a certain country".
From the country you were born into, to the government that is over you, and even to the family
you have. Every part of your surroundings shapes the person you will become. You will soak up
the religious beliefs of your environment, you will build your political ideals off of your family and
government, and you will plan your future based on the schooling you will be taught which is
decided by your government.
The criticisms the film pointed out, concerning religion and patriotism posed very interesting
questions. Is patriotism just a mask hiding a self centered,...show more content...
The pursuit of knowledge, and the focus to enrich lives. Education from its core should require
us to think and question everything, so that we may better understand the world and universe we
live in. However this system has been twisted and corrupted. Instead of being taught how to think
for ourselves, we are being taught how to think like everyone else. We are being groomed to
become the work force of our country. To think and act the way we ought to. The education
system has turned into a "means to an end" in the eyes of students. High school, and college have
become no more than stepping stones to the adult world. We come to class, we do our homework,
and take our tests. Mindless and brainless we slowly take one semester at a time, until the day we
graduate and walk into the workforce. Education is power, but not the power of the educated.
Education give power to those choosing the what is taught in schools. They choose what we are
supposed to learn and how we are taught. Schooling is used as somewhat of a brainwashing method
to make students follow in the footsteps of those who came before. Slowly preparing them to work
for your land and

Essay on The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson
Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is a story littered with warnings and subtext about the dangers a
submissive society can pose. While the opening is deceptively cheery and light Jackson uses an
array of symbols and ominous syntax to help create the apprehensive and grim tone the story ends
with. Her portrayal of the town folk as blindly following tradition represents the world during World
War II when people's failure to not mindlessly accept and heed authority lead to disastrous
consequences. . Shirley Jackson uses a large array of techniques to help convey the idea that
recklessly following and accepting traditions and orders can lead to disastrous consequences.
The opening paragraphs of the story contain a light and carefree tone...show more content...
As Tessie's protests continue and the Hutchinson family prepares to draw again the sense of
apprehension is one again mounting, this time fearing for whoever wins yet still not knowing
what their "prize" will be. "The crowd was quiet. A girl whispered, 'I hope it's not Nancy'", the
silence and fear of the crowds manifests in the reader as the three children and their parents all draw
slips of paper. Tessie "wins"the lottery and when the narrator explains "although the villagers had
forgotten the ritual, and lost they original black box, they still remembered to use stones" (6) its
suddenly shockingly clear to the readers what the winner is to receive. The drastic switch from a
light and cheerful tone with talk of the beautiful day and children playing to the closing like of "and
they were upon her" (7) is in part why this story is so effective. The unforeseen sinister end of the
story makes the revelation of the tradition much more shocking and unsettling than had the reader
known from the beginning what the outcome would be. Jackson very effectively builds a sense of
apprehension and foreboding as she slowly cues the reader into the reality of the situation.
"The Lottery" has many symbols that help create the sinister and somber tone of the story. The
black box from which the papers are drawn as well as the black dot on the paper are both symbolic
of death. Black is a universally accepted

Character Analysis of the Lottery Essay
The lottery is usually associated with beating the odds and winning something extravagant. In
Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery", the reader is led to believe the story is about something
cheerful and happy given the setting of a warm summer day and children out of school for the
summer. Jackson turns winning the lottery into a bad thing. Of 300 villagers Tessie Hutchinson
shows up late, claiming she forgot about the annual lottery drawing, but seems very excited to have
made it on time. When Tessie was in no danger she is gossiping with neighbors and encourages her
husband to draw for the winner. Jackson curiously builds up the character of Tessie so that it seems
she is blinded by tradition until she becomes a victim of it...show more content...
She uses Mr. Summers as a scapegoat and shouts "`You didn't give him enough time to take any
paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair '" (Jackson 208). Throughout the drawing of the names,
Tessie seemed to be fine with the fact that someone was going to die until it the realization set in
that it may be her. Before a drawing is held to decide who wins, Tessie tries to make Mr. Summers
include her daughter, "`There's Don and Eva, make them take their chance!'" (Jackson 209). This
shows how ruthless and careless Tessie is. She knows that her daughter was already entered in the
drawing under her husband's name. Having her daughter enter would only give her more of a
chance to live. After Tessie is chosen as the winner she demands that the drawing was done unfairly
and that her husband was rushed. What's ironic about that is she is the one who rushed Bill to draw.
Jackson uses the hypocrisy of Tessie's actions to show this.
Tessie's victimization at the hands of the towns people allows her to be a semi–symbolic character,
which will lose her life due to a cruel death by stoning. They did this all for the sake that there may
be a fruitful crop for the coming harvest season. Surprisingly, even Tessie's closest friend was
mentioned as finding a stone so big that she had to lift it with both hands. Mrs. Hutchison was tardy
to the biggest event of the year. She desperately hoped that she

The Lottery Research Paper
How do our relationships with others define who we are? Others affect us greatly. The people
who surround us everyday have a great impact on our own life. Friends and family are the people
who create you, and are part of the reason of who you are today. For example, when there's a new
trend, or when someone says a mean comment, you might change something about you at one point
or another. Who affects your life? "The Lottery" is a short story that may have opened people's eyes
onto what you follow. This story shows how you may not let go of a tradition, here showing it in a
negative way. A lottery, which in turn, the winner gets stoned. An example of a tradition is a
quinceanera. Although it's not a negative tradition, this has been something

Reader Response: the Lottery
Reader Response #2: The Lottery "The Lottery" is a short story written by Shirley Jackson and
published in 1948. The title of the story initially leads readers to believe the story is going to be
about someone winning some kind of prize. Even the opening of the story seems to protest any foul
play or cruel behavior. What the reader is introduced to is a seemingly friendly gathering of a small
village community, members all gathered around anxiously awaiting their drawing for the lottery.
The village members all chatter amongst one another in a tone that kind neighbors would take with
one another. To the surprise of the reader, the story provides a shocking twist. The story is not about
someone winning a prize. Instead the story reveals...show more content...
She certainly succeeded in shocking her audiences with the unforeseeable twist that arose at the
end of the story. I did not expect the ending that I read. Even when I realized that the woman of
the family who drew the winning ticket was arguing against the winnings, I had not ever thought
that perhaps someone would die as a result. The fact that children were also allowed to participate
in the drawing is what really made my stomach churn. Jackson certainly provided a detailed
enough picture in such a few short pages to pull a physical reaction from me. I cannot rightfully
say that the story was a good one, but it definitely was brilliant. It still amazes me that an author
can write so descriptively and so intelligently that he or she can pull physical, mental, and
emotional reactions from the person reading the story. In this case, I had several reactions to the
story. Not only did I feel disgusted at how the community members were so eager to stone the
woman to death, I also felt a mind–numbing sensation at the fact that such violence and cruelty
closely mirrors our own modern society without the archaic practices. As a modern society, we cut
down the individual members of society in new ways. While we may not string them up to hang
them, we do string them up publicly for the purpose of cruelty and humiliation. Just look at
cyberbullying or mass

Winning The Lottery Essay
1.The lottery tickets have not been selling for a while now and I have to find a way to fix that
problem. One way of fixing this problem is giving the people a better chance at winning the lottery
like increasing the odds of someone getting the correct numbers in an area that is very poor so that
someone who really needs it would get the money. This would create a buzz that anyone could win
the lottery money even the poor because it's been known that the lottery is rigged for only the
middle class and the rich people. This would throw that idea out the window and ensure to people
that they could possibly win the lottery. But in reality the odds are still the same and every two
week or so we do the same method of letting a small town family...show more content...
I believe that Abraham Maslow and the novelist Dostoyevski were both right about the their
situation. Maslow is right because if we are lacking food, love, and self–esteem as humans we need
food more than love or self–esteem to live a long life. We could go our whole lives without love or
self–esteem. Dostoyevski is correct because if we have all the bread we need to survive for a
while but no water then won't survive long. If there was something we need more than food to
survive to live it would be water. We can survive longer without food than we can without water
because water provides us with energy and if we have no energy than we can't do anything. That is
the reason for when you are hungry you try to drink water or some liquid to keep yourself from
being as

Shirley Jackson's The Lottery Essay examples
Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
After reading Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" several times over the many years, this
story has many meanings beyond simply the words on the pages. These are left up to the
speculation of the reader for the most part, which lets each individual come up with his or her own
opinions to fuel an argument. I feel that much of the symbolism revolves around religion, in
particular Christianity. To take the story at face value would nearly be an exercise in futility, for then
the reader would be missing the deeper meanings found in the delicate symbolism that Jackson
places throughout the tale. Indeed, the symbolic meanings of many of the people and things placed
throughout the narrative depict certain...show more content...
This "three legged stool" is a representation of God, the legs being the three forms, which God
takes; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the Christian concept known as the trinity. Just as
the Bible is held up and given credibility by the belief of a God, the stool holds up the box. Nearly
the two become one, the stool and the box, just as in Christian beliefs God and the bible are all but
inseparable, much to the chagrin of others. Slips of paper, as insignificant as they may seem on the
surface, take on meaning of great magnitude in the story. As each individual participant in the lottery
finds that there paper is not the one marked, the paper is released and drifts away. The slips of paper
come to represent the participant's souls, here representing the untainted soul, drifting away and
remaining free, as if going to heaven. In contrast Mrs. Hutchison's slip of paper, which has a dark
spot, shows that marred souls receive punishment after judgment, a common Christian belief.
I believe the symbolism here is trying to show us that only certain people can be lucky enough to fit
within

Lottery Essay

Lottery Essay

Lottery Essay

Recomendados

Más contenido relacionado

Similar a Lottery Essay

Similar a Lottery Essay(20)

Más de Custom Paper Writing Services

Más de Custom Paper Writing Services (20)

Último

Último(20)

Lottery Essay