The Lottery is a chilling literature work that involves the dark nature of human beings. The plot consists of an annual event that takes place in a small town. The author criticized the society’s norms in a fictional setting.
In this article, I will elaborate the following information on this storybook. The major terms going to be discussed:
- Author
- Setting
- Character
- Summary
- Analysis
- Themes
- Symbols
- Moral Lessons
- Conclusion
Author
The Lottery was published in America back in 1984. It is a top work of Sherley Jackson. You will love this story because of its twisting ending.
Shirley Jackson was famous for her horror works. She delivered great books like The Haunting Of Hill House.
Setting
The Lottery setting takes place in a short town of about 300 people in America. The author portrayed the day of the lottery as taking place on the 27th of June.
Characters
- Some major characters from this storybook are:
Mr.Summers
He is the man who conducts lottery events. He had a box with paper slips that included the names of the people.
Mr.Graves
This man assists Mr.Summer in conducting the lottery.
Tessie Hutchinson
She becomes the real talk of the story in the end. She seems like a woman who can challenge social norms.
Old Man Warner
The author declared him the oldest man participating every year in the Lottery event. His age is around 77 years.
The Lottery Shirley Jackson Summary
Setting Of Ritual
This is just a summary of The Lottery. The story starts with kids who are collecting stones while some old age people are discussing farming. The setting of the story takes place in a small town. The Lottery event happens annually on the 27th of June. It was a part of the tradition and culture of these people.
Start
Mr.Summer was the one who conducted a lottery. He owned a small black box that had paper slips on it. Each slip includes the name of the head of every family. Mr.Graves assists Mr.Summer in this event. The event starts with the arrival of the box. Each family member of the family was told to draw a paper slip and not open it until ordered. Every head of the family came up. Bill Hutchinson drew his paper slip at the end. A Young boy told old Warner about ending this lottery ritual but the old man criticized the young guy.
Hutchinson got selected
Bill Hutchinson was the chosen man in the Lottery. Tessie Hutchison, wife of Bill criticized Mr.Summer.She complained about the time shortage in selecting her favorite paper slip. Mr.Summer moved to the second round of the lottery. He wrote the names of the Hutchinson family on separate paper slips. These were five. Four slips were blank while the one had a black dot.
Twist
Everyone draws their slip one by one. Tessie Hutchinson opened her slip and it had a black dot. The crowd rushed near to her. They were throwing stones at her and feeling happy. They were competing with their norm.
Analysis
You will criticize strange norms and traditions that were once part of society. This story wanted to deliver the dark side of humans. The author picked one such tradition in a fictional way and criticized it. Some people tried to end the lottery but they were stopped.
If you go through this story, you will see that the old man supported this brutal tradition. Warner even called this event a great symbol for crop growth. He criticized Adam, the boy who was not in favor of the lottery.
Moreover, people also love to do strange scenes until they face them. The characters loved Lottery but hated it when their name appeared. This element elucidated the hypocrisy of society.
Themes
Major themes from the Lottery are:
Blind Acceptance
The author delivered his thoughts about accepting strange traditions with blind eyes and conservative beliefs. Although it’s a fictional work, such inhuman acts have existed throughout mankind’s history.
Human Cruelty
Humans can be kind or cruel depending on the society. Society pressure can cause them to perform tasks that are defamation to humanity.
Hypocrisy
Every member of town felt happy in hurting others but acted sad when faced with it.
Rituals
This story criticized ritual. Further, the author highlights issues that prevent eliminating such traditions.
Symbols
The symbolizations from The Lottery are;
The Lottery
It defines the blind and strange accepted tradition in society.
The Stones
People of town were collecting stones at the start of this book. You can resemble these stones with violence.
Moral Lessons
Some of the lessons from the writing are:
- Never accept traditions blindly.
- Humans should challenge social norms.
- Conservatism needs to be thrown away from personality.
- We should cooperate in removing things that are defaming humanity.
- As a human being, I never appreciate inhuman acts.
Conclusion: Shirley Jackson The Lottery Summary
Overall, The Lottery by Sherley Jackson involves the annual event in a town. Mr.Summer conducts this old tradition. People were asked to draw their name slips that presented their future. Hutchinson’s family was the chosen one and tolerated the outcome of such tradition.
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