The Lottery by Shirley Jackson - Essay Example

Outline Introduction “Lottery” analysis Message to Readers Characters and what they represent in story Black box Conclusion Author and Her Message The short story “Lottery” was believed to be written in 1948, but its message and meanings remain pertinent to the modern readers. Shirley Jackson has been a powerful author, and her work has received great attention from literally critics in the past years. The author uses exciting atmosphere that brings the readers into society that is totally different from their own.

The author uses the tone and prediction that pushes the story line forward to disclose the behavior of characters who behaves like the reader of the story (Voth, 2005). Lack of sufficient information is a method that depicts the nature of “Lottery “the story. For instance, the set environment is on a sunny day on which the people of the small rural society come together at the town square. Author Message to Readers The reader understands there is a lottery but the author does not reveal the prize attached.

By revealing all its information and the way she teases the reader, she is certain that the reader will continue reading the story to reveal the withheld message in the story. Meanwhile, withholding the message from the reader, she intends to create tension; for instance, by not revealing why the boys gathered stones alerts the addressees to the idea that there is something expected to go on in the small town. The author uses environment and details so that she can set the moods of readers (Voth, 2005).

For instance, the wearing down of the black box, and small children turn over in the dust. Thus, the author prepares the reader to her main characters as the arrival of black box that marks the start of the ritual of the lottery. Character and symbols Analysis MRs Hutchinson in the story is late for the lottery invent and confess she forget the event set on the day. She eventually come out from the other villagers as someone diverse and frightening and out of breath. Although, Tessie faster join the assembled crowd and start participating in the lottery like other people, the author represent her as a kind of free spirit who was capable to forget about the lottery event as the performed her household tasks.

She is the only villager to go against the lottery due to her nature of being a free spirit. She continues with her protect as she is selected and eventually stoned to death due to the ignorance of her villagers. The author does not reveal if Tesse would have gone against the justice of the lottery in case her family had not been nominated (Voth, 2005). Thus, she did not reveal her motivation to protect against the lottery that makes her be silenced. Another character portrayed in the story is Mr.

Graves who is the postmaster who assist Mr. Summers to prepare papers to use during the lottery and ritual rites. Mr. Graves represents the story’s underling final result and themes as he acts as Mr. Summer’s Assistant. The author present his character has that foreshows the evil of the normal individuals in the community, but it is not highlighted in the story. This indicates the weakness in people and the hypocrisy that has been practiced in the town and is carried on by the lottery event (Voth, 2005).

This shows that the author may be suggesting that several people are not strong enough to fight against their condemnation because they fear the society will reject them. The characters do not believe in themselves that lead them to continue to sacrifice their happiness in order not to hurt others. Black Box Mr. Summer does not thrive in replacing the black box used for the drawing represents the villager’s inability to stand for their beliefs. Meanwhile, Mr. Summer requests the villagers to make a new black box since the one they were using was out of shape.

However, they did not want to go against their traditions as it was symbolized by the black box. It was made from the pieces of another older black box and it was black in color. It represented illogic of the villager’s trustworthiness to it and the tradition of the lottery. According to Voth (2005), the black box is almost falling apart because of many years in use, but they do not want to replace it that shows they do not accommodate the change. The villagers refused to replace the black box because it symbolized the way their reality has become stained and disgraceful. Mr. Summer takes charge of the lottery where he prepares the slips of paper to be used in the lottery and mediates the activity (Voth, 2005).

Moreover, the author uses the central character, Hutchinson to depict the way people are consumed by pretense and weakness. It is ironic that she is the one who protest against the lottery and wins and later stoned to death. It is obvious that Hutchinson knew the effect and consequences of the lottery but she pretends to enjoy it regardless of the hate she hard on the activity. Conclusion The author wants to show how the modern society behaves by the “Lottery” story where people tend to pretend they enjoy the evil act, but they truly hate the act.

References Voth, L., (2005). Analysis of "The Lottery", a Short Story by Shirley Jackson. Retrieved on April, 5, 2012, from: