The Lottery by Shirley Jackson - Essay Example

This is because the struggling mother herself had to struggle with winning the hearts of her readers when her story was first published in the year 1948 (Tibbett, 2008). As a person, Jackson had battled with depression her whole life. She however ended up overcoming this when with time her story became loved as one of American’s finest short stories ever. The reason behind the harsh manner in which readers first reacted towards the story has partly been blamed on its theme and shocking horrifying ending (Cummings, 2004).

With a theme of the dangers in following traditions blindly, readers first thought that the theme was too abstract for their 1948 world and that the end of the story was too horrifying. As carefully conducted scrutiny of the story continued however, it generally became accepted. This paper therefore seeks to take such a journey down the story, scrutinizing some of its major elements. Analysis of Major Elements Point of View The third person point of view was employed by Shirley Jackson in writing The Lottery.

This means that the narrator used the third person pronouns, he or she in the narration. Generally the third person point of view helped in reflecting the theme of the story, which was on the dangers of following traditional blindly. The third person point of view helped in reflecting the theme because the writer decided to use satire in stating her arguments. With third person point of view, it is easier to do this because the narrator is rather seen as an isolated fellow, who can hardly be begrudged for his or her opinions; no matter how harsh they may be.

This is in contrast with using the first person point of view or the writer is presumed to be the narrator and so the one to receive blame for the theme of the story. The third person point of view could however have been given more authority if it was made omniscient. Rather, it was made a limited third person point of view, where it seemed to know “only the thoughts and feelings of a single character, while other characters are presented only externally” (Wiehardt, 2011). Setting The setting of the story is taken from a New England village on a sunny June 27, within the hours of 10am and noon.

So we read from the opening of the story: The morning of 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. The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o'clock. The setting was largely acceptable and reflective of the theme of the story. This is because in the first place, news of stories of strong affection and following of tradition as depicted in the story were commonly present in villages as compared to cities.

Secondly, the time of day when the hotness of the sun was at its best when the ordeal happened really sends a threatening message of the true danger in following traditions blindly as was the theme of the story. Character In The Lottery, the writer uses gender characterization perfectly. In the setting of the story: 1948 village, gender stereotype was more intensive because education was not widespread. Because of this, the female was generally associated with lateness, inferiority and defenselessness.

The male and for that matter young male was also thought to be aggressive, enterprising and at times violent. Children were also thought to be silent learners whose freedoms were very limited and