The Lottery, A Film By Shirley Jackson - Dawson College; English - Assignment

798 words - 4 pages

Fear of Change
There are many things that people do every day without questioning why they do them. These are our habits and traditions, and though for the most part they are unimportant and can be a crucial part of our culture and our interactions with each other. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a story of tradition and the inability to see past it. The lottery ends in a violent murder each year, a bizarre ritual that suggests how dangerous tradition can be when people follow it blindly. The villagers don’t really know much about the lottery’s origin but try to maintain the tradition nevertheless. The villagers’ blind acceptance of the lottery has allowed ritual murder to become part of their town structure. Shirley Jackson demonstrates two literary devices such as character and symbolism throughout the story.
The children in the story represent the lack of innocence, despite the fact that they probably do not understand reality of the circumstances they are expected to participate in the lottery. The children at the beginning of the story are joyfully collecting rocks possibly not fully aware that they would later be used to kill one of their neighbours. After Tessie opens her slip of paper with the black spot on it “The children had stones already, and someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles” (244). This quote signifies that the town raises the children to believe that the lottery, that death of a loved one and that not grieving are perfectly normal activities. This quote represents that teaching generation after generation traditions that may no longer apply, that other towns are giving up, will only breed more ignorance. It is significant that the traditions of the lottery are passed on before Davy can fully understand them. This is how he can so innocently participate in the lottery. Jackson demonstrates the dangers of blindly following and accepting traditions. Tessie Hutchinson signifies fighting against tradition, in the story she can be perceived as selfish and simply wanting to protect herself however, she also symbolizes the superior voice of reason. She continually claims “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right” (244). Tessie demonstrates challenging the barbaric tradition that the whole town blindly follows.
Shirley Jackson demonstrates the use of symbols in “The Lottery.” The black bock is a symbol linked to tradition. In the story, the author states “The original paraphernalia for the lottery has been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born” (238). The black box is nearly falling apart, hardly even black anymore after the years of use and storage, but the villagers are unwilling to replace it. There is no reason why the villagers should be loyal to the black box yet unfaithful to other traditions, just as there is no commonsense to why the villagers should continue holding the lottery at all. The purpose of the box, like the lottery itself, has become unclear with the passage of time. It is well worn, but the villagers are hesitant to let it go. The stones play a very big role throughout the story. Stones are significant as murder weapons because first human tools were stones. In the story, the author states “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lose the original black box, they still remembered to use stones” (244). This quotes demonstrates how the villagers forgot their tradition and rituals but still remembered the cruelty behind it. The villagers are not able to recognize their physical actions therefore they are blindly following traditions. Stones allow everyone in the village to participate freely in the ritual, from the youngest child to Old Man Warner.
In conclusion, the villagers’ tradition has become useless over time. No one knows the real history behind “The Lottery” and no one makes an effort to find out because they are blindly following an event that occurs once a year. Throughout the story, the use of character and symbols demonstrate how the villagers do not recognize what they do and who they teach to kill. Children are taught at a very young age to pick up a stone and throw it at the winner whereas elders know the cruelty behind it but blindly still follow what is not right. The villagers are aware that the act of stoning is inhuman but no one wants to stand and voice their opinion for fear of going against society’s standards. Imagine, waiting anxiously once a year for that time to come with only relying on luck to determine your destiny.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing, 3rd edition. Ed. X.J Kennedy & Dana Gioia, Pennsylvania: Pearson/Longman, 2010.

More like The Lottery, A Film By Shirley Jackson - Dawson College; English - Assignment

The Lottery Essay Symbols English 1102 - English 1102 - Essay

1417 words - 6 pages ... Lockman 1 Josh Lockman Ms. Denny English 1102 31 March 2018 Lottery symbols Shirley Jacksons, The Lottery, talks about her feelings concerning the rituals through her story. It shows the readers to properly group and question some of today s traditions as cruel, and allows room to foreshadow the outcome of these unusual traditions. The Lottery is a short story that records the annual sacrifice ceremony of a small town. It is a narrative of the ...

This Is About The Lottery Questions Of The Lottery - Grade 10 English - Essay

896 words - 4 pages ... Name: English 8 Ms. Torry “A Secret Lost in the Water” by Roch Carrier Comprehension Questions 15 Points for Reading and Viewing Please complete the following questions on your laptop. You must answer each question according to the instructions for each section. Surface Questions (1 point each): These questions ask about facts and details from the story. They provide the “surface” information that we need to understand what is happening in ...

Billy Elliot; Questions On The Film - Mercy College - Assignment

2838 words - 12 pages ... Part A Identify the movie by stating its title, the year it was released, the name of the director, where the story is set, and the time period in which the story takes place. Billy Elliot is a 2000 British dance drama film directed by Stephen Daldry. It is set in Northern England during the 1984-85 coal miner’s strike. Who is the protagonist and what is he or she like? Evidence suggestions: dialogue, costume, actions (characterisation) This ...

A Christmas Carol, By Charles Dickens -challenges In Adapting The Book To A Film

575 words - 3 pages ... vagabonds of every description add to the colorful multitude.How would I portray this city in a film?Inside the problem is not much better. Personal cleanliness is not a big priority, nor is clean laundry. In close, crowded rooms the smell of unwashed bodies is stifling. It is unbearably hot by the fire, numbingly cold away from it.At night the major streets are lit with feeble gas lamps. Side and secondary streets may not be lit at all and link bearers ...

The Story Of A Man Named Shirl - The Life And Times Of Graeme "shirley" Strachan (from Skyhooks)

1053 words - 5 pages ... . Shirley - for his curls, like Shirley Temple. It was also at Phillip island where he started "going steady" with Sandy Davis, his wife-to-be. He took jobs on fishing boats, and worked with shark fishers - anything to make some dough. But after a while down there, winter came along, and Shirl was broke, so he headed back up to Melbourne to work through the winter with his dad.Later that day, Shirley Strachan was a fully-fledged member of a new ...

Research Paper On The Darfur Genocide - Jackson, English - Research Paper

1290 words - 6 pages ... Ziegler 1 Zoey Ziegler Mrs. Barnes English 102 16 March 2016 The Darfur Genocide It is said that nothing like the Holocaust could ever happen again in the modern world, but it has happened in countless countries, and is still happening in Darfur, Sudan. Seeing that Darfur has been part of a genocide since 2003, there have been mass casualties and inhumane acts amongst the people of Darfur. What is occurring in Sudan, was described by the United ...

Analyze A Film That We Saw In Our Class. - Richland College - English 1301 - Essay

1111 words - 5 pages ... Mutum Mutum (2007) is a Brazilian drama film directed by Sandra Kogut. The film is based on the novel Campo Geral (1964) written by João Guimarães Rosa. The Mutum film depicts a ten-year-old quiet little boy, Thiago, who lives in a small, hardscrabble farm named Mutum with his family. Although he is a child, Thiago observes the adults and their world is filled with violence and treacherous silence. It seems like a sad story when we see these ...

Police Report About The Play "death Of The Maiden" By Ariel Dorfman - Bishop's College School, English - Homework Assignment

1184 words - 5 pages ... Rationale I have chosen to write a police report on the torture of Pauline from "Death of the Maiden" written by Ariel Dorfman. I did a police report because throughout the play, Paulina seems traumatized and I think that instead of keeping all for her, she is going to the police to report what she lived. Moreover, I will write two different points of view, Paulina's and Dr. Miranda's. By comparing both points of view, it would be interesting to ...

Analysis "the Lottery" And "those Who Walk Away From Omelas" - BMCC - ENGLISH 201 - Essay

781 words - 4 pages ... a situation like that before. However, I don’t think that sacrifice is worth it for a utopian society. The sad times are what make they joyous times so meaningful. I am especially unwilling to live in a utopian world when it comes at the cost of another human life. Finally, both “The lottery” and “The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas” continue this central theme of a flawed utopia that is only maintained by scapegoating an unfortunate and then ...

The Final Girl - A Slasher Film Convention - English Or Media Studies - Essay

2531 words - 11 pages ... 91478 In order to create a financially successful and popular slasher film, directors and screen writers must satisfy and fulfil the audiences’ insatiable appetite for dismemberment and blood. The slasher genre also thought of as the ‘teenage genre’, is a sub-genre of horror, and one that is either loved or hated. Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream are all one of the same genre; slasher. A significant aspect that ...

Echidna In Percy Jackson In Comparison To The Mythological Echidna - English - Essay

1204 words - 5 pages ... of a huge lion and the head of a lion, the reader would have been more scared by the fact that this animal is huge, strong and mighty. In conclusion, Riordan changes Echidna in his novel, yet he is able to make her more comical and villainous through her actions and words, rather than her description. Works Cited Riordan, Rick. Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Vol. 1, 2005, pp. 203-211, 5 vols. Chimera- Greek Mythology ...

Carve The Mark By Veronica Roth - Class - English Assignment

976 words - 4 pages ... Carve The Mark Veronica Roth’s, out of this world novel, Carve The Mark is part of a duology published by HarperCollins Publishers. It was published on the 17th of January 2017. It’s a Young adult novel and it’s known as a science fiction book which has a bit of romance and action in it. Though it hasn’t earned any awards yet, it is a successful book that is loved by many readers around the world. Veronica Roth is an American writer, who wrote ...

Hatchet By Gary Paulsen The Book - English - Assignment

1173 words - 5 pages ... Hatchet summary by: Miryah lee In Hatchet written by Gary Paulsen, the main character Brian Robeson, a thirteen-year old boy, is stranded in the Canadian wilderness. In order to survive, Brian must overcome many obstacles with bravery and determination. In a series of intense events, Gary Paulsen demonstrates that each cause leads to a beneficial effect which aids Brian in his survival. At the beginning, Brian is now on a plane to Canadian ...

The Auteur Theory Created By Andrew Sarris Is The Best Theory - History Of Film - Film

742 words - 3 pages ... question is, what theory is the best? I am a truly believer that the Auteur theory created by Andrew Sarris is the best theory to create a film. The Auteur theory is so unique to me because anything is possible to happen from a director eyes. Now everyone in the world has different eyes and a different mindset, every great director don't have the same eyes and brain so anything is bound to happen while creating a film. The article, Andrew Sarris Notes ...

Remember The Titans: A Film Analysis

1644 words - 7 pages ... Running head: REMEMBER THE TITANS: A FILM ANALYSIS 1 Remember the Titans: A Film Analysis Isela Esquivel Angelo State University REMEMBER THE TITANS: A FILM ANALYSIS 2  Remember the Titans: A Film Analysis There are those who would believe that racism is a thing of the past. Jim Crow laws and segregation are no longer in place, and ...