THE LOTTERY by Shirley Jackson

1. THE LOTTERY by Shirley Jackson Unit 2 English 3

2. Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) • Born in 1916 in San Francisco. • She attended: • The University of Rochester and then • Syracuse University, where she became fiction editor of the campus humor magazine.  • She who wrote six novels, two memoirs, and over 200 short stories. Unit 2 English 3

3. Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) • The University of Rochester and then • She dropped out of college in her sophomore year. • She would have been part of the class of 1938. • According to a biography about the author:“Dropped out” isn’t exactly the right term—her grades were so bad that year that at the end of it she was asked to leave. Unit 2 English 3

4. Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) • In her biography of Jackson, Ruth Franklin notes that • the writer later commented that she had been kicked out “because I refused to go to any classes because I hated them.” • She spent the next year writing, forcing herself to produce at least a thousand words a day, and when she applied to Syracuse University she did so with the goal of making writing her career. Unit 2 English 3

5. Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) • After graduating in 1940, Jackson moved to New York City (Greenwich Village) and she began to write professionally. • In 1944, she and her husband moved to Vermont. • in 1948, her first novel, The Road Through The Wall, was published.  Unit 2 English 3

6. Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) • As a side note: • Ms. Jackson did spend some time in a mental hospital. • She had a troubled relationships with her mother and with her husband. Unit 2 English 3

7. Shirley Jackson • Her works appeared in: • The New Yorker,  • Redbook, • The Saturday Evening Post  • The Ladies' Home Journal. • Her most famous work is the short story "The Lottery," it was published in ‘The New Yorker’. • In 1949, she relocated to Westport, Connecticut. • In 1959 her novel, The Haunting of Hill House, was published and is considered one of the best haunted house stories to ever be written. , Unit 2 English 3

8. Shirley Jackson • **The tone of most of her works is odd and macabre, with an impending sense of doom, often framed by very ordinary settings and characters. • She was the mother of four children. • She was a reclusive woman, for the last few years of her life she was reluctant to discuss her work with the public. • She died of heart failure in 1965 at age 48. Unit 2 English 3

9. “The Lottery” Vocabulary large amounts; to a great degree freedom • Profusely • Liberty • Boisterous • Reprimands • Scold • Jovial rowdy, loud Scold; rebuke nagging woman; a person who is constantly scolding or reprimanding with loud and abusive speech Jolly; joyful Unit 2 English 3

10. “The Lottery” Vocabulary personal belongings, items associated with a specific activity performed merely as a routine duty • Paraphernalia • Perfunctory • Preceded • Shabbier • Lapse Come before something in time fallen into disrepair hiatus; break; interval or passage of time Unit 2 English 3

11. “The Lottery” Vocabulary seriously To free from attachment • Soberly • Disengaged • interminably • Petulantly • Stoutly • Daintily • defiantly unending With unreasonable irritation Bulky in figure; overweight delicately, in a lady-like fashion boldly resistant or challenging Unit 2 English 3

12. “The Lottery” Vocabulary With excessive speed or urgency • Hastily • Gravely Serious or solemn manner Unit 2 English 3

13. Public Reaction to the1948 the New Yorker magazineShort Story of“The Lottery” • The short story is said to have generated more negative letters from readers than any other story previously published by the magazine. • Many cancelled their subscriptions to the magazine Unit 2 English 3

14. Public Reaction to the1948 the New Yorker magazineShort Story of“The Lottery” • Readers were offended by the work and its suggestion that evil could be so easily and commonly carried out. • They felt the ending was a pointless, arbitrary, and violent sacrifice. Unit 2 English 3

15. Public Reaction to the1948 the New Yorker magazineShort Story of“The Lottery” • A few readers actually called the magazine to see where the town was so that they could go and watch the lottery. • Shirley Jackson received over 300 letters that summer alone—”I can count only thirteen that spoke kindly to me. Unit 2 English 3

16. Shirley Jackson’sParents’ Reactions1948 the New Yorker magazineShort Story of“The Lottery” • Even my own mother scolded me: ‘Dad and I did not care at all for your story…it does seem, dear, that this gloomy kind of story is what all you young people think about these days. • Why don’t you write something to cheer people up?’” Unit 2 English 3

17. Shirley Jackson’s Reactionsto the Public’s reaction of The“The Lottery” • Generally, Ms. Jackson refused to explain the meaning of the story. • She did once tell a journalist: “I suppose I hoped, by setting a particularly brutal rite in the present and in my own village, to shock the readers with a graphic demonstration of the pointless violence and general inhumanity of their own lives [but] I gather that in some cases the mind just rebels. • The number of people who expected Mrs. Hutchinson to win a Bendix washer at the end would amaze you.” Unit 2 English 3

18. Meaning Behind The Plot • In ancient Athens, Greece, Athenians believed that human sacrifice promised fertile crops. • By transferring one's sins to persons or animals and then sacrificing them, people believed that their sins would be eliminated, a process that has been termed "scapegoat" • A similar ritual sacrifice occurs with Tessie Hutchinson. and the statement in the story: “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.” Unit 2 English 3

19. Historical Context • “The Lottery” was written in 1948. Ms. Jackson’s writing was influenced by world events and culture. She was possibly influenced by the • Depression, • the Holocaust, • WWII, and • the McCarthy Era. Unit 2 English 3

20. Historical Context • By 1943 news of the Nazi concentration camps had finally reached America. • A number of Americans responded with horror and concern that communities could have stood by and silently allowed the Holocaust to occur. • Ms. Jackson hints at a similar situation in her story when the townspeople are unable to fully question or prevent the brutal lottery practice, and in fact, participate in it. Unit 2 English 3

21. Historical Context • Conformity was the norm post WWII; Americans tended to imitate those around them rather than follow their own separate paths. • The media (especially TV) helped to spread conformity throughout the US. • In politics, people feared the spread of Communism, leading to the Un-American Activities Committee, the Hollywood blacklist, and by 1950, McCarthy’s Communist “witch hunt” • In the story, the townspeople are swept away by the tide of conformity, and the lottery goes ahead as always. Unit 2 English 3

22. Foreshadowing • Foreshadowing is a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, or a chapter, and it helps the reader develop expectations about the upcoming events. • Bobby Martin stuffing his pockets with stones and the other boys followed him. • Bobby, Harry Jones Dickie Delacrois- made a great pile of stones in the square and guarded it against raids • Villagers kept their distance from the stool. Unit 2 English 3

23. Foreshadowing • Mr. Summers asked for help to steady the box. • There was hesitation (fear) about the box. • There was a great deal of fussing to be done before Mr. Summers declared the lottery Open. • Demonstrating that the lottery was a ritual. • Foreshadowing is a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, or a chapter, and it helps the reader develop expectations about the upcoming events. Unit 2 English 3

24. Foreshadowing • “Some places have already quit lotteries.” Mrs. Adams said.” • Appears to be controversy, that lottery was discontinued. • The people had done it so many times that they only half listened to the instructions… • Some were wetting their lips (Anticipation/Nervousness) • Foreshadowing is a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, or a chapter, and it helps the reader develop expectations about the upcoming events. Unit 2 English 3

25. Allusion (Biblical) • An Allusion is a figure of speech, in which one refers indirectly to a place, event, an object. Circumstance or literary work by was of an external reference. • It is left to the audience to make the connection; where the connection is directly and explicitly stated (as opposed to indirectly implied) by the author, an allusion is instead usually termed as a reference. • “The Lottery” alludes to the Biblical story in which Jesus frees an adulterous woman, directing who is without sin to cast the first stone. No one throws stones at her. • In “The Lottery” no one stops the stoning and Tessie becomes their scapegoat; she pays for their sins. Unit 2 English 3

26. Ritual without meaning • Because there has "always been a lottery“, the villagers feel compelled to continue this horrifying tradition. • They focus on its gruesome nature, for they "still remembered to use stones" even after they have "forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box“. • The story may be saying that society tends toward violence instead of society's need for civilized traditions. Unit 2 English 3

27. Mrs. Hutchinson’s death is a mob action, if it was an individual act it would be called murder. • As a group act it is called a "ritual." • When Mrs. Hutchinson arrives at the ceremony late, she chats sociably with Mrs. Delacroix. But after Mrs. Hutchinson falls victim to the lottery selection, Mrs. Delacroix chooses a "stone so large" that she must pick it up with both hands. • On the individual level, the two women regard each other as friends, but on the group level, they betray that relationship, satisfying the mob mentality. Mob Violence Unit 2 English 3

28. Color Symbolism Black: The color for death, mourning, punishment The black box used to draw lots and the slip of paper with a black mark pointing out the 'winner' are mentioned too frequently to be coincidental. Unit 2 English 3

29. Shape/Color Symbolism Black Box– The box is old; the paint is peeling, and the wood is splintered. This condition reflects the fading of the tradition in other villages as well as the villager's questioning of the lottery in this village. However, they will not replace the box, just like they will not stop the lottery Black box:Coffin? Evil secret hidden away?Black spot on paper: Sin? A “black mark” on one’s record is negative; black mark: unclean? Unit 2 English 3

30. Setting symbolism • The Lottery Itself: • Symbolizes any number of social problems that we blindly continue even though they are outdated • The setting: • No specific name/place indicates this is any town, USA; the contrast of the town with the ritual helps build suspense Unit 2 English 3

31. Name symbolism • Summers:the season of summer is associated with youth, strength, growth, prime of life, warmth, leisure, prosperity, happiness, blooming, blossoming • Graves : the obvious grave = place of entombment/death • Grave = serious; hints that the lottery may not be a frivolous contest (“Mr. Graves said gravely”) • Critics have said:Ms. Jackson creates balance by having Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves share in the responsibilities of the ritual: Life brings death, and death recycles life. Unit 2 English 3

32. Parable • Many believe “The Lottery” to be a modern-day parable—a story that presents a moral lesson through characters who represent ideas. • The focus in a parable is not to develop character or other typical plot elements. • You’re not told the lesson in a parable—you are to figure out what the lesson is. Parable= a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels. Unit 2 English 3

33. THEMES • Horrifying acts of violence can take place anywhere at anytime, and they can be committed by the most ordinary people. • Following the crowd can have disastrous consequences. • The unexamined life is not worth living. • THEME = means an underlying message or in other words a big idea. For example: Love and Friendship Unit 2 English 3

34. THEMES • Acts of violence, hatred, murder are not acceptable just because many people participate • Society is reluctant to reject outdated traditions, ideas, rules, laws, and practices. • People are not all good or all evil but a mixture of both. • Other ideas/themes can be applied to “The Lottery” • THEME = means an underlying message or in other words a big idea. For example: Love and Friendship Unit 2 English 3

35. Irony • Irony (3 Types)= is the contrast between what is expected and what is real. • Situational Irony- When what happens is the opposite of what is expected. Most examples of irony in “The Lottery are this kind.” • Verbal Irony- A contrast between the intended meaning of what is spoken and what the apparent meaning is to the hearer. • Dramatic Irony- When the audience knows something a character does not. Unit 2 English 3

36. Irony • Situational Irony: • When what happens is the opposite of what is expected. Most examples of irony in “The Lottery are this kind.” • The story’s setting (June 27th ) typical a pleasant summer morning except people are gathering for an event that is anything but pleasant. • Situational • Situational • It is suppose to be a strict ritual, but overtime parts of the ritual have been altered or stopped Unit 2 English 3

37. Irony • Situational Irony: • When what happens is the opposite of what is expected. Most examples of irony in “The Lottery are this kind.” • Old Man Warner says how primitive it would be not have a lottery. “Next thing you know, they’ll be living in caves.” He says petulantly “There’s always been a lottery.” • Situational • Situational • Mrs. Hutchinson screams, “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right. And then they were upon her.” • **Actually, the lottery is perfectly fair. Each person, theoretically, has an equal chance of“winning.” Unit 2 English 3

38. Irony • Verbal Irony: A contrast between the intended meaning of what is spoken and what the apparent meaning is to the hearer. • Tessie Hutchinson shouted “Mr. Summer, you didn’t give him time enough to take any paper e wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair!” • Ironic, Tessie had just told Bill to hurry up and get the paper. Tessie’s viewpoint changes when it affects her family. • Verbal Unit 2 English 3