The Lottery

Potential thesis statements for analytical perspectives on "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson could include: examining the story's critique of blind tradition, exploring the use of symbolism to...

The lottery in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" serves as a ritualistic tradition meant to ensure a bountiful harvest. Its significance lies in its critique of blind adherence to tradition, as the...

The village continues to participate in the lottery primarily out of tradition and an unexamined adherence to the past. Despite losing the original paraphernalia and forgetting parts of the ritual,...

In "The Lottery," the term "tradition" in paragraph 5 represents the status quo or the way things have always been done, reflecting the villagers' reluctance to change. Despite the black box being...

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson provides several indications of the lottery's long history. The black box used for drawing names predates the oldest man in town, and the names of townsfolk used to...

The part of the story "The Lottery" that foreshadows the essential nature of the lottery is when Mr. Martin and his son hesitate before choosing a slip of paper from the ominous black box. This...

Most of the “civic activities” in the village are carried out by Mr. Summers because he alone has the time and energy to dedicate to those kinds of activities. On this occasion, Mr. Summers and Mr....

Conformity plays a huge role in this story. The people in the village blindly follow the customs of the ritual, for the most part, without question. The black box that is used to draw the names is...

The square is between the post office and the bank. There is no obvious symbolism of these buildings. Mr. Graves is the postmaster and therefore linked to the post office; his name "Graves" is...

The citizens of the town assemble "in the square, between the post office and the bank" for the lottery each summer. Mr. Summers, who runs a coal business in the village, handles the important...

Shirley Jackson's short story draws to mind the horrible feeling of waiting for your fate to be determined. The story's characters have to endure this, and then partake in the barbaric ritual of...

There are many examples of the town's unwillingness to change.  During the lottery itself, Mr. Adams makes the comment that some towns have given up the lottery.  The oldest member of the...

Part of the beauty in Jackson's short story is that she does not give any direct reason as to why the ritual takes place. If she did, then it would contextualize the story. It would remove its...

The box is an interesting part of this story, and the town's treatment of it is equally interesting.  I would say that in general, the people treat the black box with a mixture of wary respect...

In "The Lottery," the setting of a seemingly idyllic village contrasts with the violent ritual, highlighting the theme of the danger in blindly following tradition. Characters, from the unsuspecting...

In some ways, it does seem that Jackson is trivializing the lottery.  There are two points where this becomes clear.  First, no one really knows why there is a lottery.  If the...

In Shirley Jackson's celebrated short story "The Lottery," the nondescript town continues to follow the senseless, brutal tradition of the lottery. They violently stone an innocent citizen every...

The two primary tools used in the lottery are the stones and the black box. Add the pencil and paper and this is the extent of tools used in the lottery. Therefore, the most technologically...

In paragraph five, we learn that the "original paraphernalia" of the lottery was lost a long time ago. The black box now in use was built even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in the village,...

The townspeople of the novel are convinced that the lottery is necessary for good luck, although they have no evidence to support this belief. They are convinced by the tradition and believe that it...

Ominous signs in "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson appear early in the story through the seemingly normal yet unsettling details. The gathering of stones by children, the nervousness of the...

In "The Lottery," Shirley Jackson writes in the voice of an objective and dispassionate third-person narrator. The narrator presents the events of the story in a matter-of-fact way, which makes the...

The most interesting thing about the story is that the villagers keep up the tradition of stoning someone once a year, but they do not actually know why they should continue this savage and cruel...

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" explores several themes, but one of the most basic ideas it explores is the idea of tradition and what it means to follow a tradition for which the origins are...

Hints and suspicions about the ending of "The Lottery" include the villagers' nervous behavior, the children's gathering of stones, and the adults' apprehensive conversations. These elements create...

In "The Lottery," universal symbols include the black box, representing tradition and the unwillingness to change, and the stones, symbolizing violence and the collective execution of societal norms....

Shirley Jackson's very controversial story is considered by many to be a parable about the detached inhumanity of man to man. Indeed, this detachment in cruelty is most relevant today as the...

The Martins are the town grocers.  While everyone else avoids the lottery, they seem to want to be involved in it.  They even keep the box in their store sometimes.  This...

Shirley Jackson's unsettling short story "The Lottery" tells of an act of human sacrifice committed in twentieth-century America. Much emphasis is given to the bucolic setting of the sacrifice,...

After the lottery has begun and people are talking amongst themselves as the initial phases progress, Old Man Warner expresses his irritation with those who have considered doing away with the...

In Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," the scapegoat concept is crucial as it allows the villagers to channel their blame and violence without guilt. This ancient ritual, akin to the biblical scapegoat,...

In Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," mob mentality is central to the story, illustrating how individuals blindly follow tradition without questioning its morality. The villagers in the story...

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson employs a tone that transitions from serene to horrific, illustrating the story's shocking conclusion. Initially, the narrative's calm and idyllic setting misleads...

In Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," the black box is a powerful symbol of tradition, death, and the villagers' reluctance to change. Its decrepit state reflects the outdated and destructive nature of...

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is structured into three main parts: exposition, climax, and resolution. The exposition introduces the setting and the annual ritual, hinting at its deep-rooted...

In "The Lottery," Shirley Jackson extensively describes the black box to symbolize the village's blind adherence to tradition. The box, old and shabby, represents the lottery itself—a ritual no...

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" critiques the dangers of blindly following tradition. The story reveals how rituals, like the annual lottery, become ingrained despite their senseless brutality, as...

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," written in 1948, reflects the post-World War II era's social tensions, such as the rise of Communism and the Red Scare, drawing parallels to the Holocaust and...

In Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," the climax occurs when Tessie Hutchinson is selected as the "winner" of the lottery, revealing the true nature of this ritual as a human sacrifice. The falling...