The Lottery And Hills Like White Elephants

When most people play the lottery today, they think about having wealth. Generally, people who win are happy about it whether they win one dollar or a million. The lottery in our society has grown to support education and it is often worth several million dollars. Usually, the winner of the lottery gains a lot of recognition for the money they win. But what would happen if there was a small town where people held a yearly lottery in which the “winner” was the member of the town who was not sacrificed? This question is answered in Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery.” In reading this story, and reading literary criticism about the story, there were many symbols and much symbolism in this story.

Hello, I’m Old Man Warner, the oldest man in the village and a staunch defender of the lottery tradition. I agree profusely with the town’s annual lottery superstition. There’s always been a lottery, and that’s how it should stay. I heard from Mr. Adams “that over in the north village they're talking of giving up the lottery” “Pack of crazy fools,” I added petulantly. “Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them.” (Page 30-31, Lines 192-197) I’m threatened by the idea of change. I believe that the people who want to stop holding lotteries will soon want to live in caves, as though only the lottery keeps society stable. I condemn those towns and young people in other villages who have stopped holding lotteries as “crazy fools,”

When many people think about a lottery, they think about the possibility of winning million dollar jackpots. Lottery ticket buyers hope that eventually one day, they will be the lucky winner to take home enough money to afford their greatest dreams and desires. In Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery,” the lottery that takes place drastically differs from the common win big lotteries of the modern day; rather, in this lottery, the citizens win big if they don’t get chosen for the lottery and get to keep their lives. Leaders of this village tell the citizens that they need to go through with this tradition In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” from 1948, she uses a Darwinism lens, criticism from current historical events, and literary elements such as foreshadowing and symbolism to show that human nature mindlessly follows tradition to be accepted in society and to survive.

In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, the small village, at first, seems to be lovely, full of tradition, with the townspeople fulfilling their civic duties, but instead this story is bursting with contrast. The expectations that the reader has are increasingly altered. The title of this short story raises hope, for in our society the term “lottery” typically is associated with winning money or other perceived “good” things. Most people associate winning a lottery with luck, yet Jackson twists this notion around and the luck in this village is with each of the losers.

The lottery is usually associated with beating the odds and winning something extravagant. In Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery”, the reader is led to believe the story is about something cheerful and happy given the setting of a warm summer day and children out of school for the summer. Jackson turns winning the lottery into a bad thing. Of 300 villagers Tessie Hutchinson shows up late, claiming she forgot about the annual lottery drawing, but seems very excited to have made it on time. When Tessie was in no danger she is gossiping with neighbors and encourages her husband to draw for the winner. Jackson curiously builds up the character of Tessie so that it seems she is blinded by tradition until she becomes a victim of it

    "The Lottery," a short story written by Shirley Jackson, is a tale about a disturbing social practice.  The setting takes place in a small village consisting of about three hundred denizens.  On June twenty-seventh of every year, the members of this traditional community hold a village-wide lottery in which everyone is expected to participate.  Throughout the story, the reader gets an odd feeling regarding the residents and their annual practice.  Not until the end does he or she gets to know what the lottery is about.  Thus, from the beginning of the story until almost the end, there is an overwhelming sense that something terrible is about to happen due to the Jackson's effective

Both these short stories seem to fall in a similar comparison which is conflict between individual and the community. The narrator in “A Rose for Emily” gives away that Emily is stubborn; she doesn’t care at what anyone says of her. But in this short story it’s not only one conflict, its several conflicts we notice. One was Emily’s father; she didn’t want to let his body go because he was her only life especially since he was controlled. Another conflict was the community and Emily. People that lived in that town would always say rumors, and basically won’t help her they would just sit back and wait. Then we have Emily and Homer Baron, Emily was lonely, and Homer seemed to be the only person that was someone she loved. Even if it didn’t turn out the way she hoped, she knew just having his presence there was enough. So this shows Emily had conflicts with reality, present and past, and being lonely.

“The Lottery” is a short story in which the small townspeople gather each year, on June 27th at 10:00 in the morning to perform a practice that has occurred for many years. The people who gather in the square almost seem to have a cheerful disposition while they go through the motions of

Members of the village view the lottery largely as the status quo and are blind to its ability to maim society. This oblivion is generated by one thing only: tradition. Because the lottery has been held since the village’s birth, citizens are impaired, powerless to imagine life without it, and therefore fear change and

The short story “The Lottery” by Jackson about a small village having a tradition which seems normal. Tradition is something that respectable, but in “The Lottery”, it appears to be inhumanity. No one seems to know how it started, but they accept it like a part of the town. Every year, a head of household is drawn from the box, and family members are chosen to win the lottery. At the beginning, I thought lottery means something like a reward, and the winner must very lucky.

Shirley Jackson?s insights and observations about society are reflected in her shocking and disturbing short story The Lottery. Jackson reveals two general attitudes in this story: first is the shocking tendency for societies to select a scapegoat and second is the idea that communities are victims of social tradition and rituals.

In today’s society we perceive the lottery as being a great fortune brought down upon you by Lady Luck. It is a serendipitous event, even if the person has done nothing to earn it. One would never see the lottery as an unfortunate occasion that occurred in your life because it is supposed to bring prosperity into your life. Also, one would not dare to think that winning the lottery would bring such repercussions as injury or death. In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the author could have used Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson as the town’s scapegoat due to their reluctance to change traditions, her horrible work ethic, and minority status as a woman.

“The Lottery” a short story by Shirley Jackson, features a small town during the time of their lottery. The lottery is an annual event, organized by Mr. Summers. It is a highly important time, as the whole town comes to the town square on the day of the lottery. The guidelines are quite simple: everyone takes a slip of paper out of the symbolic black box, and the slip of paper with the black mark carved on it, is the “lucky winner”. But their definition of the lottery is different一usually, a lottery is a valuable thing to win. But when Tessie Hutchinson, the “lucky winner” gets her reward by getting stoned to death by the rest of the villagers, it is clear that winning this lottery can't be a good affair... So what is the purpose of this lottery? Rather than discontinuing the lottery, the town continues with it because they don't want to upset an old tradition.

Regardless of the type of society people live in controversial topics and cowardly individuals can create conflict. The stories “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway implement this concept. “The Lottery” is about a small town that holds an annual lottery in which the winner will be killed. “Hills like White Elephants” is the story of a couple’s discussion over the decision they must make of whether or not to terminate their pregnancy. The social controversies and the weak female characters in these stories are similar, although their social structure is very different.

The Lottery begins like any other day. Clear and sunny skies, flowers blossoming, and green grass. Seemingly nothing out of the ordinary. Then people begin to gather in the town square. What is this lottery that is taking place? Do the people of the town agree with it? These questions can only be answered by exploring the minds of the people in the town.