- Consider the symbolism of the names in the story, such as Mr. Summers, Mr. Graves, Old Man Warner, Tessie Hutchinson. Why did Shirley Jackson name her characters as such?
- Does it freak you out at all that the setting of this story seems to be any-small-town-USA? If so, what makes the setting so creepy?
- In my opinion, both tone and mood are essential to convey Jackson's message. Do you agree? In an effort to review literary terminology and prepare for the AP exam, you may wish to define these elements of literature and explain how you view both throughout "The Lottery."
Feel free to discuss any of the questions listed here, or you may post your own idea relating to the story.
14 Comments
Cole Snyder
10/1/2014 11:48:07 am
I think the names of the characters symbolize both personalities of the people, and the plot. It's almost like it's foreshadowing that Mr. Grave's last name has to do with impending death. On the other hand (I think Hank said this morning) Mr. Summer's last name reminds us of calmness, life, and playfulness. Old Man Warner is another character with a significant last name. A Warner is someone who warns; Old Man Warner is the elder man of the village who is very sought on the traditional ways. He warns the village not to quit the lottery or bad things will happen (Loss of crops, bad luck, ect.)
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Faith Anderson
10/2/2014 01:29:57 am
The tone of "The Lottery" is crucial in conveying how the townspeople feel about the event. The atmosphere surrounding the lottery seems sort of casual, but there is still a suspenseful feeling in the air. The description of the day is misleading; the "clear and sunny" day sets the mood as light and carefree. All of the townspeople gather together and act like the gathering is joyful, like a town dance. But underneath the attitude of festivity, there is tension. Some townspeople try to keep their distance from the black box when it is brought out. They act calm, but there is a falseness to their nonchalance. The tone of anxiousness is evident to the reader, and this foreshadows the ending of "The Lottery." The suspense and tension is tangible to the reader; it makes the story's message clear and pronounced.
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Cassie Quinn
10/3/2014 03:19:23 am
The idea of "The Lottery" taking place in small-town-USA is extremely morbid. Small towns are known for their intimacy, especially for the knowledge everyone has of others lives. Taking that intimacy and putting it into such a disturbing, nonchalant ritual makes it all the more shocking. It would be assumed that, with such a small town, some sort of remorse would come through and humanity would take over for an acquaintance.
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Remington Schneider
10/22/2014 05:55:01 am
Not only does it make it more disturbing and more shocking, it brings the point of the story out more too. One of the themes of this story was to not blindly follow traditions and by making the setting in a small town, where you would expect a tight-knit community, there is also irony in the story. I feel that the irony is used to make the point of the story stronger.
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Alison Von Haden
10/5/2014 03:07:08 am
The tone of "The Lottery" makes a distinctive shift of the mood of the story. It starts out with having a peaceful, happy, cheery kind of setting, "The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with a fresh warmth of a full summer day" (Jackson 1). When the town people gather in the center of the village, they are making the reader believe that they are there for a town meeting. As the black box is brought out there is a sudden shift in the tone. Everyone is worried and nervous of the black box, giving the reader a hint that it creates something bad. When the towns people discover that Tessie is the "chosen one" to get stoned to death, the tone is frightening and a little disturbing. The shift in the tone helps the reader get clued in and interested in the story.
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Natalie Carlberg
10/7/2014 10:37:37 am
I think that all of Shirley Jackson's characters are all symbols. Mr. Graves helps throughout "The Lottery". He helps conduct it by helping little Dave draw the slip of paper and open his paper. Mr. Graves helps to put somebody into their grave. Mr. Summers is the towns' leader in some activities and he conducts this even on June 27th, during the summer. Old Man Warner is a symbol for tradition because he has been around so long he wants to make sure that his town keeps the lottery because if you do not have the lottery then you will have bad corn. Old Man Warner thinks that other towns that have gotten rid of the lottery are stupid. Old Man Warner could also be a symbol of time because the black box is really old so the lottery most have started even before Old Man Warner was born, which can help to show how long the lottery has been going on for. Old Man Warner also "warns" the town about how if they do stop the lottery they will have bad corn. He also tells talks about how things used to be different in the past and how things have changed with the way children are brought up and how things like that will put an end to the lottery. Old Man Warner feels that it is his responsibility to warn the town of what will happen if they stop the lottery. Tessie Hutchinson as we talked a little in class is compared to Anne Hutchinson because they were both in positions which they did not want to be in and nobody stood up for them. They both tried fighting what they were receiving but nobody defended them and they both ended up being slaughtered. I think that Shirley Jackson uses Hutchinson for the name because she is using foreshadowing because of what happened to Anne Hutchinson the readers could make a comparison that the outcome for Tessie's life will not be very good either. I think that most of the names throughout the story have different meanings behind them and Jackson did this to show how the town has a handful of really important members in their small town.
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Pearl Davis
10/8/2014 11:00:27 am
The tone of "The Lottery" is very important to how the story is interpreted. A majority of the story keeps a light-hearted almost joyful mood, making the event to come seem like a happy event for the townspeople. As the story progresses, the story lacks just enough passion in its description to make the actions and words of the characters all the more shocking. Towards the end of the story, when looking back on the tone that dominated the beginning makes the event seem all the more morbid and unreal. By keeping the easy-going attitude, it helps to illuminate real-world desensitization. Without making use of the joyful mood early in the story, the end would have been nowhere near as shocking and powerful.
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Faith Anderson
10/20/2014 12:22:22 am
Although I agree with you that there is initially a "happy" tone to the story, I don't think it is as "joyful" as you describe. Even though the townspeople act very nonchalant about the event, there is still enough foreshadowing that makes it seem apprehensive and creepy. It is sort of predictable that something bad is going to happen. Not all of the townspeople act happy about the lottery; some are scared to pick their piece of paper. This foreshadowing doesn't make the tone of "The Lottery" completely "joyful."
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Sara King
10/14/2014 01:13:31 am
The fact that this story could be taking place in any small town in the USA is a little horrifying. Shirley Jackson did this to make the story all the more shocking and relatable to the reader. Jackson makes it a point to create a sense of familiar atmosphere to the reader to make it seem more realistic: this is what makes the story 'creepy'. The fact that this annual human stoning takes place in such a relatable small town in the USA makes the reader despair the outcome of prolong tradition. Human stoning in the story is a tradition and nobody quite knows why it happens; they just accept it even though it is wrong. This is what makes "The Lottery" so disturbing.
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Tyler Ellefson
10/20/2014 05:26:53 am
I completely agree, the setting is a crucial role in the story. The small town aspect of "The Lottery" really justifies how the story could perhaps actually occur in a not so distant future. Everyone in the town just goes along with the ordeal and no one speaks up because its just what happens there as tradition. Had the story occurred in a larger town, perhaps someone would have stood up to the lottery.
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elizabeth
10/21/2014 01:20:52 am
I agree that setting is important, but in different ways. I definitely agree that it's meant to show how shocking and inhumane their practice was. By setting up the scene with normal, ordinary characters such as farmers coming in from the fields and women in their housedresses and aprons, it sets a calming effect that is brutally disrupted later. The abrupt and disturbing event becomes more so since it follows what seems to be an ordinary day in an ordinary town with ordinary people. This story would have been incredibly different if in a large city, but I don't think the events would have changed. This is a long-standing tradition across their nation. Many towns do this and continue to value the tradition without hardly anyone speaking up, so I doubt a larger population would have affected its continuation like Tyler thought. The small town setting is meant to show the unusualness of this custom, not how its dated and unique to rural areas.
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Natalie Carlberg
10/14/2014 04:24:20 am
I definitely agree with Sara about how the small town and what takes place is disturbing. I think that Shirley Jackson also did this to show her readers, look what can actually happen in a small town. Most of the time when you think of small towns they seem like everybody gets along really well and there are never any problems or anything that arises. I think that Shirley Jackson does this to open people's eyes and make them realize that bad things can happen in small towns. This also reminded me of "Once Upon a Time" because Nadine Gordimer writes about bedtime stories and she writes such a terrible bedtime story maybe because she wants people to realize that bad things can happen from bedtime stories. You tell your children a story and they want to be the prince in the shining armor and then they end up dying because of it. I think that these two stories are similar in the reason of why the authors wrote the stories, because they wanted people to realize the bad side of what can actually happen instead of always seeing the good in everything.
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Hank Larson
10/19/2014 11:24:15 am
I believe Shirley Jackson named her characters in a specific way to symbolize the plot of the story, along with symbolizing each person specifically. Starting with Mr. Summers, this name implies and give the allusion to a bright, upbeat, happy person because of summer. Most think of summer a happy time with warmth and sunshine. In "The Lottery" Mr. Summers does have a more cheerful outlook on the lottery and seems to try and make light of the whole situation. The reader would never guess the lottery has to do with killing by the way he talks about it and conducts the ceremony. Old Man Warner's name tell us he has been around awhile and as the story goes on, we learn he has made it through many, many lotteries. He has worn on through the years, never being picked for the lottery. He symbolizes the history and tradition of the lottery. He makes sure the lottery is kept around and the tradition of it is never broken. Mr. Graves name symbolizes the ending that comes of the lottery, the death, the stoning, of an individual. When we hear of a grave ending, we think of an impending doom. Towards the end of the story we learn what this grave ending means, in the literal sense the ending of the lottery is putting a person in their grave. Shirley Jackson uses the names of characters wisely in helping her create and tell the story. Telling parts of the story through just the names of the characters.
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Nate Day
10/21/2014 05:45:18 am
The setting in "The Lottery" certainly is creepy because Jackson does a good job of describing what a small town is like. The way everyone in the story jovially converse serves as irony to the ending but it also conveys an aspect of small town life-- that everyone knows each other. Jackson also writes of children playing in the grass as the adults gather and gossip/talk with each other. This part of the story reminded me of Spring Valley's Dam Days which created some creepiness and a lot of contrast because of the ending.
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