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Elements of Fiction

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Elements of Fiction

In the story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, the characterization is most found in three different characters. The first one is Tessie Hutchinson. She arrives late to the lottery, admitting that she forgot what day it was, she immediately stands out from the other villagers as someone different and perhaps even threatening. Whereas the other women arrive at the square calmly, chatting with one another and then standing peacefully by their husbands. Tessie arrives flustered and out of breath. The crowd must part for her to reach her family, and she and her husband endure good-natured teasing as she makes her way to them. Although Tessie quickly settles into the crowd and joins the lottery like everyone else, Jackson has set her apart as a kind of free spirit who was able to forget about the lottery entirely as she performed her chores. The other two characters are Old Man Warner, for his being the oldest and perhaps wisest to the lottery, and Mr. Summers for his frighteningly amount of power. The point of view in The Lottery uses the third person dramatic point of view to tell a story about an un-named village that celebrates a wicked annual event. The use of the third-person point of view, is an effective way of telling this ironic tale, both because the narrator’s reporter-like blandness parallels the villagers apparent apathy to the lottery, and because it helps build to the surprise ending by giving away bits of information to the reader through the actions and discussions of the villagers without giving away the final twist. There are five major themes in The Lottery. The first is the reluctance of people to reject outdated traditions, ideas, rules, laws, and practices. The second is society wrongfully designates scapegoats to bear the sins of the community. The third is the wickedness of ordinary people can be just as horrifying as the heinous crime of a serial killer or a sadistic head of state. The fourth is the unexamined life is not worth living. The fifth is following the crowd can have disastrous consequences. The setting of the story takes place in the morning of June 27th, a clear and sunny day between 10 a.m. and noon. The flowers were blooming and grass was richly green. There is a small village with about three hundred people. The style of The Lottery would be setting, narration, symbolism, irony, parable, and Gothicism.

Article Myriad. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.articlemyriad.com/analysis-lottery-shirley-jackson/

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