What is the thesis of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"?
Anyone can realize how ridiculous that is. All in all it makes sense though. The simple logic concludes it: the rich have less off need for the money than the poor. But what happens to the winners? With the extremely vast amounts of losers, every now and there comes the winner of the lottery. If someone were to go to the gas station and win the lottery after deciding to get a ticket, does it equal happiness? Sure at the time and place; anyone would be jumping with excitement and consider it a dream come true, but how does it affect inners in the long run?
Jackson’s message is this: think for yourself instead of blindly followingtradition. People are afraid to think about why the lottery is continued,perhaps because they fear what they will learn. Juxtaposing the neighboringtown, which considers breaking free of custom, with people like Old Man Warner,who fiercely adheres to ritual, highlights the ignorance of not thinking foroneself.
Jackson's "The Lottery" rose to prominence in the 1960s, when, in fact,there was a lottery to determine the order in which young men were drafted. Ifyou were a male born in a certain year and your birthday was the first numberpicked in the lottery, you were certain to be drafted; if, however, yourbirthday happened to be 300th date picked, it was unlikely you would be draftedthat year.
What is the central idea in "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson?
People gather on what seems to be an ordinary sunny day: the men discusscrops and taxes, the women gossip, and the children “broke into boisterousplay.” There is no indication that anything terrible is about to happen. Thelottery is an annual tradition, with specific rituals observed. It happens onJune 27, oversees it, a specific box is used to hold the slips ofpaper. The box is falling apart, but although people talk about replacing it,“no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the blackbox.” The town is heavily influenced by custom. No one evaluates the truepurpose and the effect of the lottery.
The question of whether it’s a curse or blessing never comes to mind due to the fact that its presumed to be one of the best things in the world (which in theory does, in fact, seem reasonable). To find out the truth, the only way possible is by asking the winners themselves. In an interview on CNN a woman explains her life story after the lottery and asked not to be identified. She was a mother who had 3 kids in a small apartment and was working four Jobs. After winning, she believed it like a fairy tale and was in shock of the ticket. $1. Million as slashed in taxes and the rest was hers, so she decided to cut work down to Just one Job. With the money she bought a new wardrobe and invested the remaining. Everything seemed fine and a pretty wise way to go about the money but that all ended when the phone calls came. The received calls consisted of people bringing up promises, marriage proposals, accusations, and even threats. Everyone she thought was close to her turned against her. People who used to volunteer to help her do things wanted money from her for their troubles. The concept of family was eliminated, and the element of greed took over.
I can't make your thesis statement for you but you might consider beginning with the Lottery as a modern parable on the duality of human nature.
Whatever your thesis is it needs to be something that can be argued. Wecan't really argue that mindless following of ritual can be harmful--that's acommon sense issue. What could be argued is something like "The mindlessfollowing of ritual in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is shocking, yes, but nomore so than the mindless rituals observed by modern society," or "The use of ascapegoat in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is appalling, but this is still atrend followed in our more modern society."
. (2023) 'Writing Prompts about The Lottery'. 18 July.
The thesis—or, more precisely, the theme—of "The Lottery" presents traditionas a destructive force in a community. In this story, the residents of a NewEngland village cling to a tradition of annual human sacrifice. At one time,presumably before the advent of modern science and presumably when life washarder for the new settlers, the villagers fell back on the superstitiousbelief that they would have a good harvest if they selected and stoned to deathone member of their community each June.
If I Won the Lottery - 539 Words | Free Essay Example on GraduateWay.
I think this story applies to life in the United States, 70 years after it was written, because of today’s controversial politics and republican platform. In the Lottery, Old man Warner – a survivor of many lotteries- bitterly [...]
essay examples: The Lottery Essay.
When Tessie Hutchinson's name is called, no one expresses any sympathy ortries to have her excused from the proceedings. Instead, the woman who has justfinished a friendly conversation with Tessie, , now tells her to"be a good sport, Tessie." Another woman, Mrs. Graves—the wife of thepostmaster, who helps with the procedure—says unsympathetically, "All of ustook the same chance. Even Tessie's husband scolds her, "shut up." Thiscomplicit behavior of the community with the proceedings of the lotterysuggests that no one empathizes with Tessie, nor does anyone demonstratesympathy for her plight and protest the violent death Tessie faces. Moreover,when the stoning begins, Mrs. Delacroix, who has been friendly with Tessie, hasa stone "so large she had to pick it up with both hands." She turns toanother woman, saying, "Come on. . . . Hurry up," apparently eager to inflictviolence on her neighbor.
What is a thesis statement for "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson?
One thesis statement for "The Lottery" could be a declarative sentence aboutthe atavistic propensity for violence that still lies in the nature ofman, along with a blind adherence to tradition, an adherence that Emersontermed "the opium of custom."
The Lottery Essay Example for Free - 766 Words | EssayPay.
Your thesis statement would depend upon and shape your focus; the two worktogether. You could write a good on the how custom/tradition shapessocial reality in "The Lottery." If so, a solid thesis statement would be"Traditions shape the social reality in 'The Lottery' even after the communityforgets the roots of those traditions."