Irony In Shirley Jacksons The Lottery - 863 Words

Caleigh Bishop English 101 October 10, 2017 Formal Essay I The Many Instances of Irony in â€Å"The Lottery† In Shirley Jackson’s short story â€Å"The Lottery,† she uses many examples of irony. Irony is the use of words that are the opposite of their usual meaning or what is expected to happen. The use of irony plays an important role in delivering Jackson’s sarcasm. The author holds our attention all throughout the story and builds our suspense by using irony with the characters and events that take place. Some instances of irony that she uses during the story to hold our attention are: The title, the weather, the stones, the lunch and even some of the characters. The very first use of irony starts with the title â€Å"The Lottery.† When the†¦show more content†¦73) The villagers act as if the lottery is something that happens every day. They finish with the lottery and then continue doing their daily chores. They act like nothing can stop them from doing their daily activities. Not even murderin g somebody! Some of the villagers want to hurry up and finish the lottery so that they can go home and eat lunch. They pay no mind that they are eating lunch with blood on their hands. The sentence â€Å"Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones.† (par. 74) shows that the villagers didn’t care about the box or the ritual, but they did care about the tool that would be used to kill somebody. The author is trying to tell that the villagers didn’t find pleasure in the ritual, but they did find pleasure in using the rock. Although the villagers find the ritual to be long and boring, they find pleasure in using the rocks to murder one of their family members or friends. The villagers find pleasure to be more important than the ritual itself. Mrs. Hutchinson is washing dishes whenever she realizes what day and time it is. After she realizes what day it is, she hurriedly runs to where the ritual is taking place. As she is on her way to the ritual she doesn’t stop to dry her hands, and this suggest that she’s in a huge rush. Why is she in such a hurry to get to a place where such a horrible thing is fixing to happen? Once she arrives at the ritual she is chattingShow MoreRelatedCreative Use of Symbolism and Irony in Shirley Jacksons The Lottery576 Words   |  3 PagesA lottery has always provided a sense of hope and adventure to people, but the lottery takes on an entirely different significance in Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery†. The story takes place in a village of roughly three hundred people. Everyone in the village gathers at the center to take part. One representative from each family comes up, to take a piece of paper from an old, black, wooden box. The Hutchinson family has the black dot; each family Hutchinson member then comes up to pick another pieceRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson931 Words   |  4 PagesIn 1948 Shirle y Jackson composed the controversial short story â€Å"The Lottery.† Generally speaking, a title such as â€Å"The Lottery† is usually affiliated with an optimistic outlook. However, Jackson’s approach is quite unorthodox and will surely leave readers contemplating the intent of her content. The story exposes a crude, senseless lottery system in which random villagers are murdered amongst their peers. Essentially, the lottery system counteracts as a form of population control, but negatives easilyRead MoreAnalysis Of Shirley Jacksons The Lottery954 Words   |  4 Pagesthe authors message. 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