The Lottery
Shirley Jackson
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson definitely proved to be an ironic story. As I read The Lottery, I was anticipating the actual lottery itself to be something that everyone looked forward. However, everyone is just extremely anxious for the results of the lottery because no one particularly would like to win. Earlier in the story, the lottery was associated with other joyful happenings in the town. "The lottery-was conducted-as were the square dances, the teenage club, the Halloween program..."(Jackson, 264). The fact that the lottery was placed in the same sentence as square dancing made me think that the lottery was something happy that went on each year. Thinking that the lottery was a joyful event would an example of situational irony. Typically, I associate the lottery with winning something. However, in this story, winning the lottery means winning an sooner-than-anticiapted death sentence. Dying is ironically placed on the same level as winning a lottery, which I felt to be a little bit twisted. I was surprised by the ending, but the ending itself was not particularly happy by any means.
No comments:
Post a Comment