Think about the exercise we did in class on Friday about paying attention to reoccuring images/symbols. I also asked that you think about the idea of "mob mentality" and what that means (think about "Blood-Burning Moon," the video "without Sanctuary" and "lynching in Tennessee")to individuals and society as a whole.
Choose 1 question to answer. Please make sure your response is at least a page and uses examples and your anaylsis to prove your thoughts.
1.) Discuss the degree to which the tradition of the lottery has been kept. why does no one want to make a new box? Why is the whole institution not abandoned?
2.)Does the rhyme "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon" adequately explain the institution of the lottery? What other reasons might people have for such behavior? What is the social function of a scapegoat?
3.) On your first reading, when did you begin to suspect what happens at the end of the story? How soon might it become evident? What are the most important hints?
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Janine Hull
ReplyDeleteThe lottery has been kept to tradition all these years, enough that the box is no longer black and you can see the wood because the wood is splintering all over. I think no one wanted to make a new box because this has been used so much over the years and is part of the tradition.It’s always hard to get rid of any tradition and having this black box is a huge part of the year in this town every year. The box and the lottery bring the town together for one day a year during the summer. Getting rid of the box would no longer keep the town together as a whole. I also think they don’t want to make a new one because they think the box they have now is good luck. With out it or with a different one the luck will no longer be there. I think part of keeping this lottery going for year after year is because people are hopeful there luck is going to change a different year. I think they also really enjoy it a lot even if it does cause problems, or gets boring after a while. In the text it says that they were half listening to the rules because they are the same every year so they were bored of it. Even when they decide to get rid of it they can’t seem to part because they are so used to the tradition it is hard to get rid of it. Even though they don’t use paper they decide to use stones instead. This is when it gets violent and the finally have a reality check and may want to think about getting rid of the famous tradition of the black box lottery.
do better
DeleteAnna DeFusco
ReplyDeleteIn Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” tradition is important to the town because every summer a village of people gathers for a ritual stoning of one selected member of the community. Jackson writes, “The lottery was conducted—as were the square dances, the teen-age club, the Halloween program—by Mr. Summers, who had time and energy to devote to civic activities”(Jackson, 587). The people in the town are eerily nonchalant about the whole idea. For example, “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones…”(Jackson, 587). The children did not show any sign of fear about the stoning which was about to occur. She goes on to describe the tradition of the town by writing, “The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box. There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the first people settled down to make a village here”(Jackson, 588). This can only be explained by understanding mob mentality. The people of the community do not realize their individual actions because everybody in the crowd is acting a certain way. The community refused to change the box because it symbolized the tradition of stoning. They could not comprehend life without their ceremony, per se. Jackson writes, “ ‘They do say,’ Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, ‘ that over in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery.’ Old Man Warner snorted. ‘Pack of crazy fools,’ he said. ‘Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them’” (Jackson, 590). Old Man Warner had a difficult time accepting progressivism because he spent seventy years doing the same tradition. It sounds insane to me that he would call the north village “crazy fools” when they are the village who are stoning innocent people to death. The individuals of the town refuse to embrace change and stop the lottery, and changing the box would only threaten their tradition.
Aaron Mathieu
ReplyDeleteIn the story “The Lottery” the degree of tradition has been kept at such a high level that no one wants to stop doing the lottery or even create a new box, the same box which has been used for many, many years. “the black box now resting on the stool had been put to use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born.” That statement alone tells you the degree of tradition the people in the town have for the black box and the lottery. When it comes to changing the box no one wants to do the honor for the simple fact that no one wanted to upset or interfere with the tradition of the lottery. “no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box”. The people of the town think that if they change the box that it could affect the outcome of the lottery and no one wants to be held responsible for that. The whole institution is not abandoned because the tradition of the lottery is simply too great to the people of the town. The people of the town cherish the lottery too much for people to just abandon it. As the years pass the people in the town seem to think that the lottery is getting played out more. “You didn’t give him enough time to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair”. This quote is the perfect example of how the lottery is falling apart in the town, one person can have an effect on everyone else in the town that enjoys the lottery and the box the way that it is and they want it to stay that way because everyone see’s it fair besides a couple family members.
Heather Feenan #3 -
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of the word “lottery” I think of winning a lot of money. So when I was reading this story that’s what I thought was going to happen. At the beginning the story is upbeat and there are no signs to what the lottery really is. The first event that foreshadows then end is at the very beginning when the children are collecting rocks. When I read this I though nothing of it, kids are just being kids and playing with rocks. Jackson, the author, makes this small town seem very normal and friendly. There is no sign of mob mentality at all, just an ordinary gathering of the town. I believe the next sign is the black box. Jackson uses the words paraphernalia and ritual, which made me a little uneasy but not overly suspicions. The lottery is a tradition that has been in the town for a very long time. The black box has been in the town “…even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born”(588). After rereading this story I can now see the hints that Jackson leaves for the reader that you don’t really see until the end. For example Mrs. Hutchinson was running late for the event she says she forgot what day it was. After she is done talking to Mrs. Delacroix “She tapped [her] on the arm as a farewell and began to make her way through the crowd”(589). People began to laugh at her for being late. When Bill Hutchinson, Mrs. Hutchinson’s husband, name is called she says to him “Get up there, Bill”(590). She is saying that to him because she wants him to pick a blank piece of paper. She doesn’t want to die, I don’t think anyone is this town does. I feel like she hates the lottery and not only because she ends up being the one they stone to death, but because of all the hints that are shown and her reaction. Her reaction to her husband being the one picked was when I first noticed something was wrong and I started to pick up on the hints that this lottery wasn’t a good thing. I was confused as to what was going on until I read “A stone hit the side of her head”(593). There was a few hints I missed at the very end “I hope it’s not Nancy”(592) a girl said. Nancy was the young daughter. “Mrs. Dunbar had small stones in both hands, and she said, gasping for breath, ‘I can’t run at all. You’ll have to go ahead and I’ll catch up with you’”(593). Mrs. Dunbar was Mrs. Hutchison’s friend and clearly couldn’t stop what was going to happen but she didn’t want to partake in it. “Old Man Warner was saying, ‘Come on, come on, everyone.” I believe Old Man Warner was a strong supporter of this tradition and really got the mob going.
When I first began reading this story I was so interested in what the lottery was. In my mind the lottery is something good, a prize or maybe money. I had a feeling that this wasnt the case though. When the children were gathering rocks I was confused. Why were they gathering all these rocks and bringing them into the middle of town. I thought perhaps the rocks went to the lottery winner. And they could build something with it. I wasnt sure but as the story went on it became more evident. It was surprising how involved the entire village was with this lottery. The whole village had shown up, and if someone hadn't shown up they waited for them. It seemed odd because I feel a lottery is something a person chooses to participate in. Not something that they should be held accountable for. I also got a feeling that the lottery was odd by the way people were treating it. It seemed to be a very serious thing. Everyone had an opinion about it and stuck to it. Also when people began to mention that other villages had done away with the lottery I began to think. Why would other villages get rid of their lottery? Things just don't end, there are reasons. So I began to think there must be reason to why people want to stop this lottery. Once I finally pulled it together I was still extremely confused. Why would people stone someone they knewn to death, especially for no valid reason beyond they picked the wrong ticket. This village seemed to be small so everyone must have known everyone. I couldnt imagine doing this to someone I had known personally. I would have left this village and never turn backed.
ReplyDelete-marty noenickx
Brendan Wixted
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started reading the story I thought it was just a lottery with a lot of money and that’s why everyone showed up and it was so popular. It also seemed like a fun event because all the kids were collecting rocks and pebbles; to me it seemed like a carnival. I knew it took place a long time ago because Mr. Summer was pulling names out of a black box that was older than the oldest man in the town. In the beginning when I was reading it, it came off as sketchy to me how Mr. Summer would try to talk to postpone the pulling of the names. It also struck me as strange when they talked so much about men doing everything. I think the part that made me think that the lottery was a bad thing was when Tessie said, “you didn’t give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair!”(Jackson 591). This really made me shocked and I thought why they did not want to win the lottery. After most of the events taking place in the story made sense to me. I just thought everyone was so nervous about getting their papers because they wanted to win so badly. If they made this about winning money then the story would of made sense too. When the boys were collecting the rocks, it made sense at the end because those rocks and pebbles were going to be thrown at the winner of the lottery.
The people in the town did not have a clue to why this lottery even existed. It was just tradition so they thought that they had to continue it. This relates back to the lynching’s and the reason the whites lynched the blacks was because they were used to tradition and in tradition the whites were the superior race.
Michele Nemec
ReplyDelete3. When i first read the story "The Lottery" i didnt understand what kind of lottery it was. It seemed like it was just an event that the whole town went to for fun. I thought that the winner of the lottery would win something good. In the beginning of the story there was no clue to what the lottery was, other than when the kids were gathering the stones and pebbles and brinning them to the center of town. But i did not put two and two together. I just thought it was a game the kids were playing some kind of game, I didnt think it had to do with anything about the lottery. As the story went on it said how everyone was gathering in around for the lottery and they all seemed friendly towards eachother so then i didnt think anything of it either. I just thought it was an inoccent town meeting. Then as the story kept going on I still had no idea what the lottery was. Everyone seemed excited so you wouldnt think anything bad would be going on. Then the families started drawing the papers and i still didnt understand. Then When the Hutchinson family has drawn the paper with the dot on it and then the fasmily one by one had to draw again i was still very confused. When Tessie had drawn the paper with the black dot and she started to say "I't wasnt fair" i begin to realize that it wasnt a good thing to win but i still didnt understand what had happend to the person that had drawn the paper with the dot on it. After i read the whole story I than understood what was going on. I still dont understand why they would have that kind of lottery.
Linda Palushaj
ReplyDeleteOn my first reading of the story, "The Lottery" , by Shirley Jackson, I started reading the story thinking that there was an actually lottery in town that was good. I thought lottery meant that everyone was gathering together in order to win some sort of prize or money as the lottery is today. I didn't know that the lottery was something bad until the end of the story. In the beginning its seems as all the neighbors were friends and got along very well. Everyone knew each other's names and spoke to one another. The author says in the beginning of the story, that it was a small village, "where there were only about three hundred people (Jackson 587)". So since it was such a small town is probably why everyone knew each other. Jackson starts "The Lottery" out with a pretty good picture by saying, "The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day (Jackson 587)" This line it makes the reader think about good things on a hot summer day instead of bad things which sometimes would be in a bad rainy cold day. I didn't realize that something bad was happening until the end when everyone realized Bill Hutchinson was the one who got the lottery ticket. Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson shouted to Mr. Summers, " You didn't give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair!" (Jackson 591). After reading this I begin to realize winning the lottery was not a good thing since no one wanted to win it. Jackson makes a lot of signs through the story that foreshadow that something bad will happen. The first time reading the story, I didn't really think of any of these symbols and signs, but after the second time I realized that the author put in so many hints to show that something bad was going to happen. For instance, Jackson used a black box instead of a colorful nice box. It was black to foreshadow death. Also in the beginning the little boys were playing and gathering rocks and stones. These rocks that were gathered to be used at the end of the story. In the story, it was said that "Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones". The author tries to bring back the image of the stones at the end of the story by saying, "The pile of the stones the boys had made earlier was ready; there were stones on the ground..( Jackson 593)." The reader is now able to see that something really bad is about to happen. It was also hinted before this that Mrs. Hutchison would be the one to die in a weird way. Mrs. Hutchinson has arrived to the lottery late and almost forgot about it. Also when Mrs. Summers said that he "thought [they] were going to have to go on without Tessie (Jackson 589) ". Mrs. Hutchinson replied back to him saying, "Wouldn't have me leave m'dishes in the sink, now would you Joe (Jackson 589)". The author kind of put this in to the story to show something was going to happen and she would not be able to get to the dishes later on that day.
I thought this was so wrong for society to do. I think the whole idea of the lottery is one tradition that should end in this town. It's really sad and disgusting that the whole society would go and gang up on one person for picking the paper with the black dot. The whole society would take rocks and chuck them at an innocent person that hasn't done anything wrong. Especially in this small town where everyone knew everybody.
Marisa Simpson
ReplyDeleteIn “The Lottery” I first began to suspect when some of the kids where gathering a bunch of stones. One of the kids had stones in his pockets and some others but them in a pile in one corner. I just had this feeling that something bad was going to happen with those stones they were collecting. And everyone was gathering in that one area so I knew that the kids were not collecting them to skip them in a river. Then Jackson talks about the black box and how there were all the lists and how parts of the ritual was not used anymore. When Mrs. Hutchinson comes running late, my suspicion grew that something bad was going to happen to her because everyone was there and then all of a sudden Jackson has her running in late happy and cheerful. Jackson draws the attention on her that way. Then when Mr. Summers starts calling the last names the men are holding the papers nervously. “… she watched while Mr. Graves came around from the side of the box, greeted Mr. Summers gravely, and selected a slip of paper from the box. By now,…men holding the small folded papers in their large hands, turning them over nervously” (Jackson 590). The last big hint was when they open the paper and figure out that the Hutchinson family got the paper. Mrs. Hutchinson starts freaking out yelling “it’s not fair” (Jackson 591) And then she gets the paper with the black dot and all is revealed and she gets stoned. It was still a shock that they would actually go through and stone the lady like it was normal. It just blew my mind away after reading this. These people seem to be tight knit in knowing everybody and its crazy to see them do that, tradition or not.
The rhyme “Lottery in June, Corn be heavy soon” reflects the overall “institution” of the entire point of the lottery. In the story The Lottery villagers in a town would gather and draw a small piece of paper out of a box and the person with a black dot on their paper would be stoned to death by the rest of the villagers. The villagers would do this as a sacrificial thing, hoping that in doing this the harvest of the year to follow would be plentiful, and life in general would be better. Therefore, the rhyme “Lottery in June, Corn be heavy soon” gives a rhythmic explanation for the purpose of the lottery. Many of the villagers in the story however, seem to enjoy the lottery; not for the fact that upon the sacrifice the harvest would be plentiful, but for the fact they enjoyed it. May this be to release anger, or to hopefully enjoy the sacrifice of those that one doesn’t like, but many villagers have other reasons for the behavior. This is the definition of a social scapegoat. Using a certain person or event; in this case the lottery, and abusing the system for different reasons. For example enjoying stoning one of the villagers because you don’t like them, but covering it up, and using the lottery as a scapegoat for your actions, despite your intentions were different.
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