Discussion: The Lottery
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Discussion: The Lottery
| Sat, 02-16-2002 - 4:55pm |
Discussion: The Lottery
Setting:
Why do you think Jackson chose typical small town America as the setting for this story?
| Sat, 02-16-2002 - 4:55pm |
Discussion: The Lottery
Why do you think Jackson chose typical small town America as the setting for this story?
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Or was it because...
she was dissenting, challenging the process? Encouraging the villagers to think or just not going along with the standard way of doing things? It's like she suggested the world was round not flat and they considered her blasphemous.
Exerpt:
"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!"
"Daughters draw with their husbands' families, Tessie," Mr.
Summers said gently. "You know that as well as anyone else."
"It wasn't fair," Tessie said.
Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. "It isn't fair," she said.
...
or maybe I'm reacting to the effects of the story and not the cause. Ok, that doesn't make sense. Maybe I'm commenting on the after effects instead of why Jackson makes Tessie the victim. Basically I think he chose someone who dissents from the group-think.
Eyewrite
Wow what a great discussion. (m)
I always loved this story (in a weird way). But I never knew it was a polemic against capitalism. I always thought of it as a polemic against religious sacrifice -- that "God's" judgement or blessings were like a lottery. And that "the fear of God" made people willing to sacrifice their neighbors as long a they weren't touched by it. That all decisions about religion were in the hands of the "fathers". And that the men of the family were perfectly willing to see their wives and children sacrificed if it was "God's will." (Hope that doesn't offend anyone but that's what I always thought.)
And that it was set in the small town where we usually think of "old time religion" as a good thing.
Maybe what made me think that was the indication that this was related to whether or not the crops were good.
Anyway, that was always what I saw in the story--LOL. As to Miss Jackson using so many modifiers, they bothered me this t ime, even though I'm sure they didn't when I first read it. Probably because this time, I've had that drilled into my little pea brain by every writing book I've ever read-heheheh. Seriously, if there are too many, in any story, I do find it distracting and this pretty much bordered on that. Good thing it was such a dynamite story.
Linda
cl-ozarker
"We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master." - Ernest Heminway
I Think You're Right!
Although an exaggerated story about capitalism and social order could be set anywhere, the small town setting makes it all the more horrifying.
We like to think of small town America as wholesome and without evil, but some of society's greatest evils are right in our back yards.
I think you're right on the money!
Patty
Interesting Perception!
It's interesting that we all agree that the story is about sacrifice and scapegoating, but have a different perception of why Tessie is sacrificed.
A religious sacrifice never occurred to me. Interesting!
It reminds me of Animal Farm and how the animals take over the farm. The town leaders implement to lottery to keep the "animals" in their places so they won't question the status quo.
If the villagers begin to question the social order, Summers, Graves and Martins will lose their power.
I'm going to read the story again with the religious implications in mind.
Thanks for suggesting this new way to look at the story!
Patty
Yes!
She challenged those who politically and economically control the village. But she did it unconsciously by showing up for late for the lottery and when she tells her husband to "get up there" when her famiy's name is called (women don't tell men what to do).
I think it's interesting that Tessie's rebellion is unconscious and she doesn't really object to the Lottery, only her being chosen as the scapegoat. She wouldn't care if someone else was chosen:
"There's Don and Eva . . . . Make them take their chance."
Wonder if she would have cried "It isn't fair" if Don or Eva had been stoned?
Style
We can only assume that Shirley Jackson knew basic writing rules since she had a BA in English from Syracuse and her husband, Stanley Edgar Hyam, was an author and literary critic who also taught literature at Bennington College.
As for why she used so many modifying adverbs I think it was a matter of style. It was part of her writing style.
Example: Some great southern writers use lots of metaphors and adjectives in their writing (southerners love excess) while others (Hemmingway) write in a more straightford style with few adjectives and metaphors. I think Hemmingway's journalism background was the basis of his his crisp clean writing style and short snappy sentences.
I think it's style. Learn the rules then find your own voice and style.
The mark of good literature, don't you think? nt
cl-ozarker
"We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master." - Ernest Heminway
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