The lottery irony and imagery
The lottery - irony and imageryThe Lottery
When you hear the word lottery, you probably think of winning a large sum of money before being stoned to death. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson brings this horrible idea to life. While the overall mood of the story depicts a typical day in a small rural town, through great use of imagery and irony the reader is set up for an unusual ending.
Shirley Jackson uses a great deal of imagery to set the mood of the story. At first glance the reader gets a visual picture of a pristine, tranquil summer day, a day when “the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was rich and green.”(p.74) The town’s children are collecting rocks like young children regularly do. The men are “speaking of rain, planting, tractors and taxes.”(p.74) The women are making small talk with one another. It seems like a regular day in a regular town.
With the introduction of the black box the overall mood of the town’s people begins to change, the air is uneasy and nervous. The old black box had become shabby, splintered, and faded. Zero improvements were put in to making the black box better. The idea of the black box going to shambles leads one to believe that the town’s people fear the box....
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