Irony In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

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"The Lottery" is a short story written by author Shirley Jackson. "The Lottery" is about a yearly annual lottery that is held each summer. In this story the winner of the lottery is to be stoned to death by the remanding people of the town. The lottery is a tradition that has occurred for well over seventy years and is believed to bring good fortunes for the upcoming harvest season. Jackson does not reveal the consequences of winning the lottery until the end of the story making the reader search for clues throughout the story. Jackson was able to use change, irony, and foreshadowing to display the true meaning of winning the lottery in her short story "The Lottery".
Jackson was able to use change throughout the story to display the true consequences of winning the lottery in "The Lottery". Many things have been changed during the years about the lottery, but the act of …show more content…
Tess Hutchinson being the last person to arrive and almost missing the lottery is very ironic due to the fact that she the one holding the last piece of paper, and was ultimately the last one at the lottery grounds. Tess also encouraged her husband, Bill, to hurry up and pick his paper during the drawing. When it was revealed that it was Bill who had the black dot on his paper Tess proclaimed that he did not have enough time to select his paper and he was rushed. Even the title of the story is ironic. Usually a lottery is a sign of winning and good fortune, however in "The Lottery" the winner was stoned to death which is the complete opposite of what a lottery is symbolic for. Irony is also seen in Old Man Warner as he is the oldest member of the community meaning he has survived the most lotteries. Old Man Warner is an avid fan of the lottery and believes anyone who does not keep up with the tradition are young fools. Jackson was able to use irony in "The Lottery" to show the outcome of the
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