The Lottery Shirley Jackson Allusions Ancient Ritual Sacrifice

“The Lottery” Shirley Jackson

Allusions: Ancient Ritual Sacrifice • In ancient Greece, Athenians believed that human sacrifice promised fertile crops. • Each year in ancient Athens, during an annual festival, citizens would stone to death a man and a woman selected for this purpose. • Death is thought to bring prosperity to the community • By transferring one's sins to persons or animals and then sacrificing them, people believed that their sins would be eliminated, a process that has been termed the "scapegoat" archetype • A similar ritual sacrifice occurs with Tessie Hutchinson. • This explains the village member's remark, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon. ”

Allusions: The Bible “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone" • “The Lottery” makes an allusion to John 8: 7 when Jesus frees a woman who is supposed to be stoned. Jesus asks those who are without sin to cast the first stone. No one throws stones at her.

Ritual Without Meaning • Because there has "always been a lottery“, the villagers feel compelled to continue this horrifying tradition. • They focus, however, on its gruesome rather than its symbolic nature, nature for they "still remembered to use stones" even after they have "forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box“. • What does this say about human nature? About traditions and customs?

Three Types of Irony • Verbal Irony – What is said is not what is meant (Example: When your parents tell you it is okay to leave your room a mess, but you know they don’t mean it. ) • Situational Irony – What we expect to happen does not happen or what we did not think would happen does (Example: Fire station catching on fire, insurance agent who is cited by the police for not having insurance) • Dramatic Irony – When the reader/audience knows something that the characters do not know (Example: We know who Superman is, but the police captain is talking to Clark Kent about Superman being fictitious)

Irony • Use the Irony Worksheet to find instances of irony. • Answer the following questions: What type of irony is this? How is it ironic?

Symbolism What you see is not always what you get… Sometimes you get more!

A symbol is… • An object that represents a greater idea • An icon (picture) that stands for a bigger meaning

Even toddlers recognize common symbols…

Groups use symbols • For example…

Color often symbolize moods. .

What might these colors symbolize?

Red?

How about a pink ribbon?

Remember, _______ are items that represent a ______ idea or meaning.

What’s the diff?

Which would you rather receive?

Seasons can be used as symbols

Objects can hold meaning.

Remember: ______ are objects that ________ a greater meaning.

Symbolism in Texts In Harry Potter, the snake is a symbol of evil which makes sense when we remember that it is Voldemort’s “pet. ” In Hunger Games, the mockingjay becomes a symbol of the rebellion that is attempting to overthrow the Capital. In Star Wars, black is the symbol for bad guys; red light sabers are also a symbol of evil. In books written about the Holocaust, the swastika is the symbol for Hitler and his army who killed innocent people.

Use the Symbolism Worksheet to list symbols found in the story. What do the symbols represent and how?