Unfortunately, i went home sick today so i missed the class discussion on this short story...
I found this particular short story a bit confusin because the reader is uninformed of what the lottery is until the end of the story. What i found interesting however is the way that the author set up the short story. The reader is left in suspense until the very last line, but throughout the course is informed of important facts such as; some towns have done away with the lottery, it happes only once a year, the husband is the one that "wins" for the family, ect. The reader begins to assume that the lottery in appearently not something the family wants to win causing ther reader to question well why not? Once the short story has ended and the reader discovers that the lottery is being stoned to death it is obvious why it is unfortunate to win. My only complaint with this story is that once Tessie begins to complaine "It isn't fair" it becomes obvious that the worst is going to happen to her because she keeps complaining. I found this extremely unoriginal and would have liked to see it end a different way.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with you there Emilee. It was an odd story and I was confused as well. In our day of age the word lottery has a positive conotation which would lead to a surprise in the story when one comes to realize that lottery in this case is something one does not wish to win. In class we talked about the lottery being a tradition that no one really new the basic ground of following it. Mr. Bruno compared this to a Religion without faith. We also talked about how the lottery was probably originally established as a form of population control and that it would no longer be necessary considering the town seemed to be doing well. Here is the theme Mr. Bruno wrote on the board:
ReplyDeleteEssentially decent adn kindly people may perform cruel, irrational actions through their unquestioning acceptance of traditions and customs that have lost their original meaning or ground for belief.
I just thought I would give you some information we had so you would not be left behind.
i didnt find it unorginal at all, how many times have you read book where someone wins the lottery and get stoned to death by her husband, friends, and family? although i too was disappointed with the end, i knew it was coming. but what i didnt understand is how these seemingly kind and rational people, just stoned their friend to death, why would they do that?
ReplyDelete