Shirley Jackson
Essays

The predominant theme in Shirley Jackson's The Lottery (1948) is the complete normalcy of the day of the town lottery in light of the horror that is unfolding. The author uses many examples to set the tone of normal…

¶ … deft social commentary on American society, Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" shares in common many literary elements with other short stories. In "The Lottery," Jackson uses a hyperbolic symbol of social conformity:…

This essay examines the settings of "The Lottery" and "The Rocking-Horse Winner" in order to demonstrate how each story's setting contributes to their respective critiques of society. By placing "The Rocking-Horse Winner" in a middle class neighborhood, D.H. Lawrence demonstrates the danger of deference to arbitrary notions of social status. Similarly, by setting "The Lottery" in a kind of Anytown, USA, Shirley Jackson is able to critique blind allegiance to religious and political ideology without limiting the impact of her critique to a single location.

An Analysis of "Luck" in "The Lottery" and "The Rocking Horse Winner"

A reader of both Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" must decide when can murder be an acceptable action. Is the tradition of an annual stoning acceptable?

Shirley Jackson's short story the Lottery bases its effect, at least partially, on its surprise ending. The plot of the short story seems shocking to the reader, even if there is some suspicion about a bizarre,…

¶ … Domestic Demonism: '"the Lottery" by Shirley Jackson versus "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor

This paper compares and contrasts the themes, ideas, and genres of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and the film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games. The former is a short story satire while the latter is a roving epic with heroes and heroines. Both, however, look at the darker side of human nature--in different ways.

Symbolism and Sacrifice in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"

This paper looks at how D. H. Lawrence and Shirley Jackson use the theme of sacrifice in their respective short stories, "The Rocking-Horse Winner" and "The Lottery." Both authors have an express purpose in using the theme--Lawrence to show the power of sacrifice and Jackson to show what happens when a culture abandons the Christian notion of sacrifice.