Horror And Horror Of The Lottery, By Shirley Jackson

Karli Timm ENG 102; CRN:11461 Fiction Essay 29 April 2015 Exploring Horror The element of horror in a story brings out emotions that individuals like to keep pushed back. Things like fear, panic, distress, and anxiety are all things that people do not intentionally enjoy feeling. Horror is a major element in some fiction and is shown in stories such as, â€Å"The Lottery†, â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard To Find†, â€Å"A Cask of Amontillado†, and â€Å"The Things They Carried†. They all carry some element of horror that turns on the senses and emotions that are generally repressed. Shirley Jackson is one of the most well known authors of the Gothic fiction genre. Her take on the genre of Gothic fiction is unique to her because it combines elements of horror and romance. Jackson also deals more with the psychological horror rather than the supernatural kind of horror. Mixer publishing says, â€Å"Shirley Jackson, although usually viewed as a writer of Gothic horror, often straddles the line between realism and horror i n her short stories. She typically portrays middle class Americans in an urban or suburban setting struggling with contemporary, everyday problems. However, pushing beyond the traditional limits of realism, her plots cross into psychological (and, arguably, supernatural) horror† (Hall). She has intertwined social and psychological themes that have created novels that horrify because they go into the gruesome and gory details of abnormalities of familial relationships, domestic settings,Show MoreRelatedThe Horror of The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson1375 Words   |  6 Pagestook part in the traditional lottery drawing and one villager was picked for the prize – a stoning. In 1948, Shirley Jackson published this short story known as â€Å"The Lottery,† in The New York Times. The story’s plot shocked readers all over America as they learned of the horror happening in such a quaint town. Jackson purposely set this tragic event in this innocent setting to emphas ize humanity’s cruelty. Using her appalling short story, The Lottery, Shirley Jackson alarms readers with the ironicRead MoreCreating horror in the Lottery979 Words   |  4 PagesCreating Horror Authors use a number of different tones, settings, themes, characterizations, and points of view in order to create a fictional world inside the readers head. We see these tools used in contrasting ways in â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† by Edgar Allan Poe and â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson. The distinctive techniques used in these short stories leave you feeling uneasy once you finish them. Using different methods, both authors create a story of horror for their readers. The tonesRead MoreThe Lottery, By Shirley Jackson2116 Words   |  9 PagesShirley Jackson was a master of modern gothic fiction and wrote of the essentially evil nature of human beings. The major focus of her work is to emphasize the psychological dimension of experience and the absolute isolation of a human. Shirley Jackson also believes and suggests that humanity must continue to try to define its own reality, and strive to survive with nobility. Her most famous piece of work â€Å"The Lottery,† depicts the cruelty and brutality of humanity in the mass and insensitivity ofRead Morehe Lottery by Shirley Jackson710 Words   |  3 PagesHitting the Lottery In the beginning of Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery,† June 27th is as normal as any other summer day in the small village. The morning was described as â€Å"clear and sunny† with â€Å"flowers blossoming profusely and the grass richly green† (Jackson, 1). The attitudes of the children are rather happy and normal as they begin to gather playing â€Å"boisterous[ly]† (Jackson, 1). By the end of the story, the beautiful, normal summer day as described in the beginning is a day that every memberRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of The Lottery By Shirley Jackson910 Words   |  4 PagesLiterary Analysis of the Short Story â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson Shirley Jackson explores the subject of tradition in her short story â€Å"The Lottery†. A short story is normally evaluated based on its ability to provide a satisfying and complete presentation of its characters and themes. Shirley describes a small village that engages in an annual tradition known as â€Å"the lottery†. Narrating the story from a third person point of view, Shirley uses symbolism, foreshadowing and suspense to illustrateRead MoreThe Lottery : Dissecting Sociological Horrors Essay1551 Words   |  7 Pages The Lottery: Dissecting Sociological Horrors When you hear the word â€Å"lottery†, what do you think? In Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, readers are presented with an ironic, dramatic, bleak tale about a small village gathering for not exactly what one would call a lottery. Born in San Francisco, California in 1916, Jackson spent much of her early life writing poetry and journal entries. After enrolling in the University of Rochester, she eventually withdrew to pursue her dreams of becoming a writerRead MoreEssay about The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson2214 Words   |  9 PagesWorld War, Shirley Jackson’s life was filled with graphic imagery of the violence existing throughout her world. Jackson’s husband Stanley Edgar Hyman wrote, â€Å"[Shirley’s] fierce visions of dissociations and madness, of alienation and withdrawal, of cruelty and terror, have been taken to be personal, even neurotic fantasies. Quite the reverse: They are a sensitive and faithful anatomy of our times, fitting symbols f or our distressing world of the concentration camp and the bomb† (â€Å"‘The Lottery’† 144)Read MoreInstitutionalized Ritual in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson1625 Words   |  6 PagesShirley Jackson’s The Lottery, is a terrifying, tension filled masterpiece of an ancient human practice set present day America, 1948. Jackson’s dark, short story is about a rural farming village on the east coast, who, like other villages around them, conduct a yearly â€Å"lottery.† It begins in the town square in the month of June, where the schoolchildren are gathering stones while awaiting the arrival of their respective families. When the lottery is formally started, roll call is initiated followedRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson868 Words   |  4 PagesThe Lottery by Shirley Jackson uses extensive symbols and metaphors. It is a short story which has been equally appreciated as well as rejected by audience. The main themes of this story are those of tradition and scapegoat. The story begins with the author informing the reader about the time the lottery is going to begin by using certain phrases like â€Å"tractors and taxes† (Jackson, 76). Furthermore, the writer narrates the dress of Mr. Summers to be a â€Å"clean white shirt and blue jeans† (Jackson 78)Read MoreThe Road Through The Wall By Shirley Jackson1897 Words   |  8 Pages Shirley Jackson was born in San Francisco, California on December 14th 1916. From an early age she was at odds with her parents expectations. Within these expectations her mother had an obsession with appearance that put her further away from her. Jackson began writing in 1930 as a teenager and grew up in a suburban atmosphere; this later became the subject of her first novel â€Å"The Road through the Wall† in 1948. From California she moved cross country to Rochester, New York in 1934. Her university