Topic > Thematic and literary analysis of the lottery by Shirley Jackson

In “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson tells us about a city's annual tradition. At first all the people seemed excited but then as the tradition began everyone became anxious thinking about what was going to happen. Jackson creates the theme of chaotic life shown through a collection of rocks, a town meeting, and an unexpected ending. Jackson develops the theme of chaotic life through a collection of stones. At the beginning the author describes children collecting stones. He says: "And the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones." He is describing how the children get excited because they are finding the perfect stones and how excited they become. Jackson describes the boys' energy when he says, "Very young children were rolling in the dust." This shows how there is chaos due to the energy flowing through the children causing them to become energetic. It gives the description of the stones and the feeling of the chaotic atmosphere. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. The theme of chaotic life develops with a town meeting. The author describes how people behaved at the meeting. He says, “Soon the men began to gather, examining their sons, talking about planting and rain, tractors and taxes.” People, especially men, behaved calmly as they gathered to converse. He then goes on to write, “There was a lot to do before Mr. Summers declared the lottery open.” At first the people were calm, but as the lottery got closer they were anxious for it. People's actions changed as time went by, becoming more chaotic. In “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson creates the theme of chaotic life. All the people have taken a paper out of the box and this leads to an unexpected ending. He says: “For a minute no one moved, then all the papers were opened. Suddenly all the women started talking at the same time.” All the people are calm while opening the documents but once opened the women shouted and this created chaos. She later writes, "'It's not fair, it's not fair,' Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were on top of her." She had screamed while everyone was throwing stones at her and all the other 299 people were throwing stones and one scream was causing disturbance of peace and disorder. The chaos was due to an unexpected ending, and Mrs. Hutchinson's life became full of chaos at that time. . By showing children's excitement, a change of attitude, and an unexpected resolution, Shirley Jackson develops the theme of chaotic life. Jackson demonstrates the children's excitement as they collected the stones. People were calm as the lottery approached, but they became nervous about wanting it to start. The women's flashing and wife's screaming caused even more chaos and excitement among the people. While I don't think this will ever happen in real life, it's crucial to remember that just because something seems good or exciting doesn't mean it is. In other words, don't judge a book by its cover if you don't know all the details written inside.