GOLDEN LINES

THE LOTTERY
The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, is basically a story of how certain traditions still being practised might be harmful. It takes place in a small village, and the story places a lot of interesting characters and situations. The story also creates a lot of tension especially towards the end.
THE GOLDEN LINES
I have chosen just a few lines from the short story, the Lottery. The lines really connect to the theme at the end and kind of give a brief summary of the story.
1. The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green.
In this line, the writer of The Lottery creates a certain type of Irony. Why you may ask? Because in the end, a person dies, as a reward for winning the lottery. The writer makes the story seem, at the beginning, to be a story with a happy ending, since it starts with a happy beginning. One does not suspect the gruesome turns that this story takes especially towards the end.This line also creates a happy mood in the reader of the story: The " Fresh warmth of a summer day" and the "Flowers" that "were blossoming profusely" are all indicators of a happy and rather normal and joyous day.
The line basically fits in with what goes on in the world sometimes. People always tend to assume that something, or some place, is joyous or full of success just by the looks of it. They do not know that they have to delve in deeper in order to find out what is really going on.
2. The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool and when Mr. Summers said, "Some of you fellows want to give me a hand?"
there was a hesitation before two men. Mr. Martin and his oldest son, Baxter came forward
This line creates a lot of tension and suspense in the reader. Why were they keeping a distance? Why did people have to volunteer? What is really going on? This creates a certain urge in the reader to continue reading the story. But it is also a way for the writer to develop the story, as it goes from a happy to sad and gruesome scene. It also gives the writer a chance to really explain what is going on in the story.

3. Mrs. Hutchinson came hurriedly along the path to the square, her sweater thrown over her shoulders,......"Clean forgot what day it was,"........"Wouldn't have me leave m'dishes in the sink, now, would you. Joe?,"

This line introduces one of the most interesting characters in the short story, Tessie Hutchinson. Tessie, in this line gets late to the lottery. She claims to have forgotten that there was a lottery. What is weird is that the village only consisted of some 300 people. And who can forget an event like that; an event celebrated by a small group of people, an event that is engraved in everyone's minds, including the children. She portrays a hypocritical character, one who does not really want to participate in the lottery, as if she knew she was going to win ( which she did by the way ).

Tessie's character is portrayed by many people around the world today, people who just blow off very important things, and even if the story does not state whether Tessie knew about the lottery and wanted to be late or not, it is quite clear to anyone who reads the short story that many people have this hypocritical character exhibited by Tessie.

4.  “Used to be a saying about Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.”

This mainly is in line with the setting of the story. With the winner of the lottery being killed by being stoned to death and the corn harvests being around the same time, one can somewhat see that the lottery is a form of sacrifice, to the god or gods of the people of that village for giving them a good corn harvest. The corn harvests and the lottery do not just happen by chance to be in the same month.

This is applicable to some parts of the world today. Some very old traditions and practices are still being kept by many small communities around the world that are quite secluded.  

5. " They do say," Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him," that over in the north village they're talking of giving up the lottery." 

This line also largely talks about the setting of the story. Te village being talked about in the story is surrounded by other villages, or has some nearby or far neighbors. It also clearly states that the neighbors are also into practicing the same gruesome event, the Lottery.

6. “..“Pack of crazy fools,” he said. “Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them. Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves..”

This line also introduces a very interesting character into the whole show, Old Man Warner, who by the way, is the one who spoke those words. He is the firm believer in tradition. He is very angry when he hears of the north village giving up the lottery. The lottery seems to very important to this man, maybe because they are a sort of sacrifice? Who knows? 

Old Man Warner's character and behavior is exhibited by very many people world. People who are firm believers in tradition, people who do not know to just let go ( These guys are mostly old people!!! )

WHY DID I CHOOSE THESE LINES

  I chose these six golden lines because they really connect to the theme of the story. The lines also give a nice blend of the elements of fiction, from character to plot, to make sure that one who has not read the short story at least understands what is going on. Te lines are also very easily applicable to real world situations and themes, giving the reader of this blog a comprehensive view of the story and the world in relation to the story.