A Literary Analysis of Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery’
By
Artavia J. Williams
College Composition B
ENG 1123
Sean Millligan
10/29/12

An Atmosphere of Irony
Shirley Jackson uses irony and foreshadowing in the beginning of The Lottery delivers a mood of calm and normalcy. Jackson provides a picture of a typical town on a normal summer day. However, Jackson uses the setting in The Lottery to foreshadow an ironic ending.
Jackson begins The Lottery by creating the setting, she is informing the reader to what time of day and what time of year the story takes place. Thereby, getting the reader to focus on what a normal day it is in this small town. She also describes that school has just recently let out for summer break, letting the reader infer that the time of year as early summer. She continues to describe the grass as "richly green" and that "the flowers were blooming profusely" (133). These descriptions of the surroundings make the reader feel comfortable about the setting as if there was nothing wrong in this quaint town.
The town is first mentioned in the opening paragraph where the location is set in the town square. She puts in aspect the location of the square "between the post office and the bank" (133). This provides a visual of what a small town this is, by most things being centralized at or near the town square.
Jackson continues to create a normal, everyday atmosphere while describing the residents of the town. First, she describes the children gathering together and breaking into "boisterous play"(133). Also, the children are described as gathering rocks, which is an action of many normal children. She described the men as gathering together and talking about "planting and rain, tractors and taxes"(133). She also describes the women of this community as "exchanging bits of gossip"(133) that is a common stereotype of women. She creates a