Irony of The Setting in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson :: Lottery Shirley Jackson Essays

Irony of The Setting in The Lottery by Shirley capital of MississippiThe setting set forth by Shirley Jackson in the beginning of The Lotterycreates a mood of peacefulness and tranquillity. This setting also creates animage in the mind of the subscriber, the image of a ordinary townspeople on a normal summertimeday. Furthermore, Shirley Jackson uses the setting in The Lottery to foreshadowan ironic ending.First, Shirley Jackson begins The Lottery by establishing the setting.To begin, she tells the reader what time of day and what time of year the storytakes place. This is important to get the reader to focus on what a typical dayit is in this teentsy town. The time of day is set in the morning and the time ofyear is early summer. She also describes that school has just recently let outfor summer break, letting the reader infer that the time of year is early summer.The setting of the town is described by the author as that of any normal rusticcommunity. Furthermore, she describes t he grass as richly green and that theflowers were blooming profusely (196). These descriptions of the surroundingsgive the reader a serene felling about the town. Also, these descriptions makethe reader observe comfortable about the surroundings as if there was nothing wrongin this quaint town.Upon reading the first paragraph, Shirley Jackson describes the town ingeneral. The town is first mentioned in the opening paragraph where she setsthe location in the town firm. She puts in perspective the location of thesquare between the post office and the till (196). This visualizes for thereader what a small town this is, since everything seems to be centralized at ornear the town square. This is also key in that the town square is the locationfor the remaining part of the story. The town square is an important locationfor the setting since the ending of the story will be set in this location.Also, Shirley Jackson creates a comfortable atmosphere while describingthe residents of the to wn. First, she describes the children gathering togetherand breaking into boisterous play(196). Also, the children are described asgathering rocks, which is an action of numerous normal children. She described themen as gathering together and talking about planting and rain, tractors andtaxes(196). Finally, she describes the women of this community as exchangingbits of gossip(196) which is a common separate of women. She creates a moodfor the reader of the town and residents of this town on a normal summer morning.