The Lottery 2

In the short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, setting plays an important key role. It creates irony because the ending of the story completely contradicts the upbeat impression that the reader gets all throughout it. Jackson creates this irony very well in her writing. She keeps it going throughout the whole story. Jackson could have easily made the setting a cloudy, rainy, winter day. Weather would have aided the reader to predict the tragic …

…be any harsh actions in child's play. This is the first subtle hint of the tragic ending. Shirley Jackson incorporates these images to effectively create this certain setting. They all work together to create a surprising ending. In the end, the reader is completely shocked because this barbaric outcome has not at all been foreshadowed by the upbeat tone. Jackson completely offsets the reader to the ending, which makes the story all the more interesting.