And today we'll start our drawing with the pick 3...

This was not the first time I read The Lottery, but I was able to appreciate it much more this time around. I like how Jackson is able to make the characters in the story so real and life like in the manner that they still follow this barbaric tradition of the lottery because they are so inept to change. Many people do have a hard time changing and this is an exaggeration of everyday life to make the point that change is okay and can be good. Had the villagers been open minded, they would not have continued to kill off one of their own every year. Overall, I really like the story and appreciated the manner in which the author sought to get her message across.
The ending of the Lottery is extremely bizarre and unexpected for the first time reader. The citizens live in what appears to be a well standing, modern society. They talk of the annual lottery almost as if it were a fair. It was something everyone looked forward to and the character’s descriptions did not seem out of place. The only question that the reader is left asking himself (throughout the entire story nonetheless) is what does the person who wins the lottery win? It is ironic because the reader soon understands that they don’t win at all, but are immediately stoned to death. Looking back, Jackson used several foreshadowing techniques to give subtle clues about the bizarre ending. In the second paragraph, Bobby Martin and other boys gathered stones. The reason is unknown and the reader can forget about this easily, but at the end, after the lottery is over, every goes and grabs stones the boys gathered earlier. Jackson also foreshadows Tessie’s death by making her the last person to arrive. She stands out in the reader’s mind and then by the end, it’s unexpected but not surprising when she is killed. There is also foreshadowing when the heads of the households nervously hold the papers which is immediately followed by talk of towns giving up the lottery. If towns are giving it up, then is it bad? If people are nervous and towns are giving it up, then it’s almost certainly bad. Then after the drawing, when Tessie is deeply upset that her husband drew the paper with the black spot, the reader knows trouble must be coming, which it does as Tessie and her family have to draw again, resulting in the death of Tessie. Jackson leaves several clues throughout the story that hint to the reader the darkness of the ending. The author wants the reader to understand that sometimes it is good to go against the crowd and question what is normal. When this type of action occurs, then progress is made. That is how slavery was ended and how women gained equal rights. People need to question tradition in order to see if there is a better way.

number four

I really enjoyed this story as it developed and culminated at the end. It shows that an individual can change who they are, for better or worse, or improve one’s self. The ideal way to bring about change is not to change but to improve upon one’s being. I am going through a phase right now where I am sincerely trying to improve who I am as a person. Many people, especially in high school, go through phases where they completely revamp who they are to fit in and be “popular” but this kind of change is bad and can lead to one acting out of character, as Fitzgerald tries to illustrate.
Fitzgerald represents the nature of identity as something that is unchangeable. An individual has the power to improve, but with that also the ability to regress and ultimately change who an individual is from the core, as Bernice does. Identity itself is something an individual can change, but it can come with a price. A person always has the ability to change their identity, but when someone does this, they do it for the worst, because a person steps out of their own character and morals. A better form of change is self improvement. Bernice took steps to improve herself but she could have done so without changing her identity. By bobbing her hair, a risqué act at the time, she lowered herself to the status of an object and lost a piece of her humanity. Her sole reason for the action was to gain attention. She should want to gain attention for who she is, not for a shallow and attention seeking ploy. She absolutely changed her identity in the way that others see her and the way she sees herself at the end. She knew what she was doing was “wrong” (for the time, its not as if she sinned), because she let others dictate how she would act rather than acting out of her own free will. I think she realized this at the end, which is why she ran away into the night. She was afraid of what she had become and sought comfort in avoiding the very immediate consequences, even though she knew her action might haunt her for some time.

numéro trois

I really enjoyed John Updike’s A & P. This wasn’t the first time I had read it, but it was still entertaining, and I was able to pick up on tiny details that I was unaware of in high school. The narrator acted foolishly and in a manner that most would have a hard time with. I don’t think I would have the guts to quit a job in the middle of a shift without thinking about it for weeks. This could have been the case with the narrator, and he was just looking for an opportunity, but he picked a weird one. If I planned on quitting and making a scene, I would simply have done a poor job for a few days, and then when the manager yelled at me, that’s when I would have quit. The narrator really does have an odd way of thinking. He is very impulsive and spontaneous.
The narrator reveals a high level of independence that he takes pride in. Not many his age (high school) would be able to not only stick it to their boss about something they believe in, but stick it too his parents as well, given the relationship the narrator’s family has with Lengal. He knew the consequences of his actions before or immediately afterwards, but he made no attempt to rectify the situation. He didn’t need help from anyone. This narrator thought he could take on the world by himself. The transformation that he goes through is that he becomes a little afraid of himself and his sense of independence. The narrator was expecting something for quitting his job. Whether it be that the girls were there to thank him and ask him to hang out, or Lengal coming out to ask him if he wanted his job back. But all he found was emptiness. He was acting tough, but deep down inside, he was scarred of himself. He knew he made a terrible decision and that it probably would not be the last time something of this nature occurred.