The Lottery

Both the setting and final outcome of Shirley Jackson's "the Lottery" are Ironic. Jackson sets the stage of her story in a seemingly normal village. She establishes this normalness by describing the activitys of the townspeople. She tells how "The town has all the usual sights like the post office, bank, and a bank with a square inbetween thiese are all things one would expext to find in a normal town. The reader finds the …

…the end of the story. For instance, the mood created by the flowers and summertime setting create a peacefulness about the town. Furthermore, the ending proves to be totally opposite of the mood presented in the first paragraph. The ending is ironic from the beginning in that everyone in this town commits an unlawful act by stoning an innocent person. Conversely, the setting created a mood of peacefulness within the town and among the residents.