Jackson's use of foreshadowing is powerful and well-played in
The Lottery. Yes, as discussed above, the beautiful day and the seemingly innocent gathering of
stones by the boys (notice that it's the boys who gather stones - something we'd associate with
boys, not girls), and the general harmonious mood of everyone, definitely lead us to believe that
something wonderful is about to occur. Further, Tessie Hutchinson's arrival and her seemingly
scatterbrained attitude, mingled with excitement, further mislead the reader. However, Jackson
also gives us other clues - the predominance of black (the box, the black spot on the paper, even
the names of certain people), not to mention the general air of nervousness and discomfort among
the villagers as the story progresses all serve as
foreshadowing.
One of the most disturbing aspects is that at the end
of the story, when the reader begins to realize that something is VERY wrong, someone hands
little Davy Hutchinson some pebbles - the thought of a 4/5 yr. old child throwing stones at his
mother is anathema to us as readers. Yet Jackson presents us with this line as a further
foreshadowing of the horror to come, as well as a comment on how no one is
exempt.
No comments:
Post a Comment