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IroniesinTheLottery

作者：ZHUYuhan

来源：《StudiesinLiteratureandLanguage》2013年第01期

Abstract

entfromotherfemale

writerswhoareromanticandtender，andwhotendtoconvincereaderswithsoftwordsandmild

tones，illingtoshockreaderswith

impressiveandunforgettablescenes，andshelikestouironicpicturestoinsinuatehercriticisms.

Theshortstory，“TheLottery”usrearchesonthe

storyhavemainlyfocudonpeopleinthevillagewhoareboundbytraditionorontheanalysisof

perintendstoanalyzethestoryfromtheangleof

theuofironyinthestory，throughwhichtheauthorartfullypunchesontheindifferentpeople，

capitalism，andreligion.

Keywords：ShirleyJackson；Thelottery；Ironiesandironicfigures

ShirleyJackson（December14，1916–August8，1965），afamousAmericanwriterin

hertime，iswell-knownforanumberofwonderfulstoriesincluding“TheRoadthroughtheWall”，

“Hangsaman”，“TheBird‟sNest”andsoon.“TheLottery”，thetitlestoryoftheanthologyThe

LotteryandOtherStories，orywasfirstpublishedonJune26th，1948

eginning，readers‟firstresponstothestorywerenegativetothedegree

iographyofJackson，

LenemajaFriedmanreportsthatwhenthestoryispublished“noNewYorkerstoryhadeverreceived”

asimilarresponbyreaders，hundredsofwhomndlettersthataremarredby“bewilderment，

speculation，andold-fashionedabu”（Friedman，p.63）.KylaWardalsonotesthat“TheNew

Yorkerwasbesiegedwithletters”forweeksafterwards，someprotestingaboutthe“violentand

pointlessstory，somepraisingthebrilliantmoralallegory，butmostdemandingtoknowwhatit

meant”（Ward）.ThestoryivenbannedintheUnionofSouthAfrica，afactwhichmade

Jacksonproudinsteadofdiscouraged，becaushewashappytoknowpeopletherehadgraspedthe

eelapofthetime，thestoryfinallywasrecognizedasaclassicof

Americanshortfiction，

alsobeentaughtinmiddleschoolsandhighschoolsfordecades.

Therearefivecasofironiesinthepaper，whichplayavitalroleindeliveringauthor‟s

‟smore，bythecomparisonbetweenourpresuppodideasoftheimagesandtheir

meaningsinthework，theauthorsucceedsincreatingasharpcontrasthelpinghertoshockreaders

andmakingthemtomeditateoverthereality.

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1.1TheTitle

saboundinnewspapersandonTVabout

windfallsfromlottery：acitizeninHustonwinsfivemilliondollars；apeasantinAnhuigetsone

wskeeps

impingingonourearsthatwebegintothinkthatyoumaybesuchaluckydogforallyouknow--this

r，aswereadon，webecomeconfud.

Thestoryevolvesinawaytotallydifferentfromourperception：thelotteryhereisnotabout

millionsofmoney；nerofthelotteryactuallyisthemostpitifullor.

Insteadofwinningcountlessmoney，dof

amelioratinglifequality，gtheauspicioustitle，theauthor

succeedsincreatingsuspenandcatchingthereaders‟more，bycreatinga

contrastbetweenthereaders‟anticipationandtheoutcomeofthestory，theauthorgivesartistic

theeffectofthesharpironybetweenpropitiouslotteryanddarkdeath.

1.2TheWeather

Attheverybeginningofthestory，thereisthentence“ThemorningofJune27thwasclear

andsunny，withthefreshwarmthofafull-summerday；theflowerswereblossomingprofuly

andthegrasswasrichlygreen.”（Jackson，p.34）.Obviously，

daylikethis，wecanbatheinthewarmsunshine；wecansmellthefragranceofblooming

flowers；toralatmosphererousmany

r，whatyoudonotexpectixactlywhat

everimaginewhatthepeopleinthevillageexecuteonthisday？

Theyperformatraditiona

itisso？Certainlynot，onesomeoneto

evillaticbeginningtothecruelending，thereisanevident

irony.

1.3TheLunch

Thelastntenceofthefirstparagraphtellsus，inacoolmatter-of-facttone，that“thewhole

lotterytooklessthantwohours，soitcouldbeginatteno‟clockinthemorningandstillbethrough

intimetoallowthevillagerstogethomefornoondinner.”（Jackson，p.34）.Thisshowsthat

gardthekillingasasmall

yenjoylunchwhen

theyhavejustkilledsomeinnocentfellowvillager？Howcanpeopleeatwithbloodyhands？The

areindifferent，orevenwor，vebyan

inhumanformula：er，in

ordertocompletethelotteryintime，.

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Dunbarsaid“Iwishthey‟dhurry.”ssaid，“Let‟sfinishquickly”oixsaid

“hurryup”（Jackson，pp.37，39）Food，accordingtoitsnature，istheproviderofourenergy

andsaverofourlife，butinthestorythefoodturnsintothecatalystofslaying.

FIGURES

Then，therearethefournegativefigureswhichembodytheauthor‟scriticismoftheapathetic

mass，capitalism，andreligion.

nson

Inmyview，herfirst

appearanceinthestory：“nsoncamehurriedlyalongthepathtothesquare，hersweater

thrownoverhershoulders.”（Jackson，pp.35-6）.Thewords“hurriedly”and“sweaterthrown

overhershoulders”demonstratethatsheishasteningtotheplacewherethehorribleritualis

whyshethrowssweateroverher

esaysinthefollowinglinesprovethisopinion.“ThenIremembereditwasthe

twenty-venthandcamea-running.”（Jackson，p.36）.Whatismore，“shedriedherhandson

herapron”（Jackson，p.36）oldlaterthatsheiswashingdisheswhenshe

ay，shedoesnotwanttospareevenonecondto

n‟tknowwhat

therealmeaningoftheritualis，wemaythinksheisapiouswoman，becaushetriesherbestto

y，sinagoodmoodandshechatswith

s.“s，whohadbeenwaiting，

saidcheerfully，„Thoughtweweregoingtohavetogetonwithoutyou，Tessie.‟nson

said，grinning，„wouldn‟thavemeleavem‟dishesinthesink，now，wouldyou，Joe？‟”

（Jackson，p.36）.nsoniagertobethereandis

happythere.

dofeachfamilydrawshispaperquietlyandthecrowdissilent

rhusbandgoesforwardtodraw，sherootsforhim.“Getup

there，Bill.”（Jackson，p.37）.horusconci

nson，whoisparticularlyprotrusiveamongthequiet

epicture，oysherlfthere.

However，whatistheoutcome？eresultofthelottery

isannounced，

loshermindtothedegreethatsheevenwantstopullherdaughtersdowninthecondroundofthe

lotwhichcanamplifytherateofhersurvival.“ThereisDonandEva，”nsonyelled，

“Makethemtaketheirchance！”（Jackson，p.38）.Asaresult，itisnotsurpritoreadthat

whenherchildrenaresafe，theyare“bothbeamedandlaughed，turningaroundtothecrowdand

holdingtheirslipsofpaperabovetheirheads.”（Jackson，p.39）.Atthattime，itdoesnotoccur

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tothemthatiftheyaresafe，cesheisalfishmother，

howcanweexpectherchildrentobeunlfish？Fromherpreviouscomfortableandenjoyable

attitudetoherlaterrestlessnessandphobia，t，shewantstobe

abystandertogloatoverthecruelshow，

weconnectherprecedinghurrywiththefinalconquence，nson

hurriedtoherdeath？Inaddition，nson‟sdoomatthevery

beginning.“oixonthearmasafarewellandbegantomakeherway……”

（Jackson，p.36）.Bydepictingthisironicfigure，theauthoremstogivearesonantwarningto

theone，whowantstoderivepleasurefromothers‟sadness；whowantstobeabystanderenjoying

anuninterestedperformance；rlugubrious

outcomeemsretribution.

s

s，semstousamanofimportance.

Heconductssquaredances，theteenageclub，andtheHalloweenprogram，aswellasthelottery.

Thenightbeforethelottery，swhomakesuptheslipsofpaperandputstheminthe

box，s‟coalcompanyandlockedupuntilheisreadyto

swhostirsupthepapersinsideitanddeclaresthelotteryopen.

spermits，etc..Byallthedescription，onemay

lsofindtheauthordepictsthisfigure

，sisincarnationof

runsacoalbusiness，

isajovialmanwhowearsacleanwhiteshirtandbluejeans，whilethevillagersputonfadedhou

bodimentoftherisingclass，heinevitablyhasconflictswiththe

meshesucceeds，

managestomakevillagerstoupaper，butfailstoreplacetheoldbox.“sspoke

frequentlytothevillagersaboutmakinganewbox，butnoonelikedtouptevenasmuchtradition

aswasreprentedbytheblackbox.”（Jackson，p.35）.However，itiscapitalismthatdeprives

tyandefficiencyare

mple，duringthelottery，nMr.

Summerssaid“Guesswebettergetstarted，getthisoverwith，sowecangobacktowork.”

（Jackson，p.36）.“Thatwasdoneprettyfast，andnowwehavegottobehurryingalittlemore

togetdoneintime.”（Jackson，p.38）.“Letusfinishquickly.”（Jackson，p.39）.Duringthe

lotcasting，hedoesnotcareaboutpeople‟uneasiness，nordoeshemindwhowillbestonedto

rtomaketheprocess

oflotterymoreefficient，

thecastinboldreliefacoldmanwhoistotallycommercialized，onewhohasabundantmoney，

hor‟swordscanvindicatethisview：“peopleweresorryfor

him，becauhehadnochildrenandhiswifewasascold”（Jackson，p.34）.Withnochildren

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andatermagantwife，

lacksofspiritual

happiness，h

theprocess，nsonandotherstotheextentthatoldWarnercannotbearit

anymore，saying“badenoughtoeyoungJoeSummersuptherejokingwitheverybody”

（Jackson，p.37）.sislikearobotwhoimprovestheproductivity，abidesbythe

disciplines，ownsgreatpower，butismadeofcoldironandsteelinsteadofwarmfleshandblood.

sly，the

thefirstmanintheworldandtheancestorofhuman

tory，pression，fatheriskindtohischildren.

whofirstlyspeaksofsomeplace

theprocessofthelottery，hehasahotdiscussion

withOldManWarner.“Theydosay，”aidtoOldManWarner，“thatoverinthenorth

villagethey‟retalkingofgivingupthelottery.”（Jackson，p.37）.Itissomereliefthatfinally

amwhoinpursuitofknowledgewillspurnthe

comfortableEden，ikesthebloody

riteandtriestodissuadetheoldestmanWarnerinthetown，

succeedsinhisattempt，amesuggestsitemsheistheright

r，whenthelotteryisoverandherealizesthathehaspasdthetorture

safely，notcareaboutwhether

contrary，he“wasinthefrontofthecrowdofvillagers.”（Jackson，p.39）.Matchinghisturnto

drawlots，ally，iftheoriginalAdam

leadshisfollowerstohewoutabrand-newworldatthesacrificeofcarefreelife–inordertofulfillhis

missionheareaudaciounoughtodefyauthority，whilehiscounterfeitinthestoryobeying

cowardlythesinisterlawguideshispeopletocommitterriblesin.

AlthoughJacksonisinflictedbyreaders‟doubtsandmisunderstandings，evenherownmother

scoldedher，“DadandIdidnotcareatallforyourstoryinTheNewYorker，”shewrotesternly；

“itdoesem，dear，thatthisgloomykindofstoryiswhatallyouyoungpeoplethinkaboutthe

‟tyouwritesomethingtocheerpeopleup”，ivetothe

realisticproblems，sheshoulderstheresponsibilitytoawakenthemasswithanaidofartistic

ter

uofirony，besidestheimprovementofdelight，cancreatetantalizingsuspenandsharp

talizingsuspentemptsreadertoperu，todigoutimplieddetailsandallusions.

Thesharpcontrastscomminutereader‟spreviouxpectationsandamplifythestrengthofthe

unexpectedoutcome，whichroureaders‟more，bydepictingthefour

ironicfigures，Jacksoncompleteshercriticisms，onindifferentmankind，oncapitalismandon

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kind

ofpeople，Jacksongivesthemanunforgettablescene：hthis

bloodyscene，Jacksonwishestoawakethowhoarecalloustoother‟antto

derivehappinessfromother‟saffliction；ifyoulostyournofsympathy，youarenotentitledto

espontoreaders‟queries，ShirleyJacksonwroteintheSanFrancisco

Chronicle（July22，1948）：“explainingjustwhatIhadhopedthestorytosayisverydifficult.I

suppo[d]Ihoped，byttingaparticularlybrutalancientriteintheprentandinmyownvillage

toshockthestory‟sreaderswithagraphicdramatizationofthepointlessviolenceandgeneral

inhumanityintheirownlives.”sisatypicalentrepreneurwhoadvocatefficiencyand

sortofcommercializedmen，ghthey

arerichinmaterial，pendingonwealth，

youarelackofthem，ewhowant

tomakeadustintheworld；whoareeagertoengravetheirnameonhistorybooks；whoare

immerdinbuildinganempire，tnot

least，perhaps，inthestory，re

，thefatherofhumanbeing，nota

SouthAmerica，Jacksonisvery

r，

time，concentrationcampinGermany；atomicbombinJapan；thefirstafterwareconomycrisis

inAmerican，allofthesocialissuesforceJacksontoponderoverwherethevirtueshide？Being

pessimisticabouthuman‟satonement，sheportraysAdams，theincarnationofourfather，who

shouldhaveledusforward，continuesguidingusbackward.

REFERENCES

Friedman，Lenemaja（1975）.：TwaynePublishers.

Hyman，StanleyEdgar（Ed.）.（1966）.TheMagicofShirleyJackson（）.New

York：Farrar，vedfromhttp：///wiki/The_Lottery

Jackson，Shirley（1995）.：PenguinPutnamInc.

Ward，Kyla（1995）.ShirleyJackson：Rasa，（7）.

Retrievedfromhttp：///DarkAges/

XIAO，Minghan（Ed.）.SelectedReadingsinAmericanLiterature.