Use Of Foreshadowing In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

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Shirley Jackson adopts foreshadowing, akin to a premonition, as she indicates that this seemingly serene community is directed towards a turbulent event. The first revelation is that of the stoning, Jackson writes that the boys stuff their “pockets full of stones,” and the author continues explaining that they “make a great pile of stones in one corner of the square.” Indicating their fear, the “small children… cling to the hands of their older” siblings, as the boys create the stone pile. Jackson continues foreshadowing the stoning as she informs her audience that the men keep their distance “from the pile of stones in the corner” as they “smile rather than laugh” (251). The audience is now aware that there is a pile of stones, which strikes fear into both the young and the old, conceding that these stones intentions are to cause harm. …show more content…
Historically, the lottery officiate performs “a recital of some sort… a perfunctory tuneless chant” and is also responsible for “a ritual salute… addressing each person” (Jackson 252). Jackson’s ominous revelation, of what is to come, is eerily similar to the ancient Aztec practice where there is “an unceasing round of elaborate… calendar rites- akin to a fiesta” which precedes games and human sacrifices (Kerkhove