He is wholly devoted to his routine and monotonous copying, so much so that the continuous mocking and ridicule in the office do not keep him away from his work. ... In The Overcoat he contrasts meekness and humility of the normal man with rudeness of the so called "important personage". ... His entire routine changes that day as he does not work at home after dinner as he usually does, and walks the streets of the better part of town. ...
In the beginning of the story Jackson paints a picture of a normal village getting ready to celebrate a joyous occasion. ... However, although not mentioned in the introduction this seemingly normal village is preparing for a murder. ... The citizens in the story reflect this as they gather amongst themselves and "... smiled instead of laughing" (268) Tension within the village is seen throughout yet no one objects or questions the lottery because they are scared to disrupt the routine of life. ...
The people of the town just seem to be going through a normal routine. ... "The apparent disdain expressed by the villagers is also quite disturbing in that they treat the lottery as a normal daily event taking no time to fully appreciate the actions they are about to perform" (Oehlschaeger, 3). ...
After living a life of monotonous routines, Livvie wants more than she has. ... Livvie was deprived of a normal life, "Solomon would not have let Livvie look at them, just as he would not let her look at a field hand, or a field hand look at her" (300). ...
In the beginning of the story, the lottery event is described as a normal and ordinary tradition that occurs every year on the assigned date, but very soon, in the second paragraph, the suspicions begin to rise and the tension begins to increase. ... They will do incredibly evil and cruel things just for the sake of keeping a routine. ...
