You are on page 1of 7

My

My
Reading
Reading
Journal
Journal
SUBMITTED BY: CHRIS ALLEN CARRERA -
10A

submitted to: miss wisah reyes


TITLE
TITLE OF
OF THE
THE BOOK
BOOK
"THE LOTTERY TICKET"

AUTHOR
AUTHOR
ANTON CHECKHOV

GENRE
GENRE
NARRATIVE/FICTION

DATE
DATE FINISHED
FINISHED
april 20, 2022
10
10 Unfamiliar
Unfamiliar Words
Words
BEGRUDGE - to give or concede reluctantly or with displeasure; to
look upon with disapproval or envy.
DAMNATION - a condemnation to eternal punishment in hell: : the
act of damning : the state of being damned.
DESPONDENT - feeling or showing extreme discouragement,
dejection, or depression.
DOUCHE - an obnoxious or offensive person : a contemptible or
despicable person.
FAWNING - displaying exaggerated affection; obsequious: : seeking
or used to seek approval or favor by means of flattery.
HYPOCRITICAL - characterized by behavior that contradicts what
one claims to believe or feel : characterized by hypocrisy.
MALIGNANT - evil in nature, influence, or effect : passionately and
relentlessly malevolent : aggressively malicious.
REPULSIVE - serving or able to repulse: arousing aversion or disgust.
SAUNTER - to walk about in an idle or leisurely manner : stroll.
SOUSED - something pickled especially : seasoned and chopped pork
trimmings, fish, or shellfish.
Plot
Plot Summary
Summary
The Lotto Ticket is a short story by Anton Chekhov which portrays the
lives of a middle-class couple who assumed that they have won the
lottery. Ivan Dmitritch is apprehensive of his wife's spending on
lottery tickets, believing that she is squandering money. However, he
agrees to read the winning numbers to her. When he does, the first set
of numbers matches, and they are already ecstatic before Ivan checks
at the final number. They start fantasizing about how they will spend
the $75,000 they won. Ivan suddenly understands that his wife may
either abandon him or use the money to manipulate him, and he
becomes enraged. His wife begins to fear that Ivan would spend all of
the money; after all, it is her money. She grows to despise him for
seeking her winnings. They argue, and Ivan notices that the last
number doesn't match. The first four numbers in the series do, but
the last two do not, hence they lose. They are no longer upset with
each other as their chance of victory fades. At the end of the narrative,
Ivan expresses his disappointment with his existence and announces
his intention to hang himself from a tree outside. The narrative
depicts how the unexpected onset of money may drastically alter
people's life and what is essential to them.

BOOK
BOOK RATING
RATING
9.5/10
Favorite
Favorite
Passages/Quotes
Passages/Quotes
“To torment and tantalize oneself with hopes of possible fortune is so sweet, so
thrilling!”
“It is pleasant to travel alone, or in the society of light, careless women who
live in the present, and not such as think and talk all the journey about
nothing but their children, sigh and tremble with dismay over every
farthing.”
“There is nowhere to walk; one can't go out for days together; one has to pace
up and down the room, looking despondently at the grey window. It is
dreary!”
― Anton Chekhov, The Lottery Ticket

Favorite
Favorite Scene
Scene
My favorite scene is when Ivan Dmitritch informs his wife that the series on which they
gambled was mentioned. His wife understood that he wasn't kidding when she saw his
stunned and anxious expression. When Dmitrich glanced at his wife, he only gave a
broad, senseless smile, like a kid seeing a brilliant object. At the same time, his wife,
Masha, was smiling at him since it was as pleasing to her as it was to him that he merely
stated the series and did not try to find out the winning ticket number. This was just too
precious and adorable for me, since it was all I could ever fathom for the couple’s
relationship. It then ends with a line: “To torment and tantalize oneself with hopes of possible
fortune is so sweet, so thrilling!” It made me realize that people are often drawn to
suspenseful assertions because they are intrigued or apprehensive about what can come
next, which could be a blessing or a disaster.

Most Liked Character


Most Liked Character
Ivan
Ivan Dmitrich
Dmitrich
Aside from being the protagonist of the story, Ivan is very relatable because he
struggles with greed, which is a common concern regardless of race, occupation, or
citizenship. People have been greedy since the beginning of time. Ivan, being a
middle-class man, he never had a large amount of money, just enough to pay the bills.
So when the possibilities were endless for him, he realized that his current life seemed
like all aspects could be largely better then its present state. Moreover, the minor
characters, such as the children, who are mentioned only twice and both show their
fondness, it also highlight Ivan’s love for serenity and peace, which somewhat made
me like him as my favorite character despite his major transformational arc during
the latter part of the story.

Least
Least Liked
Liked Character
Character
Masha
Masha Dmitrich
Dmitrich
Masha is my least liked character. Despite the fact that the conflict arose when she
appeared to Ivan's thoughts, she might nonetheless be considered as the antagonist.
She also acts as a counterpoint to Ivan, as her lottery luck highlights Ivan's "happiness"
so as to her own aspirations, and vice versa. Masha is also very relatable in the sense
that everyone in a relationship has trust concerns, so they put this trust to the test to
see whether it genuinely thrills them. Another universal problem, albeit not as
universal as Ivan's greed problem. That is not a difficult thing to understand in terms
of who it happens to, when it happens, and why it happens. Greed, on the other hand,
is such a simple concept that it really applies to everyone, old and young.
Lesson\s Learned
Lesson\s Learned
The story depicts the insidiously exciting but destructive nature of envy and the desire
for material possessions. This story is very relatable, especially in our current situation
as human beings, wherein wealth and power could change our way of living. It gave
me a lot of key takeaways and deliberate reflections for me to realize that money itself
could destabilize relationships and also our well-being. We can see that the couple in
the story are happy to some extent, but the thought of money makes them unhappy. It
can destroy their love. At first, there is respect in their relationship. However, because
the two of them hope to fulfill material ambitions, they have also developed hateful
feelings toward each other. People can easily forget about their loved ones when they
find things that satisfy their desires. Therefore, this story also deals with human
reality. People may be greedy by nature, but they should be content with what they
have because money can’t buy happiness.

Insights
Insights on
on the
the Writing
Writing
If I were to assess the whole narrative, I would conclude that "The Lottery Ticket" is ambiguously
an open-ended story because the main conflict was not resolved in the ending. There are a lot of
scenarios where I'm curious about what happened next; such as, did they simply disregard or
ignore all of their pessimistic ideas about each other? Or were they able to share it? I would also
like to know if the main protagonist truly ended his life, since the story ended with a very
intriguing line that depicts suicide. I understand that in a relationship, there are contributing
factors that may improve or worsen a particular situation. People involved are still in control of
how and in what way they will allow these factors to affect their relationship. In my opinion, the
author could have ended the story in a way that would have inspired frankness, respect, and
selflessness in the readers, especially married people. But all these criticisms aside, the author
created an outstanding piece where the theme emphasizes that money will not benefit us from
love alone, but instead, it will destroy our lives. Hence, we must be satisfied with what we have
and learn to be more realistic instead of drawing out our own fantasies.

You might also like