Analysis of The Lottery

¶ … Lottery

An Analysis of the Symbol of Throwing Stones in Jackson's "The Lottery"

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is a short story that focuses on a village's illogical attachment to a semi-sadistic ritual. Yet the ritual may serve to symbolize a deeper depravity in the human condition: the sinful exercise of judging others. Indeed, if one looks to the New Testament, one discovers a striking parallel to Jackson's story in a popular Bible verse: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" (John 8:7). Set against a surprise backdrop of stoning, "The Lottery" brings the sinfulness and horror of human nature to the surface of a society which has virtually institutionalized it: all must participate in the lottery -- no one may abstain. Thus, a tale of meaningless, ritualistic stoning becomes the representation of the Christian message inverted: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" is eclipsed in favor of a more brutal teaching: all most throw stones at one's neighbor. This paper will analyze the theme of "throwing stones" in Jackson's "The Lottery."

Jackson expresses in a brutally honest and vivid way the complete indifference with which the villagers disregard the divine commandment (as though ignorant of its existence) and literally cast stones in a bizarre act of homicide. In one sense, "The Lottery" can be read as a tale that satirizes and objects to senseless violence. In fact, the use of "tradition" in "The Lottery" is an excuse for unwarranted murder. Good and bad luck are nothing more than superficial pretexts for institutionalized extermination. No rationale is provided for why one must be stoned -- and even though objections are made, the stoning still takes place: "They do say,' Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, 'that over in the north village they're talking of giving up the lottery.' 'Old Man Warner snorted, 'Pack of crazy fools,' he said. 'Listening to the young folks…'" (Jackson 225). The suspicion and contempt that Old Man Warner has for a change of such traditions represents the social establishment's way of thinking -- a way of thinking that refuses to acknowledge change, dissatisfaction, or even reason, and views instead the logic of the "north village" as something new-fangled and foolish -- the idea of "young folks" who Old Man Warner implies could not possibly have better sense than he. In other words, Old Man Warner represents an anti-Christian institution that does not want people to view Mrs. Hutchinson's death as abominable -- but simply as a matter of bad luck, of course, of tradition.

"The Lottery" could also be read as Jackson's own clear-sighted and objective satire of American society: pompous, Pharisaical, holy and virtuous on the outside; dark, sinister, judgmental on the inside. It might be said that in "The Lottery" Jackson perceives that such a condition affects all humanity, and that her short story simply shows in a literal way what many do in a figurative way on a day-to-day basis when they judge others. The complaint of Mrs. Hutchinson at the end of the story, "It isn't fair," could be called poetic justice: after all, she has taken part in "The Lottery" and now reaps what she has sown, recalling another Scriptural verse: "Judge not, lest ye be judged" (Matthew 7:1). The sinister authority in the village, however, will not allow for any reflection or consideration of this kind. As Jackson writes, "Old Man Warner was saying, 'Come on, come on, everyone.' Steve Adams was in the front of the crowd of villagers, with Mrs. Graves beside him. 'It isn't fair, it isn't right,' Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her" (Jackson 228). The plight of Mrs. Hutchinson is all too common: a willing participant in the lottery up till now (when she was the one who had stones in her hands -- not the one being stoned), she realizes too late the implications of what they have all been doing. By stoning (judging) others, they risk being stoned (judged) themselves. Hers was the bad decision to participate -- and now that bad decision has returned to condemn her.

In a symbolic sense, then, stoning in "The Lottery" is a representation of the horror in human nature. The old world called it Original Sin, but the new Protestant world (of America) attempts in many different ways to flee this sense of sin and corruption. Jackson's "Lottery" simply brings the sin and horror to the surface and recognizes the way all people blithely take part in it. It is almost as if the act of stoning were a compulsion that had to be satisfied against one's better judgment. "The Lottery" is full of villagers who would rather throw stones than seriously think about why they do it. "Throwing stones," rather, becomes a way for the people to vent act out their viciousness.