Shirley Jackson's the Lottery Is

Shirley Jackson's the Lottery is a richly symbolic work, where setting and character are critical to understanding Jackson's message. The theme of the work is centered on the inhumanity and violence that underlies our society. Jackson sets the work in a small village, and the different characters reflect the community of mankind. In the story, the small village holds a lottery and this forms the setting.

It becomes apparent early in the story that the lottery is something sinister, and by the end of the story the "loser" of the lottery, Tessie Hutchinson, is stoned to death. The setting is critical to the story for a couple of reasons. The story was written in 1948, a time when America was just returning to normality after the war, and a time when a significant portion of Americans still lived in rural communities. These communities represented a vision of bucolic, traditional America.

This setting is intended to encapsulate the idyllic vision of American society that many people held, especially in the post-war period. Jackson turns this setting on its ear by illustrating a horrific tradition that takes place in such a setting. The setting's imperfection, because it is a tradition, is intended to shock readers who would have been accustomed to seeing this type of setting in a positive light. Jackson is using the setting, however, to reflect the ugliness of American society back on the audience.

The village's lottery tradition is old, as noted that some other villages had abandoned the tradition -- they had progressed beyond the brutal traditions, but this village looked down upon that. The village's desire to cling to the tradition is rooted in superstition as well -- "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon." Jackson is pointing out that the brutality of humanity is often rooted in superstition. Whether this can be taken as a critique of religion in general is not known, but in today's context it reads that way.

Further, it can be taken as a critique of race relations. The characters are not specifically identified in terms of their race, but as a black woman Jackson could well have been commenting about how her community has been subject to dehumanizing violence in the name of superstition and bigotry that has not rational basis. That these attitudes were very much prevalent, especially in rural areas, should not be overlooked as a central theme.

The rural idyllic village at the time could certainly be seen as a hotbed of outmoded attitudes that led to brutality inflicted on some members of the society. That those members saw no justice in this -- that they felt the entire situation was unfair -- is a message that Jackson conveys that directly reflects American society at the time.

While Americans were feeling good about their country after the war, Jackson sent a clear reminder that all was not good in American society, and there were people who were subject to brutal, inhumane treatment. Where Tessie is a scapegoat, she represents the African-American community that often found itself scapegoated when things went wrong.

The same argument can be made for many minorities throughout history, in many countries, so Jackson's critique can be extrapolated to the world at large to support her point about the inherently brutal, violent nature of humanity. The characters also support the theme of this story. Old Man Warner stands out as a clear example of the tradition that Jackson is criticizing.

He laments about the lottery tradition not being what it used to be "…bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody" and "it's not the way it used to be." This reflects the old guard, whose views still influence today's decisions, and this is juxtaposed against some of the younger villagers who would prefer to move on from this brutal tradition. Other characters also make a strong contribution to the theme of the story.

The character of Delacroix is important because this name reflects the role of religion in this brutality, again pointing the reader to the idea that religion is a contributing factor to mankind's brutality. "De la croix" is French for "of the cross," but the character's name has been bastardized by the villagers. This symbolizes how religion has been bastardized by society to become a tool by which violence is inflicted on others. Some of the other names have evident symbolism as well.

"Graves" is a clear symbol for death and escape from brutality. That Mr. Summers is the one who runs the lottery is an ironic name, given what the lottery represents. That his role is considered a civic duty, in line with organizing square dances and the teen club, reinforces the idea that the brutality of the lottery is something that is ingrained in this society, to the point where it is considered to be natural, normal and not even brutal. Another critical character is Davy Hutchinson, Tessie's son.

At the end of the story, the young child is given stones to contribute to the stoning of his mother, as are the other children: "The children had stones already, and someone gave little Davy Hutchinson few pebbles." This illustrates most clearly the cycle of brutality, and the degree to which society is blinded to its inhuman nature. That the villagers would give the child stones with which to kill his mother will only reinforce the child's commitment to society's barbaric rituals.

There is also a sense of innocence lost with this character becoming involved -- the child was also an option as a victim of the stoning. Many of the remaining characters are given bland "everyday" names, and many names are used to identify the different villagers. This connotes that the issues in society are not limited to one fictional village with a barbaric tradition, but that these problems of violent and inhumanity are shared collectively. The villagers reflect American society -- they are all of us. Jackson is directing us.