Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson's short story the Lottery bases its effect, at least partially, on its surprise ending. The plot of the short story seems shocking to the reader, even if there is some suspicion about a bizarre, impending event. The lottery organized in the middle of a peaceful, rural community does not lead to a happy prize winning but to the senseless stoning to death of a man. The surprise persists even after the event is revealed, as it seems that such a thing could not happen in a civilized human community. In fact, the purpose of the author is exactly to shock us with the irrationality and quaintness of the story, and to point to the similar behavior of human beings towards other human beings, on numberless occasions.

The key in Jackson's story is the people's stubborn reliance on tradition and the ways in which it can be extremely harmful. Mr. Summers organizes the lottery every year, despite the fact that there is no obvious need of this savage custom. The people of the community talk at some point of the possibility of abolishing the lottery, but most of them reject it because it would violate tradition and any change would seem absurd to them: Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box."(Jackson, 114)

The Lottery thus draws attention towards the absurdity of maintaining tradition at all costs and refusing change and evolution. The small, rural community cannot account for its own savagery. The fact that the lottery is an old custom seems a sufficient justification for the villagers, who do not hesitate to murder Mr. Hutchinson mercilessly, in spite of the fact that they had shown compassion before. Tradition can be just as harmful as stereotypes and preconceived ideas.

Jackson's story is thus an allegory that hints at all the harmful traditions and superstitions that are nevertheless maintained by people with veneration. The symbol in the story is the black box from which the villagers draw every year. The fact that the box grows shabbier and shabbier without being changed is an evidence of how the people generally cling to traditions and refuse to let go: "Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done. The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color..."(Jackson, 115) the black box is thus a symbol for how certain ideas and conceptions are stored up by people who deny change and novelty.

There are obviously many situations in real life in which Jackson's allegory applies. Clinging to tradition, people refuse to accept new realities about the world they live in. This can often lead to serious problems such as racism, exclusion of other people, rejection and many other social conflicts. Even if a certain tradition is not as violent as that in Jackson's story it can still be harmful because it prevents evolution and the development of a superior understanding. Traditions should not be used thus as the bases for establishing the identity of a particular community. The use of a lottery as the main element in the allegory is also very telling: tradition proves to be something irrational and random.