"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

Lottery

Literature that followed World War II in the United States tended towards the cynical, the depressive, and a sense of mortality that has not been as intense before the World War broke out for the first time. Furthermore, there came about a basic lack of trust in traditional, time-worn institutions, including the government and general social values. These mistrust issues and difficulty readjusting to post-war life are exemplified in stories such as "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. In this shocking story, a community's tradition of yearly ritual sacrifice demonstrates general society's lack of basic critical thinking. It also demonstrates the reluctance to discard time-honored traditions, even if these have been proven outdated and unnecessary.

Jackson's short story opens with a deceptively idyllic scene, in which the author describes a clear, sunny day, with rich sunshine and summer colors. Throughout the story, the gathering of people and their interactions give away nothing of the dark truth that is revealed only in the last lines; that the "lottery" is in fact a game in which the prize is death. The lottery has survived for at least 77 years, and is said to bring about "good crops." The most chilling aspect of the story is probably the fact that the village people gather almost eagerly for the yearly ritual, with apprehension apparent only once they start drawing the names. So embedded is the tradition in most of the minds of the village people that nobody considers questioning its continued validity.

Traditional values form the core of the lottery game the villagers in Jackson's story play every year. In keeping with the nature of tradition, some of its elements have held strong over the years, such as the black box holding the lottery draw papers: "... The black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born." The stones used during the ritual killing, remained a tradition from the ancient times. Indeed, the stones are the first concrete indication that the lottery might not be a game of winning, but rather one of losing.

Other items, such as ritual greetings and interactions, which were heavily formalized in the past, have changed somewhat, although elements remain. Although it is known that some village people have family members who are indisposed or heads of households that have died, the question regarding those who would stand for them in the lottery remain.

That the tradition remains at all is indicative of the collective consciousness of those involved. While the draw is being prepared, some of the townspeople speculate about those villages where the lottery has been abandoned. The reaction from those steeped in the tradition is typical: "Pack of crazy fools..." And "Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them." This is followed by an assertion that people will next be reverting to "living in caves." This is branded as "ironic" by authors such as Lambert (2014), who basis this view on the fact that ritual sacrifice for the good of a crop is in fact an ancient and, today, a barbaric notion. Hence, Old Man Warner's assertion that progress in the form of discarding an ancient, useless, and barbaric tradition would result in a reversion to even more ancient times is indeed ironic.