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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 It also demonstrates the reluctance to discard time-honored traditions, even if these have been proven outdated and unnecessary.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 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…
References
Hooti, N. And Mahmoudi, Y. (2013). Black Veil of Ignorantism under the Unconscious Conscience of Human Soul in Shirley Jackson's Lottery. International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences. 5(10). Retrieved from: http://www.irjabs.com/files_site/paperlist/r_1585_131009104635.pdf
Jackson, S. (1948) The Lottery. Retrieved from: http://sites.middlebury.edu/individualandthesociety/files/2010/09/jackson_lottery.pdf
Lambert, S. (2014, Nov. 19). Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" as a Response to the Hypocrisy of Capital Punishment in the Late 1940's. Retrieved from: http://portfolio.snc.edu/sarah_lambert/wp-content/blogs.dir/107/files/sites/107/2013/08/New-Historic-Paper-PDF.pdf
Kosenko notes, the village in "The Lottery" "exhibits the same socio-economic stratification that most people take for granted in a modern, capitalist society. Summers, whose name reflects the time of year in which the lottery takes place, is in charge of the solemn ritual. Although not portrayed as corrupt, Summer nevertheless represents an inherently violent element within modern capitalist hierarchies. Graves, whose name symbolizes death itself, is the town
Shirley Jackson is widely regarded as one of the most prominent American authors of the twentieth century, best known for her works of horror and mystery. Born on December 14, 1916, in San Francisco, California, Jackson grew up in a suburban setting, which later came to influence her writings of small-town America and the often macabre events that unfold within it (Franklin, 2016). Jackson's personal life, marked by both her
Lottery" by Shirley Jackson and "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne" Nathaniel Hawthorne and Shirley Jackson like using symbols in expressing their thoughts in stories. "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Lottery" utilize symbols to emphasize themes in each of the stories. While Hawthorne makes use of objects and names to strengthen the theme, Jackson predominantly makes use of names to consolidate her theme; she does not limit to using a
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
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
Jackson was born in San Francisco, to father Leslie Jackson, an English immigrant and Geraldine Bugbee Jackson, who was related to the famous California architects, an association some give credit for driving her sense of place and detail for architecture in her stories. She spent most of her years in Vermont and is associated as a New England writer. The last work Jackson published, like the Lottery was one