Introduction
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a fictional narrative representing rural American culture. The story starts by telling the reader how “the men began to gather, surveying their own children, speaking of planting and rain, tractor and taxes.” The population and setup of structures highlighted in the narrative reveal that the novel is based on the life of 300 people living in a small town in the Midwest side of America. The dress code of the characters signifies that the story is set in the village. The author says that Mr. Summers was dressed in “his clean white shirt and blue jeans.” This dressing existed around World War II and related to the time of the story. Old Man Warner says, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.” From this statement, it is evident that the setting is an agricultural town in the corn belt. This analysis seeks to examine various themes, such as the power of tradition, rituals, and the human capacity for violence, as depicted in the American short story.
Analysis of Themes
One of the most notable themes in the storyline is the power of tradition. The villagers conduct the lottery every year as a norm. Clinging on to traditional practices, and the knowledge that people in other villages are going against the ethos of the town reveals the influential power of ritual and tradition among humans (Landau 11). The lottery can be regarded as meaningless since an individual has to lose his or her life after random selection. The author reveals that the original ritual has faded away. The original black box is unobtainable and, so, the lottery lacks religious sense. As such, the villagers participate because they uphold traditional beliefs.
Shirley Jackson also looks into the fundamental principles of human nature. The author explores the human capacity for violence by examining how the changing structure of society can shape medieval ideologies. Many philosophers wonder how people would behave without the existence of rules and laws. Perhaps, the absence of regulations would be met by self-centeredness, unusual cruelty, and inequality.
In “The Lottery,” the author takes the audience through the same inquisitive journey by depicting the story of an old town whose residents have the capacity for unusual violence. Various details revealed in the narrative establish the ordinariness of the rural village, which is deliberately described to make it universal and timeless (Sari and Tur 3). The author presents the story in a way that allows the reader to comprehend the universality of the ideas she presents. The type of violence she describes is inherent and can occur anywhere. The ruthless ending of the story shows that human beings are selfish and have an innate capacity for aggression so long as their actions do not harm them directly. When Tessie Hutchinson is chosen for the ritual, the other villagers feel calmed and remind the victim that “all of us took the same chance.”
Conclusion
The narrative is a picture-perfect representation of how human beings are enshrined in traditions and rituals. The fact that some people are breaking from the norm can be an indication that modernism can override traditionalism. Nevertheless, there are many instances in the narrative that show submission to conventionalism, even with bleak knowledge of the real religious meaning of the lottery. The themes in the story reveal that culture can bring about the commission of crimes through conformity. Due to fear of failure, all members of the society, including children, are seen taking part in the lottery.
Works Cited
Landau, Samantha. “Occult Influences in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”.” Gakuen, vol. 936, no. 1, 2018, pp. 11-21.
Sari, Fani Alfionita, and Ajar Pradika Ananta Tur. “Reshaping the Society Face through The Culture of Horror Told in Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery.” Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Culture, vol. 1, no. 1, 2019, pp. 1-7.