“The Lottery:” Submit or Scream According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, prior to World War II Adolf Hitler scapegoated Jews, gypsies, and homosexuals for the economic problems that were facing Germany (Untied States Holocaust Memorial Museum). During the Holocaust, many in Germany, Austria, Poland, France, the Netherlands, and even America turned a blind eye while these individuals were rounded up and murdered. It is all too easy to call this atrocity history as if it could never happen again. In “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson brings to life such people who willingly turn a blind eye, but by removing the story from a specific location and time, she suggests it could happen anywhere. She simply defines the village
…show more content…
In connecting the village’s setting to a generic blueprint of any American town and then exposing how the townspeople’s conformity hides their barbaric willingness to murder, Jackson gives a dire warning that unthinkingly following tradition may cause people to relinquish their morality. Jackson depicts the village’s stubborn adherence to the lottery as a way to expose that the town’s sense of tradition is cult-like. To indicate how long this ritual has been going on, Jackson writes: “‘There’s always been a lottery’ [Old Man Warner] said petulantly” (3). The absolute “always” indicates not only how long this has been occurring and how it will continue even after this …show more content…
As the lottery is being set up Jackson comments on the behavior of the townsfolk, “[…] the stool was put in the center of the square and Mr. Summers set the black box down on it. The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool, and when Mr. Summers said, ‘Some of you fellows want to give me a hand?’ there was a hesitation” (1). By specifying a hesitation from the villagers to help, Jackson connotes how very ominous the black box is and how odd it is that the town is so wary of an inanimate object. The townspeople keep their distance from it suggesting that the box’s contents could harm them in some way. Jackson furthers her hint that the lottery is not what it appears to be, writing: “I think we ought to start over," Mrs. Hutchinson said, as quietly as she could. "I tell you it wasn't fair” (4). Normally, having your name in drawn in a lottery is cause for celebration, however, Mrs. Hutchinson’s quiet, yet firm protestations indicate that the lottery is not what it seems. Mrs. Hutchinson’s quiet objections grow to screams of protest as it becomes increasing clear that she drew the slip of paper with the black dot, further implying that the lottery in this town does not bring forth prosperity and success, rather the opposite. Adding to the eerie mood Mrs. Hutchinson’s outcries bring to the story,
In connecting the village’s setting to a generic blueprint of any American town and then exposing how the townspeople’s conformity hides their barbaric willingness to murder, Jackson gives a dire warning that unthinkingly following tradition may cause people to relinquish their morality. Jackson depicts the village’s stubborn adherence to the lottery as a way to expose that the town’s sense of tradition is cult-like. To indicate how long this ritual has been going on, Jackson writes: “‘There’s always been a lottery’ [Old Man Warner] said petulantly” (3). The absolute “always” indicates not only how long this has been occurring and how it will continue even after this …show more content…
As the lottery is being set up Jackson comments on the behavior of the townsfolk, “[…] the stool was put in the center of the square and Mr. Summers set the black box down on it. The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool, and when Mr. Summers said, ‘Some of you fellows want to give me a hand?’ there was a hesitation” (1). By specifying a hesitation from the villagers to help, Jackson connotes how very ominous the black box is and how odd it is that the town is so wary of an inanimate object. The townspeople keep their distance from it suggesting that the box’s contents could harm them in some way. Jackson furthers her hint that the lottery is not what it appears to be, writing: “I think we ought to start over," Mrs. Hutchinson said, as quietly as she could. "I tell you it wasn't fair” (4). Normally, having your name in drawn in a lottery is cause for celebration, however, Mrs. Hutchinson’s quiet, yet firm protestations indicate that the lottery is not what it seems. Mrs. Hutchinson’s quiet objections grow to screams of protest as it becomes increasing clear that she drew the slip of paper with the black dot, further implying that the lottery in this town does not bring forth prosperity and success, rather the opposite. Adding to the eerie mood Mrs. Hutchinson’s outcries bring to the story,