Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”
John F. Kennedy once said, “conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” goes a long way in proving this statement. Her short story revolves around a small farming village that clings to past traditions in hopes of a better life. “The Lottery” refers to events that took place around the time the actual short story was written. Because of this, Jackson has the ability, through her story, to critique the society she lives in.
The audience knows something bad is going to happen before the story even gets underway from the names of the characters in the story. For example, we meet people whose last names are Graves referring to a literal grave and Delacroix, which means of the cross in French. In addition, one of the main characters in the story is Tessie …show more content…
The popular idiom you win some you lose some is a perfect example of this. There is neither a way of escaping nor predicating being chosen for the lottery. It is the luck of the draw. Like life, the lottery is “unfair”. Jackson tries to capitalize on this point by having Tessie make a scene when Bill gets picked. She states, “you didn’t give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair!” (Jackson 5) This could be a critique of American society after World War Two. The war was so long and ruthless that people embraced conformism because they had forgotten what normal was.
We see numerous other examples that support this theme in the story. For instance, the lottery begins early in the morning so that there is enough time for the villagers to get home for noon dinner. This minute detail in addition to other details tells a lot about what Jackson was attempting to convey. She is giving the audience a list of ingredients that are needed to make a community full of conformists. One such component could be that society must strive for
John F. Kennedy once said, “conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” goes a long way in proving this statement. Her short story revolves around a small farming village that clings to past traditions in hopes of a better life. “The Lottery” refers to events that took place around the time the actual short story was written. Because of this, Jackson has the ability, through her story, to critique the society she lives in.
The audience knows something bad is going to happen before the story even gets underway from the names of the characters in the story. For example, we meet people whose last names are Graves referring to a literal grave and Delacroix, which means of the cross in French. In addition, one of the main characters in the story is Tessie …show more content…
The popular idiom you win some you lose some is a perfect example of this. There is neither a way of escaping nor predicating being chosen for the lottery. It is the luck of the draw. Like life, the lottery is “unfair”. Jackson tries to capitalize on this point by having Tessie make a scene when Bill gets picked. She states, “you didn’t give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair!” (Jackson 5) This could be a critique of American society after World War Two. The war was so long and ruthless that people embraced conformism because they had forgotten what normal was.
We see numerous other examples that support this theme in the story. For instance, the lottery begins early in the morning so that there is enough time for the villagers to get home for noon dinner. This minute detail in addition to other details tells a lot about what Jackson was attempting to convey. She is giving the audience a list of ingredients that are needed to make a community full of conformists. One such component could be that society must strive for