In her short story, “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson provides an important social commentary on the dangers of adhering to tradition without logic or meaning; her use of character and tone supplement her ideas by showing how the lottery has become outdated.
Jackson’s use of character fortifies her social commentary by showing how the characters blindly follow an outdated and unnecessary tradition. The townsfolk only care about themselves and how the lottery benefits or harms them. In town, everyone knows that Old Man Warner is the oldest and therefore has seen the most lotteries. Old Man Warner is weary of change and thinks that abolishing the lottery will only bring trouble. Jackson notes a significant aspect of his reasoning when she writes, “‘there's always …show more content…
After surviving seventy-seven lotteries, Old Man Warner is a proud supporter of it and believes that it is important. This reflects society today, in which younger generations are more susceptible and open to change. Another character Jackson uses to illustrate her point is Tessie Hutchinson. Right from when Jackson introduces her, Tessie is immediately different than her fellow townsfolk. She is late to the square, she is wearing her clothes differently, and she is more outspoken than the other women in town. However, despite these differences, she is not openly opposed to the lottery until she is drawn. She begins to object, saying, “‘I think we ought to start over… I tell you it wasn't fair. You didn't give him time enough to choose. Everybody saw that’” () Jackson uses Tessie Hutchinson to show readers the selfishness displayed in objection to the lottery. Tessie does not have a problem with the lottery until her family is going to suffer. The philosophy and logic of the lottery are not called into question until it is too late. Tessie does not say that the lottery is unfair; she says that it is unfair that her husband was not given enough time to choose and
Jackson’s use of character fortifies her social commentary by showing how the characters blindly follow an outdated and unnecessary tradition. The townsfolk only care about themselves and how the lottery benefits or harms them. In town, everyone knows that Old Man Warner is the oldest and therefore has seen the most lotteries. Old Man Warner is weary of change and thinks that abolishing the lottery will only bring trouble. Jackson notes a significant aspect of his reasoning when she writes, “‘there's always …show more content…
After surviving seventy-seven lotteries, Old Man Warner is a proud supporter of it and believes that it is important. This reflects society today, in which younger generations are more susceptible and open to change. Another character Jackson uses to illustrate her point is Tessie Hutchinson. Right from when Jackson introduces her, Tessie is immediately different than her fellow townsfolk. She is late to the square, she is wearing her clothes differently, and she is more outspoken than the other women in town. However, despite these differences, she is not openly opposed to the lottery until she is drawn. She begins to object, saying, “‘I think we ought to start over… I tell you it wasn't fair. You didn't give him time enough to choose. Everybody saw that’” () Jackson uses Tessie Hutchinson to show readers the selfishness displayed in objection to the lottery. Tessie does not have a problem with the lottery until her family is going to suffer. The philosophy and logic of the lottery are not called into question until it is too late. Tessie does not say that the lottery is unfair; she says that it is unfair that her husband was not given enough time to choose and