Misogynist Parable In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

In The Lottery a town of about three hundred people hold a drawing every seven years on June 27th along with other surrounding villages. The children play and collect stones while the men nervously talk and joke while the women are the last to show up. The lottery begins when Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves show up with the old black box so people gather and stand with their families. The box contains pieces of paper and written on them is the last name of each family in town a man from each family is called to come draw a paper from the box until every leader of the household has one. They are told to check their papers and it is revealed that the Hutchinson's got the paper with the black dot meaning their whole family now draws in a second round. Bill’s wife Tessie accuses them of rushing him to pick and it should be redone. The second drawing then takes …show more content…
The explanation of symbolism behind the characters names deeped my understanding and over all own analysis of the story.

Whittier, Gayle. "'The Lottery' As Misogynist Parable." Women's Studies 18.4 (1991): 353. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 22 Sept. 2015.

Argues “The Lottery” discloses a powerful misogynist parable, satisfying the commonest and most widespread cultural scapegoating even as the “political” aspect of the story seems to dispel another. The Lottery exposes small-town life in 1984 many Americans looked to recover the innocence before WW2. Also revealed is the fragility of the nuclear family that plays a role in effectively dividing individuals whose need to survive are at odds with another. The Lottery suggests progress is an illusion, even more so when it is thought to be obtained. Men conduct the ritual and a head of the household, normally a man, picks the first ballot. Men have choice while women choose only when they are already at risk. Married daughters draw with her husband’s family, she moves from man to man, first father then