‘The Lottery” Criticism
The short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is termed as one the most bizarre stories about a town in England that is entangled in a trap of following traditions even though the traditions are not of their best interests. The town holds an annual lottery where one member of the society is randomly selected for sacrifice and gets stoned by the rest of the villagers. The story goes on to reveal that these gruesome traditions that goon in the village for decades despite the fact that no one really knows about its origin (Jackson, 43).
According Vickery, Jackson creates this appalling and horrific situation through the use of tools as characterization and thematic elements of individuals versus the general public, which has been depicted in the story as scapegoating. A scapegoat is a person who usually bears the burdens and mistakes of others. In the story, the villagers are used to holding lotteries every year where they get to determine their next scapegoat. Upon the selection, the scapegoat is then stoned to death by the villagers due to the belief that this bizarre action is a form of sacrifice that would appease the ancestors hence bringing about prosperous harvests …show more content…
Several passages in the story reveal that several villagers have taken notice of the cruelty of the lottery tradition, but no one is brave enough to challenge it. The issue of following the crowd to do things despite their graveness has been portrayed where Mrs. Dumbar chooses only the small stones for stoning the villager, unlike Mrs. Delacroix who only chooses the big stones. This clearly shows that Mrs. Dumbar is unenthusiastic about the tradition of stoning but still does it because the crowd around her does it (Jackson,
The short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is termed as one the most bizarre stories about a town in England that is entangled in a trap of following traditions even though the traditions are not of their best interests. The town holds an annual lottery where one member of the society is randomly selected for sacrifice and gets stoned by the rest of the villagers. The story goes on to reveal that these gruesome traditions that goon in the village for decades despite the fact that no one really knows about its origin (Jackson, 43).
According Vickery, Jackson creates this appalling and horrific situation through the use of tools as characterization and thematic elements of individuals versus the general public, which has been depicted in the story as scapegoating. A scapegoat is a person who usually bears the burdens and mistakes of others. In the story, the villagers are used to holding lotteries every year where they get to determine their next scapegoat. Upon the selection, the scapegoat is then stoned to death by the villagers due to the belief that this bizarre action is a form of sacrifice that would appease the ancestors hence bringing about prosperous harvests …show more content…
Several passages in the story reveal that several villagers have taken notice of the cruelty of the lottery tradition, but no one is brave enough to challenge it. The issue of following the crowd to do things despite their graveness has been portrayed where Mrs. Dumbar chooses only the small stones for stoning the villager, unlike Mrs. Delacroix who only chooses the big stones. This clearly shows that Mrs. Dumbar is unenthusiastic about the tradition of stoning but still does it because the crowd around her does it (Jackson,