The Lottery Theme Analysis

One of the themes shown in “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson, is how authoritative figures can manipulate the hearts of people with less power to instrument violence or other concepts that normally wouldn’t be socially acceptable. For instance, the men who manage the black lottery box, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves, were able to orchestrate a mob to stone an innocent woman. They hold the responsibility of carrying on this tradition, even though many villagers find it disturbing, as seen on page four when Mrs. Adam states that “Some places have already quit lotteries.” This leads you to believe that other villages have seen through the mask of tradition and realized that the lotteries were inhumane and had little reason to continue them. Several of the villagers seem to be reluctant to participate as well, as they are worried for their friends and families as well as themselves; this is shown when Nancy Hutchinson’s friend whispers, “‘I hope it’s not Nancy,’ and the sound of the whisper reached the edges of the crowd” (5). …show more content…
When rumors circulate about quitting the lottery, Old Man Warner shows clear objection. “‘Nothing but trouble in that,’ Old Man Warner said stoutly. ‘Pack of young fools’” (4). The three also calmly proceed with the lottery even in the face of murder, with Old Man Warner encouraging people; “Come on, come on, everyone” (4). This demonstrates how they intend to carry out the lottery procedure and carry on the tradition, for if they too carried the doubt the townsfolk did, they’d show more emotion in their actions; Someone who disagrees with their own actions would’ve showed nervousness or discontent at their actions while performing them, but Mr. Summers, Mr. Graves, and Old Man Warner all appear relatively calm in the