What Role Does Gender Play In The Lottery

A Big Black Box and a Check: Both Decide Your Fate Picture this: it is payday at the end of one of the most stressful work weeks of your life. You line up with your many coworkers to collect your check and see happily paid employees smiling at the numbers printed on their magic slip of paper. You receive your check, take it out of the envelope and glance at the number on the right. Eyes flitting around the room, you realize that your check is worth significantly less than those who surround you. Women go through this same situation every pay day. Men are paid significantly more money than women even when they are working the same exact job. Even though this was not an issue when “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson was written, there are clear implications as to how the characters in this story would feel about the gender pay gap. Out of the characters in the story, Mr. Summers would have the most stringent opinion about the gender pay gap. Mr. Summers believes in equality for all citizens, and in turn would actively endorse equal pay for men and women. Mr. Summers is a very prominent character in the short story “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson. The story is set in a small village in Vermont based on a settlement Jackson lived in during her …show more content…
For one, Mr. Summers displays very clearly that he sees everyone equally. He has all citizens participate in the lottery no matter age or gender. Nancy, Bill Jr., and little Dave all drew a slip of paper even though they are all very different in that sense. Mr. Summers did not view them differently because of their physical features; the fact that they were a citizen of the village was enough for him. If he believes in equality in this sense, it is safe to assume that he would also think that everyone should be treated the same when it comes to paycheck. He doesn’t see people for their gender, so he wouldn’t think the bank should