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Critical Essay on “The Lottery”
“The Lottery” was written in 1948 and first published in The New Yorker, which sold out of every issue. Shirley Jackson lived most of her life in Rochester, New York. She attended the University of Rochester and Syracuse University. Throughout her life Jackson battled severe depression that even caused her to drop out of college for a short period. While sorting through the list of choices of stories I asked coworkers which stories they would recommend I read. A majority of them told me that I would find “The Lottery” an interesting and intriguing story. They also stated that I would find the ending to be appalling and difficult to believe. After reading the biography on Shirley Jackson, I thought she seemed like an interesting person who had a lot to say about her life and may have written touching stories.
The lottery takes place each year on June 27th with approximately 300 townspeople. The name of the head of each household, often times male, is called and they make their way up to the stage to draw a slip of paper out of a black box. No one is allowed to look at the slip of paper until everyone has drawn. When each person has a slip of paper they open it up and look at what is inside. The lucky winner, the Hutchinson family, had a black dot on their piece of paper. The entire Hutchinson family then has to make their way to the stage and each pick another piece of paper. Mrs. Hutchinson is the “lucky” one that has chosen the black dot, but is she the lucky one? The story ends with Mrs. Hutchinson getting stoned by the entire community because of the paper she has drawn.
According to the story the lottery is not such a lucky thing. When reading the title you have a perception of a lottery that is often associated with a winner, being lucky, happiness, and the anticipation of good things happening to those who win. But the story begins with the little boys gathering rocks which makes you ponder what exactly the story was about. As I read on I realized that the entire community was nervous about the lottery for some reason and began to think that winning the lottery was not going to be a fortunate event. The end of the story shows that winning the lottery is actually a cruel loss. How can all of the people of the town participate in such an inhumane tradition?
The story goes on into much detail about the black box and how it has been around for at least 77 years. In the story you learn that the present black box was made of pieces from an initial box constructed by the settlers of the town over 77 years ago. Many towns no longer hold a lottery, but this town refuses to stop the tradition. According to Old Man Warner if they ceased the lottery they would find “Nothing but trouble in that” (393) and those that did cease were a “Pack of fools” (393). I think that Old Man Warner worries that without the lottery the other towns are going to grow too quickly and run out of resources and room. Old Man Warner sees the lottery as a way to population control for their town.
One of the three major themes to come about from this story is how people are resistant to change. For example, Old Man Warner has been in the lottery for 77 years. The townspeople were against stopping the cruelty because they believed Old Man Warner knew what their best interests were based upon his experience. Everyone believed that the lottery was cruel but no one would put a stop to it because of its history. Other townspeople tried to argue for ceasing the lottery but no one would really quit because of the fear of change. The black box that everyone draws out of also plays a role in the story. It is so worn and old that a new one should be built. No one wants to build a new one for fear of continuation of the lottery. The box has been around for 77 years and a continued tradition that no one wants to alter.
Another theme that is perceived in this story is how man hides his fears by joking about difficult situations. Mr. Hutchinson makes reference to Mrs. Hutchinson being late, “Thought we were going to have to get on without you, Tessie” (302). This shows a little bit of foreshadowing into the end of the story that she may be the one to get stoned. It also shows how Mr. Hutchinson believes that he can get along without her in his life. Mrs. Hutchinson replies, “Wouldn’t have me leave m’dishes in the sink, now would you, Joe?” (392). I believe that Tessie thinks her family needs her around to do things for them and would not be able to survive without them. They joke with each other as a way to cope with an upcoming tragedy. Joking sometimes seems to alleviate the tension caused by tragic situations.
The third theme that I have concluded from this story is that people go through a stage of denial when they are faced with the possibility of death. Mrs. Hutchinson continuously states that Mr. Hutchinson was rushed when he was selecting his slip of paper. The only reason that she states this is because it was her family that was the chosen ones. If it were anyone else’s family Mrs. Hutchinson would not have been so objective about the choice. The townspeople are also in denial. They believe that each of them individually could not have killed Mrs. Hutchinson by throwing 2-3 stones. Instead it was the other townspeople who must have caused her death. This is a way for people to feel better about a bad decision that they have made and helps them to ease their guilty consciences.
I feel that “The Lottery” is quite a grim story. The title does not really fit the meaning of the story. When you read the title you are led to believe that it is going to be a story with a happy ending, but instead find something disturbing and quite depressing.
From this story you do learn about people and their morals. In the beginning of the story you see the boys are gathering stones. The boys think that this is just a game. The boys are following tradition and do not realize that this is wrong because no one has really talked to them about throwing stones at people and the consequences it may bring. They see that it is okay for the adults to throw stones so the boys believe that it must be all right for them to do the same. The story shows how people learn by example and will follow the majority instead of making the correct, even if uncommon, decision.
I am not very fond of this story and would not recommend it to others. Not many people want to read about how cruel and inhumane people can be. If anyone had any type of conscience they would know hurting someone and his or her family in such a way is wrong. Obviously no one in the town has a conscience.
The other reason I would not recommend the story is because no one tries to cease the lottery. Does tradition mean so much to them that it overrides the life of an innocent person? What normal sane person would pick up a rock and throw it at a person who seems genuinely nice?
I gained many insights into people reading this story. You see different sides of people, such as how resistant to change they are and how people have a tendency to joke when they are put into difficult situations. This story also shows how people go through denial when they are faced with death, either in the family or their own. Shirley Jackson is a very interesting writer. You can tell that this story coincides with her depression that she faces throughout her life. I would be interested to read more of her stories to see if they are all as depressing as this one or if the others have a happy ending.