A short story’s theme is regarded as one of its most crucial components since it connects the author’s methods to the actual message they want to get across. Equipped with two semi-automatic handguns, Seung-Hui Cho entered Virginia Tech in April 2007 and killed thirty people in nine minutes because he believed in divine retribution and felt like an outsider. Each one was amazed. “How did that come about?” There is always an explanation available for everybody who commits a horrible deed. “I was bullied and never felt like I belonged.” It is the same with Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery. A little English village holds an annual lottery, as shown in the short story. The lottery winner is then stoned to death by the villagers. No one in the story observed the act. The explanation for why they felt compelled to do it was examined. That rationale turns into an excuse for the behavior. The discussion will focus on the central theme of a misguided tradition that is spearheaded by self-interest and utter wickedness that is justified by the good of the town.
Traditions are handed down from one era to the next in the hopes that they would aid in their survival and harmonious coexistence. Shirley Jackson’s novel effectively illustrates the concept of tradition when the residents of a small town gather in the town square to hold an initially innocuous lottery (Batista-Duarte 5). The residents of the town adhered to this custom religiously for a long time. The peasants’ slavish observance of the lottery custom, while knowing that an individual must die each time it is held, is both hilarious and horrifying. The majority of villagers are unaware that some customs, such as the lottery, cause sorrow and suffering to the families that lose loved ones as a result of the lottery tradition. These customs have no positive effect on the village.
Moreover, the fairness, need, or justice of the lottery is never questioned by the populace. The same response is always given: we will continue to carry out the same tasks as our forefathers (Hakaraia 10). Every family gathers with their relatives and forms a line in front of several stones that have been prearranged, as is customary. By the time the story is through, the roles are reversed, and an innocent person is killed. Thus, the town’s naive acceptance and approval of the lottery turned into a custom, and murder now became ingrained in them.
Further, the idea of misplaced tradition goes on to highlight the group’s self-serving interests, which all members share. Everyone in the audience wants to continue this tradition because they want bountiful harvests. A good crop guaranteed them a good year, money, and the ability to support their family. There would only be corn later if they had played the lottery in June. They were too afraid not to participate, even though the custom did not demonstrate that winning the lottery did not provide “good crops” (Robinson 8). Crowds and mobs will act in ways they would not on their own because of selfishness. Mobs tend to get entitled to act in specific ways and start thinking like animals as a result of others doing it. Every lottery winner took an equal chance.
Therefore, their failure to sketch on the designated paper was not their responsibility. Since they were not the marked family, nobody offered to aid. These days, instead of taking action, many choose to watch as individuals are killed while standing on the sidewalks. They fear what people would think of them and what they might do to them. After killing Tessie, they returned to their modest dwellings, had dinner, and went to bed early to wake up early for work the next day. No regret or guilt was felt. The harvests would be abundant in the fall, so they had no reason to fret about it again.
From The Lottery, audiences learn that misguided traditions and selfishness portray the evil wickedness of the town. In The Lottery tradition, persons are judged not based on their past transgressions but rather on whether or not their paper was “drawn” with a black dot (Batista-Duarte 24). It was revealed in the narrative that one of the villagers, Tessie, had her paper marked with a black dot after the other locals had been summoned out by name and provided pieces of parchment to unwrap. The other communities were given orders by Mr. Summers to rush and get stones. Through this process, Tessie was murdered; in the name of custom, she was stoned by relatives, acquaintances, and even youngsters whom she believed to be her close friends.
In this light, people have long engaged in philosophical debates on evil in their lives, arguing that “the means warrants the goal.” This implies that as long as the outcome is what the individual wants, it is irrelevant who they hurt. At the time, all wars appeared to be terrible because, despite the deaths of thousands of people, the ruling class justified them by claiming that they would free or feed thousands more. It is difficult to determine whether that is right or bad because we are not always sure if the good outweighs the evil. What if the customs were accurate? What if the town’s “gods” provided food and prevented starvation for everyone each year? It is food for thought.
Ultimately, Jackson delivers a succinct message. “Power ought to perpetually be challenged and not assumed as well as a custom.” Jackson made a strong argument with her use of color, humor, and perspective. Using literary devices, she skillfully but subtly conveys her views about the topic matter across the narrative. Interestingly, Jackson employs symbolism to illustrate a community’s traditions. Jackson highlights the influence of cultural norms and how they are occasionally taken for granted. The thing that is scary regarding this narrative is that it is meant to be a joke or a metaphor. However, similar occurrences observe the same school of thinking across the nation today.
Work Cited
Batista-Duarte, Ewerton. “SYMBOLISM, THEMES AND SETTING IN AMERICAN.” O TRABALHO COM A LÍNGUA INGLESA NA VOZ DOS ESPECIALISTAS DO VALE DO PARAÍBA (2022). Pp 1-131.
Hakaraia, Teresa. “Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery,’and William Empson’s Seven Types of Ambiguity.” Humanities 8.3 (2019): 137. Pp1-14
Robinson, Michael. “Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Holocaust Literature.” Humanities 8.1 (2019): 35. Pp 1-20.
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