“The Lottery” Setting: the Dark Reflection of Selfishness

Introduction

In “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson creates situations/scenes that have deeper meaning and theories behind them. Instead of clearly stating those theories, she hints about them so readers can create their own deeper theories. The lottery has transformed the villagers into selfish people who are taught not to love others. Jackson initially begins by showing the audience a close-knit community participating in a social event together on a special day. Then ends, the story with a shocking twist- the death of the lottery’s “winner” by public stoning.

Body

The Destructive Nature of Selfishness

The village lottery culminates in a violent murder each year for blessings. It is a peculiar ritual that shows how dangerous tradition can be when people follow it blindly without thinking about whether it is wrong or right. To start off, when the villagers find out that Tessie is the one who will be stoned to death, her family and the villagers do not panic but instead, act like everything is normal. These villagers are her so-called “friends,” and instead of being Wobegon, they are relieved that they weren’t chosen to die. This evokes a theory of selfishness in human nature. In a situation just like the one in “The Lottery,” the neighbors act like they never cared the next second because of their selfish motives.

For instance, it states, “‘All right, folks.’ Mr. Summers said. ‘Let’s finish quickly.’ The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready; there were stones on the ground with the blowing scraps of paper that had come out of the box. Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turn to Mrs. Dunbar. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Hurry up.'” (Jackson). This shows that they all want to live, but someone has to die, and they would rather have their loved ones die than themselves. Selfishness is a prerequisite for survival and maintenance for any living being on Earth. Humans naturally seek their own selfish pleasure. Tessie’s neighbors and friends acted unflustered when Tessie was about to be stoned. Instead of crying and trying to stand up for her, they were instead getting stones to get the ritual over with. Mr. Summers even says to hurry up so they can quickly be done. But no one thought about how Tessie felt, and no one cared about her.

The Influence of Blind Tradition

Furthermore, Tessie’s family also acted extremely differently than how the readers would’ve imagined them to act. In this story, the husband and the children, instead of trying to save Tessie, act cold toward her as if they don’t even care a bit. This evokes the theory that in this town, they are taught not to love anyone, and they are taught to put themselves first. It states in the story that “Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the slip of paper out of her hand.” “Bill Hutchinson held it up, and there was a stir in the crowd.” “The children had stones already. And someone gave little Davy Hutchinson few pebbles.” (Jackson). This quote proves that Tessie’s husband did not feel sorrow. Instead, it looked like he did not care at all for her.

On top of that, a son would never be willing to stone his own mother to death like Tessie’s son did. Family is a title given to those we hold dearly in our hearts. We extend it to those who come into our lives and, no matter what, through thick or thin, seem to stay. But in this story, there is no family; Bill Hutchinson is emotionless towards his wife, and the family does not care about each other at all. Similarly, a major example of selfishness in the real world was in the 1800s when monopolies rose and controlled the US economy. Andrew Carnegie’s Steel Company (now U.S. Steel), John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company, the American Tobacco Company, etc. had so much money that they lived in mansions with the latest technology, whereas the workers, on the hand, earned so little that they couldn’t even afford to get enough food. Due to this, men, women, and children worked to be able to survive. Monopolies were selfish, and instead of raising the worker’s pay so they could live a slightly better life, monopolies would keep the money or even sometimes cut their worker’s pay so they could have more and more money.

Conclusion

To sum it up, Jackson creates situations/scenes that have deeper meaning and theories behind them. She pushes the readers to dig for a deeper meaning and relate those meanings to their lives and the world. The village lottery sacrifices someone each year, and people follow it blindly without thinking about whether it is wrong or right, and this tradition has turned them into egocentric people.

References

1. Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” The New Yorker, June 26, 1948. (The original publication date in The New Yorker).

2. Carnegie, Andrew. “The Gospel of Wealth.” North American Review, June 1889. (A relevant work by Andrew Carnegie).

3. Rockefeller, John D. “The Influence of Standard Oil upon Public Welfare.” The Atlantic Monthly, January 1890. (A relevant work by John D. Rockefeller).

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