Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery”

Introduction

When reading Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery”, the most disturbing concept brought forth is the dominating and destructive control mob mentality can have over a person. It can be seen through not only the mindless obedience of the village, but also the instant severance of emotional connection even between families, and the long and continuous hold it has had on this town through the guise of “tradition”.

This whole story cleverly shows how an entire group of people can be misguided until not even one person knows why they are doing what they do. The first question many would ask after reading this story would be why the town continues with this horrible event year after year. This is due to the power of group pressure which suppresses and shuns the views of the individual. The townspeople in this story are not evil. Individually, many of them seem downcast and hesitant about the lottery, dreading what is to come. Also, many of the townspeople feel empathy for the younger villagers showing relief when they are not picked (Coulthard, pp. 226-228).

Joe Romano conveys this in his essay “Sacrifice, Solidarity, and Senselessness” by stating, “The fear that the village girls show when they see Nancy choose her slip of paper and the “general sigh” that the crowd exhibits fear that the village feels as it risks its youngest members”. However, this is where their caring ends, because the control of this group tradition is so strong that had Nancy been chosen the village would not have hesitated to stone her to death. Romano later writes, “This fear, however, does not clearly lead to a crisis of conscience; instead, the villagers release this fear by participating in a violent sacrificial killing that bonds the group in an act of solidarity” (Coulthard, pp. 226-228).

Discussion

The power of group persuasion is so dangerous because it causes people not to think for them. The proof of this is in the lack of knowledge in the origin of the lottery. Almost no one in the town has a clear understanding of what the lottery does for the town, yet they still continue to carry it out. In fact, this lottery not only has no positive impact, but it also has a negative impact on their town. Not only do they lose townspeople every year to the lottery, but it wastes an entire day where they could be out harvesting crops (Cervo, pp. 183-185). Jon Schneiderman picks up on this in his essay, “Tradition, Justice, and Bloodlust in American Society” by stating: There can be little doubt that the lottery does not serve the collective interest of the village. Jackson provides no observable benefit provided to the village by the stoning of its inhabitants. In fact, it can be argued that the lottery has a negative impact on the village.

Old Man Warner is usually understood to be the most symbolically evil supporter of custom, but he is simply the most sincere. He is also the only villager ...