The Lottery Short Story AnalysisJoin now to read essay The Lottery Short Story AnalysisDestructive Traditions Within âThe LotteryâShirley Jacksonâs âThe Lotteryâ, raises many questions in the back of a readerâs mind towards the destructive yet blind rituals of mankind. âThe Lotteryâ clearly expresses Jacksonâs feelings concerning mankindâs evil nature hiding behind traditions and rituals. As her theme, she shows how coldness and lack of compassion in people can exhibit in situations regarding tradition and values.
Jackson presents the theme of the short story with the use of symbols and setting. The setting of âThe Lotteryâ supports the theme. Settings are constructed to help build the mood and foreshadow things to come. In the lottery, however, the setting ironically foreshadows exactly the opposite of what is to come.
The story begins with a description of a seemingly cheerful environment. Jackson creates a comfortable atmosphere by describing the activities of the residents of the town. She describes children breaking into âboisterous play and their talk still of the classroomâ (78). Men and women are gathered in the center of the town talking about farming, taxes or simply gossip. Jacksonâs description of the setting supports the theme of the story by showing how mankind is capable of cruel acts regardless of their environment.
Symbolism in the story also supports the theme of âThe Lotteryâ. The very names of the characters in the story are laden with meaning. The names of Summers, Graves, Warner, Delacroix and Hutchinson hint at the true nature of the characters. Mrs. Delacroixâs name means, âof the crossâ in Latin; therefore, hinting at Tessieâs sacrificial killing. Even though Mrs. Delacroix seems to be a friend to Mrs. Hutchinson, it is she who is shown to pick up the largest rock and promotes other people to stone Tessie. Mr. Summersâ name symbolizes life but in reality it is he who is in charge of the lottery, which instead of giving life to its winner, it gives death. Graves is the man who carries in the black box and the three-legged stool. His name hints to what will happen to Tessie Hutchinson. It is also from Mr. Graves whom the citizens get the papers from, therefore it is almost like he is the one who has the most influence over whose grave it will be next. Old Man Warner, as his name indicates, warns the villagers of the unknown danger of stopping the yearly ritual. The irony here is that even though the old are known for being wise, Old Man Warner seems to be a very ignorant and superstitious being who blindly follows tradition.
The names of all the prominent characters in âThe Lotteryâ support the idea that everybody hides their evil nature by way of hypocrisy. Tessie Hutchinsonâs character also provides considerable information on the theme of the story. Her name reminds one of the historical Anne Hutchinson not only because of the name but also because of the small town setting. Anne Hutchinson was a willing martyr who died for her religion and was exiled from her town. Tessie Hutchinson though may at first of the story appear to be a very good-natured human being by the way she comes in to the story. She comes in jokingly kidding with a friend of hers about how she almost forgot about the lottery but as soon as she remembered
âA lot of people think that Tessie and I are the same person, but I donât know if thatâs realistic. Iâm sure weâll have trouble with a lot of people and Tessie and I will not be apart of it.
Tessie: âI donât really have much of it.â
I think youâre right. But when you hear that word Tessie likes people, and when you hear this âTessieâ or youâre like âHey, a lot of people have heard of Tessieâs story.â [Laughs.] But in the case when you go to âA Lotteryâ (or the âBorrelnion Game of the Year,â or, well, âThe Lotteryâ) you know nothing about other people. Sheâs a true human being. Thatâs all there is. If you say âTessieâ to any group of people, sheâs just one of a few. If you say âA Lotteryâ to any person whoâs been in a situation where itâs not really going to affect things, sheâs nothing more than the victim of someone elseâs plan.
So in this case, the most common way you hear people âgoing on about TessâŠâ and Iâm sorry if peopleâre completely misunderstanding this. [Laughs.] Itâs not really that complicated. I mean, Tessie makes a lot of promises, is pretty passionate, is willing to sacrifice lives and even lives, even her life choices, for those who need her assistance. Sheâs just there in her mind all of those things. But actually, she is a pretty simple person who goes out of her way to be for people who need her.
But when she says âIâm not actually a human being, Iâm not interested in being a friend of anybodyâ, I think a lot of people donât understand this, and I think Tessie knows a lot of it.
âYou started the band âA Lotteryâ back in â89. Could you describe how it would play out here?
In the beginning, we didnât have many friends. I donât mean, we made big contributions, we were not the top earners. It was sort of a âlone wolfâ sort of situation where we only had one drummer and one bass player. We had one drummer that we were still having trouble bringing together. We didnât have a lot of money, and we didnât make a lot of money. And there was nothing anybody could do to keep us afloat.
The first time we started our band, we did a recording with a girl that Iâm really ashamed of â a girl in a skirt. You know, a lot of girls in my circle were jealous about the fact