Essay on Shirley Jacksons The Lottery - Evils of Society Exposed

The Evils of Society Exposed in The drawing In Shirley Jacksons The Lottery, what appears to be an ordinary twenty-four hours in a small town takes an evil turn when a woman is stoned to death after winning the town drawing. The lottery in this accounting reflects an old tradition of sacrificing a scapegoat in order to encourage the growth of crops. But this story is not or so the past, for through the actions of the town, Jackson shows us many of the social ills that exist in our own lives. In todays society we often buzz off an all too-casual stead toward misfortune Jackson shows us this aspect of military man nature through the towns casual attitude toward the lottery. The work force talk of rain, tractors and taxes and the women gossipall the time knowing they are more or less to kill someone or be perhaps even be killed themselves (Jackson 863). The thing that is most important to them is to hurry up and finish so they can eat lunch. Perhaps the feeling of being in a hu rry makes what theyre ab let on to do easier they dont earn time to let it bother them. How often in todays society do we hear the phrase, just hurry up and wee-wee it over with? The townspeople seem to have mixed emotions about the lottery they fear it yet on a very barbaric direct they enjoy it. By standing away from the pile of stones, and keeping their infinite from the black box, the villagers show their fear of the lottery (Jackson 863). However, once they find out who is going to be stoned, Tessie Hutchinson, they seem to actually enjoy the stoning. One villager picks up a stone so big she can barely direct it someone even gives Tessies youngest son a few pebbles to hit at his mother. Their overall attitude about the stoning is summed up by the phrase and then they were... ...f their family (Jackson 867). In everyday life, we posses the same selfish attitude portrayed in the story. What is one of a childs favorite words? Its mine We constantly say well its better you than me and its every man for himself. Its pretty scary _when you actually think about it, because you realize we really are that selfish. The Lottery is symbolic of any number of social ills that mankind blindly perpetrates (Friedman 108). The story is very shocking, but the reality of mankind is even more shocking. Isnt it funny that Jackson gives us a description of our nature, and not totally do we not recognize it for what it is , but it shocks us. Works Cited Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. boorish Barnet. New York HarperCollins, 989. Friedman , Lenemgia. Shirley Jackson. Boston Twayne Publishers, 1975.