Writing 1

Creative Writing

Argument Research paper: The Lottery

Student Name

Date
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The Lottery

The Lottery is one of the most divisive narratives ever written by an American writer since

its publishing in The New Yorker in 1948. The unwarranted, violent end of Jackson's narrative

was criticized by early readers, who saw it as an ambiguous critique of their culture and an

inaccurate depiction of American culture. The story's context in what appears to be a modern

Western rural town, where people gather, waiting to stone the champion of a mysterious lottery,

sparked the readers' animosity. The victim-winner is victimized at random for no apparent sin or

violation (Friedman 34).

Pundits on Jackson's tale primarily concentrate on her indigenous Vermont's diverse setting,

her handling of gender norms, her Gothic dress, and the narrative's origin. This research

examines the writer's position as a humanitarian advocate, as well as her implicit sociopolitical

protests against abuse and inhumanity. The gruesome memories of violence and mass killings

were still vivid in the readers' minds when Jackson wrote and released her story. Due to the

tragic effects of Second World War, mass killings, inhumane detention, and the Genocide, the

story was published at the same time as the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human

Rights in 1948.

The readers were appalled by the villagers' cruelty in lynching an innocent civilian. They

had forgotten about the nuclear explosion's killing of hundreds of innocent people. Jackson's

humanitarian appeal may have extended to reminding the nation of the heinous brutality

symbolized by the Holocaust, which many American people dreaded witnessing though unable

to save the civilians imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps. Audiences who ignored Jackson's

compassionate statement about citizens' privileges to peace and cooperation insisted on

dismissing the whole tale as foreign to American experience and tradition. In response to the
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negative public reaction to the story, Jackson's partner, Stanley Edgar Hyman, a well-known

critic, defended his spouse, saying:

“Shirley Jackson's... ferocious images of disconnection and insanity, isolation and alienation,

brutality and fear, have indeed been misinterpreted as intimate, even narcissistic illusions. They

are, on the contrary, a sensitive and trustworthy anatomy of our era, fitting representations for

our horrifying world of extermination camps and atomic warheads”.

The quietness of the town folk in the novel, who openly engage in this primitive ritual

without challenging its cruelty and senselessness, hints at Jackson's political critique. As per the

writer, all of them are complicit and must be punished due to their silence. The fact that Jackson

somehow doesn't call the small town or set the tale in a particular period highlights the theme's

commonality. The rusty, shambolic box of the lottery, which the townsfolk are so reluctant to

reform, epitomizes the village's long culture of fraud and crime. People assume that this box was

constructed from the rotting product of the preceding one.

This annual ritual of murdering an unfortunate settler is thought to be performed for the good of

the community. “There was once a saying about Lottery in June, corn be vigorous - intensity

physical” (“The Lottery” 141). Old Man Warner is persuaded that the lottery is important for the

townspeople's existence because it offers productive crops. Ironically, the elderly man suggests

that eliminating the lottery would only contribute to a return to prehistoric times. He is totally

unaware that the lottery is an inhumane and uncouth tradition that only results in the deaths of

innocents. The story's irrational brutality is attributed by A. R. Coulthard to the mob's inherent

cruel existence, instead of to their belief in the importance of the "ritual sacrifice" in ensuring a

successful yield:
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A further effective strategy used by the writer is the transformation of conventional

reasoning in order to upset the audience and compel them to change and improve their obsolete

societal norms. The readers expect the lottery to award a payout to the champion, but instead, the

winner is met with an unusual fate: death by stoning by the gathered residents. Since the first

villagers arrived in this area, there has been a lengthy history of conflict (The Lottery, 137).

“Even though the villagers had overlooked the custom and lost the old original box, they still

continued to use rocks,” (“The Lottery” 144). Even if the results of this insane practice are the

violent murdering of a parent, friend, or associate, the people are committed to it unequivocally.

The protagonists are not free to voice their displeasure with the lottery's barbaric routine, and

whenever they do, they are suppressed. Mr. and Mrs. Adams, two peasants, express their

intention to follow the lead of nearby villages that have quit lotteries (“The Lottery” 141). They

are, however, silenced by an Elderly Man, Warner, who is a representation of heritage and has

hit the lottery several times.

The youngsters are not only raised to be observers, but also to take part in this heinous

practice. The tale begins with the children putting in long hours to build "a big pile of rocks in

one corner of the site and guarding it against attacks by the other boys" ("The Lottery" 136).

Bobby Martin prepares for the winner's grotesque prize by "tucking his pockets full of rocks,"

while his companions "followed his lead. ("The Lottery" 136).

The dominant masculine order has suppressed and harassed the women in this small town.

Their personal freedoms to rights and independence are violated. They are exposed to various

types of violence, which is illustrated by the lottery method.  Women are entitled to draw for

themselves only after one family has been selected as the event champion. Women lack the

freedom to talk out against the lottery's unfair custom, and whenever they do, they are mocked
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and punished. Tessie denounces the act as unjust when the Hutchinson household is named the

lottery's winner. She tries frantically to persuade the community that her husband, like the other

people who have ample time to choose their bits of paper, is not given a proper chance (The

Lottery, 142).

Bill “pushed the piece of paper from out her hand” (“The Lottery” 144) to reveal it to the

crowd as Tessie remains immobile, able to fully show the signed document to the audience.

Once she is announced the winner of the heinous lottery, she is brutally stoned to death, by more

than just her neighbors and relatives. “This isn't just, it isn't appropriate,” she sings at the end of

(“The Lottery” 144) emphasizing her victimhood status. When the stoning starts, her husband,

who is to blame for her predicament, is in front of the mob. Tessie's freedom and civil liberties

are compromised. For patriarchal cultures like the one portrayed in the story, such progressive

perspectives are seen as threatening. Any woman who speaks out against this oppressive practice

is actively suppressed.

Tessie's brutal murder represents Jackson's protest against gendered injustice in a masculine

community. Women are oppressed and intimidated, and their fundamental rights are infringed

even in a democratic and modern society. Tessie, on the other hand, is chastised for her cynicism

and self - centeredness. She does not raise an objection until her family is in danger and her

likelihood of being a target increase. Recognizing that her time is almost up and that her chances

of escaping this dreadful condition are slim, she is willing to give up her parenthood (The

Lottery, 142). At the end of the book, all family and community ties seem to be shattered, as

relatives, family, neighbors, and other colleagues join together to stone the victim. At the

conclusion of the novel, there is no indication of empathy or remorse.

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Conclusion

In her contentious novel, Jackson condemns all forms of abuse and discrimination. Nonetheless,

her meaning was misinterpreted by early readers as an insult to the American experience and

tradition. Through the contemporary issues and context of the novel, her critique expands to

include acts of violence all over the world. According to the preface of the civil rights legislation,

the death sentence inflicted on helpless characters in the story is a crime against humanity.

Jackson lived to see the Civil Rights Movement and protests by Black Americans and other

marginalized groups in the United States, but she did not see any significant evolution of human

rights problems throughout her era.

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Works Cited

Dittmar, Wilfried, and Frank Kelleter. "Jackson, Shirley: The Lottery." Kindlers Literatur

Lexikon (KLL) (2020): 1-2. Print.

Duffield, Brainerd. The Lottery: A Play in One Act. Ireland Books, 1953. Print.

Friedman, Lenemaja. Shirley Jackson. Twayne Pub, 1975. Print.

Hutami, Nestiani. "LOTTERY GAMBLING TRADITION IN AMERICA AS PORTRAYED

IN SHIRLEY JACKSON’S THE LOTTERY AND ITS IMPACTS ON THE LOTTERY

DEVELOPMENT IN INDONESIA." Rubikon : Journal of Transnational American

Studies 1.1 (2014): 68. Print.

Robinson, Michael. "Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Holocaust

Literature." Humanities 8.1 (2019): 35. Print.