In Shirley Jackson’s "The Lottery," what appears to be an ordinary day in a small town takes an evil turn when a woman is stoned to death after "winning" the town lottery. The lottery in this story reflects an old tradition of sacrificing a scapegoat in order to encourage the growth of crops. But this story is not about the past, for through the actions of the town, Jackson shows us many of the social ills that exist in our own lives.

In today’s society we often have an all too-casual attitude toward misfortune; Jackson shows us this aspect of human nature through the town’s casual attitude toward the lottery. The men talk of "rain, tractors and taxes" and the women gossip—all the time knowing they are about 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 hurry makes what they’re about to do easier; they don’t have time to let it bother them. How often in today’s society do we hear the phrase, "just hurry up and get it over with"?

The townspeople seem to have mixed emotions about the lottery; they fear it yet on a very barbaric level they enjoy it. By standing "away from the pile of stones," and keeping their distance 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 carry it; someone even gives Tessie’s youngest son a few pebbles to throw at his mother. Their overall attitude about the stoning is summed up by the phrase "and then they were upon her"; it shows their lack of emotion (Jackson 868). Tessie is essentially begging for her life and they feel no compassion for her; they simply kill her without remorse. Many things in our own society parallel the villagers’ actions. What do most people do when they see a car accident? They fear it and then they look for carnage; we have to slow down and stare at an accident Not only do we electrocute criminals, we want to watch the executions live on television. Perhaps Jackson received the best example of this aspect of human nature; she claims that most of the letters she received about the lottery "wanted to know where these lotteries were held, and whether they could go there and watch" (Friedman 87). People were not shocked into examining their own lives. They wanted to know where they could go see a live stoning.

Jackson also gives examples of hypocrisy, which runs rampant in today’s society. Tessie is perfectly willing to stone one of her neighbors, but when she is the one who is going to be stoned, she says, "It isn’t fair, it isn’t right" (Jackson 868). Likewise, Mr. and Mrs. Adams talk of stopping the lottery, yet when it comes time to stone Tessie, Mr. Adams is leading the pack. Also the men seem to be concerned that women have a man to draw for them: "Glad to see your mother’s got a man to do it" and "Don’t you have a grown boy to do it" (Jackson 865). But in the end the men no longer care about the well being of the women; they must take the same chance at dying. The fact that Tessie is a woman doesn’t save her from dying. "The Lottery" also offers at look a the selfish nature of human beings. The little boys guard their pile of stones "against the raids of other boys" (Jackson 863). Tessie is so selfish about her own life she tries to reduce her chances of dying, by making her daughter and son-in- law "take their chance" too (Jackson 866). She doesn’t try to protect her children, she would rather one of them die. Tessie’s own children are so glad that it’s not one of them who is going to die that they "both beamed and laughed"; they had no concern for the rest of their family (Jackson 867). In everyday life, we posses the same selfish attitude portrayed in the story. What is one of a child’s favorite words? It’s "mine!" We constantly say well "it’s better you than me" and "it’s every man for himself." It’s 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. Isn’t it funny that Jackson gives us a description of our nature, and not only do we not recognize it for what it is , but it shocks us.

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Beyond the sugarcoated, fairy tale views we give ourselves and our children about our world, we must look at the real picture for the real image of life. In Shirley Jackson’s story, "The Lottery," a town each year conducts a lottery in which the winner or looser, in this case, is stoned to death by his or her own neighbors. The tradition is supposed to uphold social structure within the town, but in order to comprehend the true meaning of the story you must be able to read between the lines. "The Lottery" is a story about a town which has let its traditions go too far. Also, it is clear that the story contains eye-opening facts that lead me to believe that the author’s intentions were not to write a horror story, but rather cry to all to stop and realize we have problems that we can and should approach, that can make a difference in many people’s lives in our society.

The author states that the lottery is conducted every year in the spring. The flowers are blooming and the birds are singing, but this warm town quickly becomes a gloomy, overcast setting for a satanic event. This horrifying ritual ends in bloodshed and death. In our society today, there are large cities which have beautiful parks and people usually keep them clean and pretty throughout the year. However, just down the road lies the bad part of the city and no one wants to go anywhere near it. The bad section gets little attention from the people trying to improve the other areas, thus making the situation worse for the bad section. No one ever questioned or fought the mayor of the town in an effort to get rid of the lottery. This is why it lasted so long. From the beginning of the story, it is clear that the people of the town are sacred in their traditions.

Tessie Hutchinson strolls in late with not a care in the world. She, along with the townspeople, jokes around saying that they were going to miss her at this years lottery. She even states, "Clean forgot what day it was" (Jackson, 864). No one really seems worried that in an hour or so one of their neighbors will be stoned to death. The old worn out black box suggests that Jackson used a bit of irony to bring out the meaning of death. Black being a dark gothic color, and the oldness of the box suggests that the lottery is a tradition that has lasted for years. Old Man Warner, the town grandfather, supports the lottery and tries to make sure it lasts forever. This brings out the true meaning of Shirley Jackson’s story. Are there really towns and cities out there that actually do have old traditions similar to this? The story of "The Lottery" is a cry or a wake up call to everyone to step forward and stand up for what you believe in.

John Walden’s critical review states that in the Bible Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us. He was killed because of his loyalty to God, not because he was a criminal. Today, we remember Him as our Savior. Walden’s argument can also be an interpretation for the story. Tessie Hutchinson dies to save her town from social disaster, but the key factor is she was a coward and tries to argue her way out of this. Tessie shows no hero-like characteristics, but shows those of a scared and weak woman. Shirley Jackson has left it open for everyone to interpret her story differently. Walden’s analysis of her story is one I disagree with because Tessie was really a nonchalant coward who thought she would not lose.

Many people believe that you can change anyone or anything if you put your mind to it. Had the people of the town stepped forward and ended the lottery, then Tessie would not have died. The fact that the town could not prevent this lottery means the people in the town were weak themselves. It is essential to become a liberal person in the world today. If you cannot step up and confront your problems to the government, you may have to live or die with the consequences. Also, you cannot let things get out of hand. The people in the town just let the strong rule over their primary beliefs. Old Man Werner likes the lottery because he was raised in the early days to accept this type of lifestyle. Little Davey Hutchinson had to witness and participate in the massacre of his mother. This awful experience would stay with that child forever. The town may never loose the lottery, and that could lead to many more deaths of innocent people. The fact that there are places in the world today that immoral actions occur, means that we, as responsible citizens, are not doing our job. The people of America must wake up and learn to stand up for what they believe in.

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