Understanding humanity has been a task psychologists and behaviorists have been trying to rationalize for centuries. The human mind is still, to this day, one of the biggest mysteries in the world. There are always new discoveries to be made and new questions to be asked. Accordingly, what explains certain violent behaviors and aggression seen in some people? The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson presents a small friendly town, in which a dark ritual is implemented yearly. On June 27th, a lottery takes place, randomly selecting a member of the community. Regardless of this person’s age and status, he or she is consequently stoned to death by all the other villagers. This activity is part of their culture and is a wide spread tradition in other nearby villages. Jackson, with this short but sticking story, expresses how everyone has the capacity for violence and cruelty. This is explained by the fact that this type of behavior is innate and that it can be perpetuated by blindly following traditions. Firstly, Jackson demonstrates with symbolism how every person’s capability for violence is innate. In other words, she expresses how physical cruelty is part of human nature. The most powerful symbol used to explain this is her choice of murder weapon; stones. Prehistorically, the first tools created by humans were made out of stone. Their usage was part of the natural instincts that kept primates alive. This shows how everyone has access to this basic and natural weapon and that the lottery can be brought back to many generations before. “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones” (Jackson 265). This passage is a direct reference to the fact that the use of stones for violence is innate. Also, because stones are not difficult to use, children can participate in the stoning. Anyone can throw a rock, the victim’s children included. The speaker explains that before the ritual began, “The children had stones already, and someone gave Little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles” (Jackson 265). Little Davy Hutchinson is the son of the victim, Tessie Hutchinson. This is shocking because it is considered very immoral that a child would contribute, purposely, to the murder of his own mother. However, the author makes it appear as natural in the context of the story. In addition to that, stoning is a group effort that requires the participation of many people. Therefore, the gathering of every single member of the village to collectively assassinate one of their own creates a mob-mentality in which there is a pretext to be cruel. The mob-mentality allows everyone to do so without feeling any guilt or shame for their actions and to do things they would not reasonably execute on their own. Ultimately, stoning represents our
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The townspeople are very fond of the lottery tradition. They have taken a morbid activity and turned it into normality and a routine procedure. The fact that they do not consider it as an unacceptable or immoral tradition is what makes it so surprisingly abnormal. The tradition is integrated in their culture and they are desensitized to the trauma that the lottery exhibits. The black box, a physical symbol of the lottery, is clearly falling apart. Jackson makes a point of this, explaining that “The black box grew shabbier each year; by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side” (260). Even with the box being in such a terrible condition, the villagers are reluctant to replace it since “no one likes to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (Jackson 259). Additionally, the people in the village seem to be afraid of the box, which is a metaphor for their fear regarding the tradition itself. This is understood when Mr. Summers, the towns’ activity coordinator, asks for help to install the black box on a stool. The men around him hesitate and keep their distances from it. Moreover, the villagers do not have any reason to kill an innocent person each year and the cause of the ritual or the explanation for it is long forgotten. With that said, they are following a tradition that they do not understand and that they are afraid of, simply for the sake of respecting the tradition. This is why blindly following some traditions without questioning them can result in irrational
The townspeople are very fond of the lottery tradition. They have taken a morbid activity and turned it into normality and a routine procedure. The fact that they do not consider it as an unacceptable or immoral tradition is what makes it so surprisingly abnormal. The tradition is integrated in their culture and they are desensitized to the trauma that the lottery exhibits. The black box, a physical symbol of the lottery, is clearly falling apart. Jackson makes a point of this, explaining that “The black box grew shabbier each year; by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side” (260). Even with the box being in such a terrible condition, the villagers are reluctant to replace it since “no one likes to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (Jackson 259). Additionally, the people in the village seem to be afraid of the box, which is a metaphor for their fear regarding the tradition itself. This is understood when Mr. Summers, the towns’ activity coordinator, asks for help to install the black box on a stool. The men around him hesitate and keep their distances from it. Moreover, the villagers do not have any reason to kill an innocent person each year and the cause of the ritual or the explanation for it is long forgotten. With that said, they are following a tradition that they do not understand and that they are afraid of, simply for the sake of respecting the tradition. This is why blindly following some traditions without questioning them can result in irrational