Lottery by Shirley Jackson, Essay Example

The story “Lottery” evokes contradictory feelings. First, it amazes by the unreal events. On the other hand, it impresses by the ordinariness demonstration and the possibility of happening. The conversational understandable language emphasizes the realism of happening.  From the position of neutral and detached observer, an unnamed narrator (3^rd person), an eyewitness describes the yearly lottery conducted in a village, in New England. The most striking thing about the lottery is its “prize” – the winner is beaten with stones to death. For more than seventy years, the residents of the village believed that that action could assure abundant harvest. Evidently, the title of the story “The Lottery” bears ironic implication.

The story starts by the description of sunny summer morning when the lottery had to be conducted, with blossoming flowers and green grass. The plot unfolds smoothly: people gather for the event; Mr. Summers does the needed preparations; Mrs. Hutchinson comes late; the procedure begins; Mrs. Hutchison is chosen to be killed; the fellow villagers come upon her. The unhurried flow of the narration involves few digressions, devoted to the new box for paper slips, surnames of the residents.  The climax of the story is the last minutes of Mrs. Hutchinson’s life. This emotional peak ends the story; it gains no resolution. Some significant symbols allude to disastrous outcome of the story. Among them are the black colors of the box with pieces of paper, name of Mr. Graves.

The story represents many named characters. Mrs. Hutchinson, who makes a failed attempt to ignore the terrifying ritual, is the protagonist of the story. Her character does not receive the perfect uncovering. Though Mrs. Hutchinson blames this unfair and wrong lottery, she is unable to resolve this inner conflict and quit participating in the ritual. The key conflict is the resistance of dissenting and established order. The antagonistic characters reveal in actions: Mr. Summers speaks cheerfully before the procedure; children prepare pebbles for the torture; woman smile and chat.

The plot of “The Lottery” proves that things are not always as they seem to be. The event is represented like a festive happening, which horrifies the reader. People assemble to choose and to kill a resident of the village. They smile, talk, and gossip as if nothing special would happen. The author shows some of human vices of which man can not get rid. The residents of the village participating in senseless sacrifice symbolize hypocrisy, pretence, and herd instinct. These phenomena are rather realistic and are present in everyday life.

The story reminds of the cruel actions of students bashing up their classmates. One student finds a victim and a reason; others join the instigator. The most remarkable thing about such occasions is that they can not name the purpose why they had done so.