Critical Review Of The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

The theme is present to enable readers to understand the unthinkable rituals people follow in the society. Away from criticizing the very custom obscure right and wrong, the book becomes an avenue of analyzing the traditions, social, and gender divisions in the society. The book vividly illustrates how some families are fortunate while others are less fortunate in the society. The material explains how the emergence of paper money replaced the wood chips. Therefore, it led to the emanating of different classes in the society (Jackson 34). The writer uses the word paper in the book to illustrate the meaning of money symbolically. Additionally, the emblematic meaning explains how money led to the societal divisions. The material expounds how

the emergence of money was accompanied by the societal divisions, which subsequently led to the creation of the rich and poor classes in the society.
The author illustrates how money led to the changes in the society where people did wrong things for money.

The theme clearly outlines the emanation of societal evils. Additionally, Shirley Jackson explains how lottery and cash meant a fortune to human beings. However, he further explains how the kismet was disturbing (Jackson 34). For instance, if a person encountered a bad fate, the situation was disturbing since unlucky meant losing money or wealth. Consequently, the loss of money or wealth meant the depreciation of class in the society. The author features the ancient village in the story. Moreover, he shows how civilization was slowly shaping. The writer explains how the community members were fond of performing rituals together with believing in mob psychology. He further explains how the ancient civilization transformed people in the society (Ming 320). For instance, the members conducted rituals in which the society evils were transferred to an individual or a group of unwanted people. Therefore, these symbolic rituals meant that the past unbecoming spirits evils were cleansed and the society was left with blessings. The author uses rituals as crucial communal events, which facilitated the communication between the community and the gods (Ming 311). Likewise, he compares the societal rites taken by the community with the Jewish

sacrifices.
The lottery members of society termed the ritual goat as a scapegoat because it was used for sacrificial reasons to eliminate evils from the society. Additionally, the scapegoat was used to banish evils to allow the flourishing of crops (Jackson 34). The essence of banishing the evils was to appease the gods to allow the flourishing of crops and enhance the fertility of the land. As a result, the members of the society were involved in the fertility rituals to please the gods. The material expounds how mob psychology ruled the actions of most people in the society. For instance, most town residents gathered in a central place to perform rituals to please the gods. The psychological behavior is evident in the book throughout the story. “The Lottery takes place; the implication in the story is that a lottery is an annual event. In this town, the scapegoat is used to banish the evils of the society so that the crops will flourish. Thus, two ancient rituals are combined: the notion of banishing evils via a sacrificial victim, and the idea of appeasing higher powers in some way to ensure fertility for the land” (Jackson 34). The author uses the quote to illustrate how sacrifices were crucial and how they meant a blessing to the town residents.
The book focuses on theme of class and society through discussing traditions that are not only applied in Lottery, but also in other towns.

The traditions involve the banishing of the lottery. Moreover, the members of society explain how they are afraid of getting rid of their old boxes because they had a traditional meaning to them. Through the theme of society and class, the town focuses on the old traditions, and they forget to implement the new policies that may enhance their economic growth. Therefore, the author uses the theme of social class and traditions to explain the doomed traditions in the town that hindered their progress. Most of the people in the town embraced the old traditions and those found acting contrary to the traditions were subjected to punishments. Most people in the book were punished because they were going against the town’s traditions. Additionally, those found guilty by the elders were compelled to offer a scapegoat for sacrifice reasons. The narrative, through the theme of society and class, is successful in portraying the society’s traditions and their repercussions on the society. Additionally, the theme of society and class is instrumental in explaining different criteria the town gave thanks to their gods. They usually praised their gods when their land was blessed, but they offered a sacrifice when the land was unproductive as a sign of pleasing their gods. Additionally, people who were reluctant in embracing the tradition of the town

were also punished. In the lottery society, the family was a crucial bond among people. The family symbolized everything in the society. Therefore, the family enmity heightened killings and cruelty in the society. Mostly, the family ties symbolized everything in the lottery society. The family was perceived as part of the society, and people were judged according to the family they had. The Lottery society divided their roles according to the gender (Wen-han 78). For instance, men were the providers of the family and their main role was to bring food and protect the family from any attacks or evils. For instance, most men attacked their fellows for undermining their families (Jackson 43). Additionally, the lottery society, men were subjected to hard labor compared to their female counterparts. For instance, most men were involved in hard labor to put food on the tables of their families. The village in the Lottery was happy since they conducted communal celebrations together and that was a clear sign of unity in the society. Additionally, the village was happy with the village’s rules since they favored their progress in the society. For instance, the villagers gathered in a central place to pray for their gods to shower blessings in their land. Moreover, the society members used money symbolically to illustrate how the society had begun being materialistic. Before the introduction of the paper money, the society was not greedy as it became after the introduction of money (Jackson 26). People intensified rivalry in the society due to financial reasons. For that reason, there was an extreme division in the society between the wealthy and less fortunate people. The societal differences led to the growth of animosity since most people were battling to control the community resources. The women in the lottery are portrayed as simple underprivileged people in the society. Moreover, women are depicted as workers since they are servants of their husbands and sons in the society. In the lottery society, men are esteemed than females because they are in charge of the lucrative positions in the society (Jackson 28). For instance, men are the general managers of the lottery clubs in the narrative while women were put in charge of odd jobs. Additionally, they are in charge of cash collection in the casinos then women come after them. In the lottery society, men talk of substantive things in the society such as taxes, planting, and rain while their female counterparts rarely speak of crucial things (Jackson 17). For instance, they talk of the home chores in low tones. The lottery society presents women as weak vessels in the society because they are not authoritative. For example, they call children two or three times for them to respond. Additionally, women are perceived to belong at home and look after the children. Therefore, this is evidenced in the book when Tessie Hutchinson’s husband gave her the responsibility of taking care of the children. Additionally, the lottery society believes in wife beating and for that reason, most women in the book are subjected to pain and suffering by the husband. Further, even with all those suffering, nobody was ready to listen to their plight.