Mental Illness In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

With a dramatic shift from a seemingly innocent atmosphere to a bleak turn of events, Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” manages to capture her readers’ attention in a virulent manner. Although they are often criticized, she is known for her works in the gothic horror genre, particularly “The Lottery”. This story depicts a small town that holds an annual “lottery” in which one unlucky person is randomly selected to be stoned to death in order to ensure a bountiful corn harvest. Since she suffered many psychological battles, Shirley Jackson creates such dark stories criticizing humanity’s violent presence to portray the era of life she faced. World War II had already ended by the time “The Lottery” was published and there is an underlying criticism

in its plot regarding the battles and racism that raged on during war. Shirley Jackson holds very strong opinions about the world she lived in, primarily harsh and poignant perspectives about humanity. As a result, it is only sensible for her to express these beliefs in simple plots with twisted endings. The cruel and inhuman tradition taking place in “The Lottery” is a close resemblance of the unconventional and troubling lifestyle Shirley Jackson faced while writing this story as she experienced the downside of war in a malicious world.
“The Lottery” begins in a lightweight and comfortable atmosphere that is quite similar to Shirley Jackson’s early childhood in San Francisco. The first line of the text describes “the fresh warmth of a full summer day… flowers were blossoming… and the grass was richly green” (Jackson 242). According to the bibliography of Shirley Jackson from Authors and Artists for Young Adults, she was born into an “affluent, socially prominent family”. This sort of lifestyle indicates that she did not endure a particularly strict or uneasy upbringing. She did not have many restrictions, sort of like the free, content school children whom “broke into boisterous play” (Jackson 242) in the beginning of the story. However, the plotline quickly escalates to children collecting rocks and creating “great piles of stones… and guarded it against… other boys” while “the girls stood aside” (Jackson 243). A sense of trepidation fills the atmosphere as the plot deepens. Despite having a well-off family, the Dictionary of American Biography states that Shirley Jackson still experienced issues with her body image and began to “feel like an outsider”. Because her life becomes more of an internal battle during childhood, Shirley Jackson rebels against her privileged lifestyle. This is apparent when her early disobedient youth mirrors the introduction of the children collecting stone because the aftermath of both will most likely be disastrous.
Shirley Jackson’s desire to break an especially controlling environment is evident in “The Lottery” when the lottery commences and the townspeople hold their breath as they draw slips of paper. The process in which the head town members conduct the lottery follows a strict guideline. Sticking to tradition is clearly important, in the instance where the box containing the slips of paper “grew shabbier each year” (Jackson 243) but “no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (Jackson 243). Since this lottery is a recurring historic event, every little act leading up to the drawing of paper slips is controlled, much like Shirley Jackson’s youth. Her mother assiduously encouraged her daughter to partake in “ladylike pursuits” and to develop greater interest in clothes and parties but Shirley preferred to spend her days writing poems and creating fantastic stories in her journals. Although her mother wanted to “control” Shirley’s hobbies, Shirley refused to comply. In the story, this sort of reluctance to follow authority is indeed demonstrated by Tessie Hutchinson, the unlucky wife who selects the dotted slip of paper to be stoned. In the face of the event, Tessie resists her terrible fate despite going along with the tradition beforehand when the likelihood of being chosen was slim. However, the longing for freedom seems to have very harmful results because of Tessie’s ultimate death and Shirley Jackson’s later battles.
As a result of suffering from many mental disorders, Shirley Jackson explores the darker aspects of human nature as “The Lottery” progresses towards the stoning of Tessie Hutchinson.

It was after her marriage to fellow Jewish writer Stanley Edward Hyman when Shirley began to write numerous stories. She thrived on the success of “The Lottery” and continued to utilize her knack for inventing twisted plotlines in her gothic horror stories. Consequently, her workaholic nature took a toll on her mental health. Shirley Jackson’s biography from the Dictionary of American Biography states that her mental conditions worsened to the point where her social withdrawal symptoms had to be treated by a psychiatrist for a couple of years. She even experienced chronic depression, anxiety, and much insecurity about the people in her life. It was a dark period in her life and Shirley reflects this in her cynical tales, including “The Lottery”. Tessie Hutchinson fights to live as the story approached the end but eventually, the townspeople “were upon her” (Jackson 249), swallowing her screams. Even her children joined in on the stoning, which only adds to a particular theme of the story. There is always evil and chaos underneath the surface of an ordinary life. Not many readers are aware of the psychological stress Shirley Jackson suffered while she wrote her stories and merely viewed her as a prolific author with a talent for spinning horrific tales. But, another surface invariably exists.

Despite the human sacrifice in the small town’s annual lottery, the citizens will then carry on with their lives for the rest of the year. Such a terrible tradition is normal in their lives; however, every reader will be completely appalled by it. This is where critics often malign Shirley Jackson’s works because the storylines are so unrealistic yet they deliver such powerful messages. On the other hand, the construction of “The Lottery” is not solely influenced by Shirley’s mental disorders. World War II had occurred before its publication and some of Shirley Jackson’s experiences and attitudes during the war time contributed to the overall purpose of her story.
Not only is the lottery extremely inhuman and a poor reflection of humanity, it is also a pointless tradition.

Nothing is much said in the text to explain the town’s relentless devotion to continue this awful tradition except the implication that it is only to guarantee a successful harvest on a single plant. Therefore, it seems completely unnecessary to force the town to undergo such extremities. According Linda Wagner-Martin, this ritual “enhances the crop, brings the community prosperity, and is life-affirming”. Even though the entire town does not protest in participating in this event, there is certainly a difference in opinion relating to its efficiency. One of the town members, Mr. Adams says to Mr. Summers, who’s in charge of running the lottery, that “over in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery” (Jackson 246) to which Mr. Summers snorts, “Pack of crazy fools” (Jackson 246). It is possible that Mr. Adams implies that the lottery is unnecessary and unethical, discreetly attempting to persuade Mr. Summers to believe so too but he does not think so. In a way, Shirley Jackson may be indirectly criticizing World War II, contributing to her firm beliefs that mankind is unpredictable and doomed. The pointless tradition in “The Lottery” determined to improve the agriculture of the town and maintain prosperity is the same as the nations’ determination to win in World War II. The leaders’ convictions and rage to solve their conflicts with other nations

drives them to ravage violence instead of utilizing alternative means. It is pointless violence and essentially, the ones who are most influenced and harmed by the leaders’ decisions are the innocent citizens. These are the same circumstances for Tessie Hutchinson and her family in the story. On these grounds, readers should not be surprised of Shirley Jackson’s ability to produce stories like these. She experienced nothing but great calamities and multiple psychological disorders.
Many are inclined to believe that Shirley Jackson has one horrific mind because of how brutally sinister and unsettling her story “The Lottery” was. Except, no one realizes that her life was also a ritualized tradition, complete with psychiatric appointments and never-ending criticism for defying the norms of story-telling. The only difference is Shirley Jackson chooses to rebel against everyone’s wishes, her parents and her critics, and write from her chaotic mind. Dealing with chronic depression, isolation, and anxiety, Shirley Jackson develops a cynical perspective of the world she lives in, especially with World War II taking place. The fundamental theme of her work is ultimately our flawed humanity and its damaging effects on civilians. We are controlled by our leaders, resulting in an underlying evil amidst our community. Our ordinary lives are subject to chaos at any time, like the town from “The Lottery”. Although Shirley Jackson’s purpose for telling this story is deeply pessimistic, no one can deny the truth she wants her readers to know about our anarchic surroundings, which others want to prevent us from realizing.