The Lottery Shirley Jackson Human Nature Essay

Alisha McNally
Professor Brookey
English 1302.50
11 November 2015
The Inherent Nature of Man
In the controversial short story ‘The Lottery’, author Shirley Jackson’s central theme suggests that evil is inherent within human nature. The townspeople, who initially are depicted as pleasant and ordinary citizens, gather together annually to participate in an outdated fertility ritual, by choosing someone at random to be sacrificed. However, the real horror of the story is not simply in the murder of an innocent citizen —but within the cold and atavistic nature of the townspeople, who adhere to violent social conditioning without reason. Literary critic, A.R Coulthard supports this idea by writing, “It is not the ancient custom of human sacrifice

that makes the villagers behave cruelly, but that their thinly veiled cruelty keeps the custom alive. Savagery fuels evil tradition, not vice versa” (Coulthard 226).
Jackson’s use of literary elements such as symbolism, setting, foreshadowing and irony draw attention to her theme of inherent evil.

Even her ironic use of setting in the introductory scene creates an environment that betrays the true nature of the townspeople. Jackson writes, “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green (250).” At first glance, the small farming community gathering in the square seems rather harmless. The children play, the men tell jokes and the women gossip amongst each other as all the villagers wait for the annual lottery to begin. It is only when the children begin to gather stones for the ritual, does the scene begin to foreshadow that something more sinister may be at

hand.
Jackson’s theme is supported as the characters cheerfully gather together despite knowing that a friend or family member will soon be dead. Their merciless behavior continues to reveal itself when Jackson writes: “In this village, where there were only about three hundred people, the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o'clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner (250).” Not only do the townspeople gather willingly in the square to participate in ritualistic killings, but Jackson suggests that they don’t even feel strongly enough about the meaning of the tradition to complete the full ritual ceremony:
at one time, some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory. tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year; some people believed that the official of the lottery used to stand just so when he said or sang it, others believed that he was supposed to walk among the people, but years and years ago this part of the ritual had been allowed to lapse. There had been, also, a ritual salute, which the official of the lottery had had to use in addressing each person who came up to draw from the box, but this also had changed with time (252).
Despite their obvious lack of consideration and reverence for the ceremony itself, the townspeople dutifully continue with the murderous element of the ritual.

Jackson chooses the worn down black box to serve as a symbol for the villager’s irrational attachment to the outdated tradition. The author writes, “ Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (251). It is ironic that although the villagers seem to place such high value on the box itself as to not upset tradition, they haven’t even created a permanent spot to house the symbol of the very tradition that seems to take precedence over family bonds. “The rest of the year, the box was put way, sometimes one place, sometimes another; it had spent one year in Mr. Graves's barn and another year underfoot in the post office. And sometimes it was set on a shelf in the Martin grocery and left there (Jackson 252).” This behavior seems to suggest that tradition is an excuse the townspeople make in order to justify to themselves that their participation in ritual killings are not just acts of senseless brutality, but are instead part of an established and accepted state of normalcy. It is their inherently evil nature that pushes the villagers not only to participate, but also to brainwash future generations into observing a ritual that does not actually hold any real meaning for

them.
Jackson’s theme is further exemplified as the victim, Nancy Hutchinson, draws the unlucky slip that symbolizes her life. Her children, upon realizing their own slips are blank, laugh and beam-- callous to the fact that they are about to lose a parent. Nancy’s husband, Bill upon finding his slip blank “went over to his wife and forced the slip of paper out of her hand… and held it up (Jackson 256).” Not only do the Hutchinson’s exhibit no real emotional reaction to Nancy’s unlucky draw, but they don’t even try to argue or protest the ritual-- despite being affected now at a very personal level.
Perhaps the most concrete evidence Jackson provides to support her theme is when she writes: “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready; there were stones on the ground with the blowing scraps of paper that had come out of the box (256)." Jackson not only reiterates how the townspeople are disconnected from the original reverence of the ritual, but also utilizes the slips of paper amongst the rocks as a metaphor for the lives arbitrarily chosen for sacrifice. In closing, Jackson’s usage of literary elements such as foreshadowing, symbol, setting and irony serve to support her central theme that evil is inherent in the nature of man.