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Powerlessness In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

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Powerlessness In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
Jackson through the cautionary tale The Lottery displays the powerlessness of an individual when up against stronger external power. Tessie Hutchinson immediately disassociates her from the rest of the villagers as she ‘forgot what day it was’. Her initial support for the lottery is only paralleled by her subsequent desperation to get out of it as she demanded ‘to start over’ in an anxious tone. Tessie’s repetition ‘It wasn’t fair’ highlights her as a rebellious figure as she was the only one who questioned the lottery, contrasting to her husband who followed the other villagers’ repudiation of the protest by telling her to ‘shut up’ out of fear of being ashamed by the community. However, Tessie’s later reaction to her family being chosen displays

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