The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Rules Of Society
In Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery the writer hints to the fact that society can be somewhat controlling. Jackson wrote this piece and it caused a big uproar. Times Magazine published this and because of the subtle setting people thought this story to be true and were appalled that this was happening. Even though people were horrified by the actions that took place in the short story no one bothered to put into action a plan to stop what was going on. Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” is an example of how people start questioning the traditions and rules of society.
In this short story, a small town has a tradition of an offering. The people in the town call it the lottery and they randomly draw a name and would stone the person to
death. This is a sad story of where one person doesn’t question the traditions of society until it affects them. Tess Hutchinson was stoned to death because the town’s society told them that it was okay and that is how it was supposed to be. The character Tess was against the lottery right before her death she made a plea for her life. She was trying to stand up to society and say that this is wrong.
There is an older character in the short story whose name is Old Man Warner. As people start to gather up and wait for the lottery to begin they all chat amongst themselves. One person tells Old Man Warner that the next town over is thinking of getting rid of the lottery. Old Man Warner says that this is a terrible idea and the lottery is a long standing tradition. In Old Man Warners case he is against a new society. He represents the opposition of new traditions and new ways for upcoming generations. People can not only be against the current society they can also be against the new version of society.
Take for example an issue in today’s society. Woman all over the world is told to look and act a certain way only because society tells them what is to be expected. Woman are told they have to skinny and have long flowing hair. They are told that being a little bigger is considered ugly and wrong. In the past few years more and more woman are stepping out and saying “no this is wrong how is society supposed to tell us we cannot feel pretty.” Recently sports illustrated put a plus-sized model on the front cover of their magazine. This was a huge step in the right direction in the conflict of man vs society.
Whether the conflict of man vs society was back in 1948 when the lottery was written or 2017 it is still an issue yet to be solved. Society gives people these guidelines they are supposed to follow and meet. Take Old Man Warner and his fight with the new version of society or take Tess and her fight with current society’s traditions. Look at today’s issue with women being subjected to society’s beauty standards. This conflict will forever be at play. People are never going to stop wanting to change society and society is never going to stop changing.
In this short story, a small town has a tradition of an offering. The people in the town call it the lottery and they randomly draw a name and would stone the person to
death. This is a sad story of where one person doesn’t question the traditions of society until it affects them. Tess Hutchinson was stoned to death because the town’s society told them that it was okay and that is how it was supposed to be. The character Tess was against the lottery right before her death she made a plea for her life. She was trying to stand up to society and say that this is wrong.
There is an older character in the short story whose name is Old Man Warner. As people start to gather up and wait for the lottery to begin they all chat amongst themselves. One person tells Old Man Warner that the next town over is thinking of getting rid of the lottery. Old Man Warner says that this is a terrible idea and the lottery is a long standing tradition. In Old Man Warners case he is against a new society. He represents the opposition of new traditions and new ways for upcoming generations. People can not only be against the current society they can also be against the new version of society.
Take for example an issue in today’s society. Woman all over the world is told to look and act a certain way only because society tells them what is to be expected. Woman are told they have to skinny and have long flowing hair. They are told that being a little bigger is considered ugly and wrong. In the past few years more and more woman are stepping out and saying “no this is wrong how is society supposed to tell us we cannot feel pretty.” Recently sports illustrated put a plus-sized model on the front cover of their magazine. This was a huge step in the right direction in the conflict of man vs society.
Whether the conflict of man vs society was back in 1948 when the lottery was written or 2017 it is still an issue yet to be solved. Society gives people these guidelines they are supposed to follow and meet. Take Old Man Warner and his fight with the new version of society or take Tess and her fight with current society’s traditions. Look at today’s issue with women being subjected to society’s beauty standards. This conflict will forever be at play. People are never going to stop wanting to change society and society is never going to stop changing.