The Lottery Title Analysis

The Lottery: Don’t Let the Title Fool You.
Congratulations! Tess Hutchinson has won the lottery. Or so the title lets the audience think that. “The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson in 1948. It is based in a small town that has an annual “lottery winner”. “The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o'clock” (1). Each town member will go collect a piece of paper. Then, that family, the Hutchinson's, will proceed and see who surely conquers the lottery. That person just so happened to be Tess Hutchinson, who ends up being stoned to death. Some lottery win huh? Many people in the world wish to win the lottery, but then again who would not? It can be life changing. The Hutchinson’s think otherwise, that it is unfair, foolish even. Is the lottery truly as good as it sounds? Looks can be deceiving, and this town finds this out.
As a reader, this short story is
similar to a popular book series that came out a few years back. The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins. The series is set in the future where there are twelve districts that the people live in, and each district is known for something different. Every year there is a competition called The Hunger Games. A boy and girl from each district is chosen to represent their district and to fight for their lives. Only one will survive. Sure enough, it is not fair, but that is how it worked. It is similar to “The Lottery” in a way. However, instead of twenty-three kids dying and 1 surviving, the town only loses one person. The Hunger Games states:
Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch – this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. Whatever words they use; the real message is clear. “Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s nothing you can do.” (Collins). This quote communicates with “The Lottery”. “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones”. Both are violent traditions that end badly. The short story says:
The children assembled first Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed, eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys.” (Jackson).
Then again one can expect someone to die in the short story. Foreshadowing is all throughout the story. If the viewers look closely toward the end of the story, some can notice that there is a character by the name of Mrs. Graves. Of course, it is a brilliantly hidden thing. In the second paragraph, it talks about children putting stones in their pockets and then making a pile. It almost seems innocent but then the readers keep reading. Another example would be when Mr. Summers says, “Thought we were going to have to get on without you,” when Tess was arrived late (1). Who would have known his snarky little statement to be so accurate? These examples of foreshadowing were great and clever on Jackson’s behalf. Could Jackson have wanted her readers to think that Mr. Summers gets to pick who “wins” the lottery after all? Maybe us bookworms will never know.
The message of this work is pretty clear.
Even though something sounds good, it may turn out to be the worst possible thing that happens in an individuals’ life. Folks have the opportunity to take risks every day, but should they just throw themselves at something they know not a thing about? It does not truly matter. People will do what they want to do; it’s their life. Let them live it how they please. This is a problem in today’s society. Commoners should not just throw it all away at every opportunity they come across. Society should think more about things before acting. Even if it is a tradition to those of the town whom want to keep the tradition thriving. For example, like the characters in “The Lottery,” they just curiously gather around a black box every year that they know little about hoping it contains something that will benefit them. It did not benefit anyone. Then again it could have, because of Tess, no one else had to die. The village becomes so blind by the customary that they fail to see its true meaning,
murder.
In the end, nothing ever turns out how one hopes. Sometimes the odds can be in your favor, sometimes not. At first, the black box brings everyone together, then suspension kicks in making the people wonder who wins the lottery, finally, the short story in ends in heartbreak for a family. We can see how Jackson leads up to her themes or murder and unpredictability. The black box is nothing but evil, tradition or not. Jackson is a writer, not a philosopher, but through her story she answers a question that will be around forever: Is the lottery worth it? According to the story, no, it is not. The message that the audience should learn is: Don’t judge a book by its cover, or in this case a box because there is always more to it than anyone sees.