Theme Of The Lottery By Shirley Jackson
The theme of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson Things may not always be as they seem in our lives. This is shown in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson from 1949. The story begins describing a small, peaceful town that seems normal and it actually is throughout the story, but that is just because the reader doesn’t have all the details and we just assume that everything is alright. There are several themes and hidden messages throughout the story, but “not being able to dismiss or reject a certain tradition just because it is” is the strongest one. Superstition is a common phenomenon in our everyday lives and people tend to believe it just because they heard that they should. This is often the case with older people, just like in the story where
Old Man Warner says “There’s always been a lottery”. He states that some other nearby towns have stopped with the lottery, but that is wrong and it will bring chaos. Considering that he is the oldest and considerably the wisest, people seem to believe him that it should naturally happen. The reader accepts this as he/she doesn’t know what the lottery actually is. When it becomes clear what the lottery is, the reader is devastated, but if we think about it, we can find at least one superstition that we believe in without a reason. Shirley Jackson just told an extreme and exaggerated case of superstition and blindly-followed tradition in order to point out several faults in our everyday lives. All the characters clearly accept the lottery and are even excited about it which is not good. Thinking it is better that way, the citizens are ready to stone even their best friend, which brings us to another theme which is hypocrisy. We can see people chatting and even a woman honestly excusing herself for her late arrival, when they would stone any one of them in the blink of an eye.
Old Man Warner says “There’s always been a lottery”. He states that some other nearby towns have stopped with the lottery, but that is wrong and it will bring chaos. Considering that he is the oldest and considerably the wisest, people seem to believe him that it should naturally happen. The reader accepts this as he/she doesn’t know what the lottery actually is. When it becomes clear what the lottery is, the reader is devastated, but if we think about it, we can find at least one superstition that we believe in without a reason. Shirley Jackson just told an extreme and exaggerated case of superstition and blindly-followed tradition in order to point out several faults in our everyday lives. All the characters clearly accept the lottery and are even excited about it which is not good. Thinking it is better that way, the citizens are ready to stone even their best friend, which brings us to another theme which is hypocrisy. We can see people chatting and even a woman honestly excusing herself for her late arrival, when they would stone any one of them in the blink of an eye.