The Dark Side of Humanity

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The First Prize is Murder : Analysis of Shirley Jackson 's The Lottery

The Lottery ' by Shirley Jackson is a shocking short story which occurs in the unlikeliest of settings , a small village with a population of 300 people , for violence that is not restricted but rather implemented by an outdated tradition which highlights both hypocrisy and fanaticism . Therefore , for a story of its length , it unravels intricate themes such as violence , hypocrisy , tradition and fanaticism . Jackson has delivered a fictional town annual

lottery which chills the bones because of the villagers ' strong belief in it that they fail to question the merits of the practice . What increases the shock generated by the story is the way people act during the lottery , as if it is the most commonplace practice in the world . The line in some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June (Jackson ) suggests that there are , after all , many other towns which practice the same lottery

When talking about small towns or villages , the first thing that comes to mind for some people is tradition tradition in this way is thought of as something old-fashioned , something grandparents pass on to grandchildren , or parents to children . However , in The Lottery ' the tradition is dark for a village wherein the people themselves make decisions - it involves murder which has been agreed on by the whole village . Of course , whenever there is a tradition , there will always be people questioning traditions : "Some places have already quit lotteries " Mrs . Adams said "Nothing but trouble in that " Old Man Warner said stoutly "Pack of young fools (Jackson ' In this case though , the word of the elders is still the law . It doesn 't matter if some people feel that it is wrong , it is what the elders including the younger generations , have become used to . The people are more afraid of changing what they are used to than of participating in the lottery itself

Tradition has given way to fanaticism . This is not merely a case of passing on heritage the villagers believe that the lottery is right without critically analyzing its pros and cons . Fanaticism refers to behavior that ensues from excessive enthusiasm and often uncritical devotion (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary such behavior is displayed by the villagers

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 that had come out of the box Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs . Dunbar "Come on " she said "Hurry up (Jackson

Though the villagers no longer use the original box , they try to be true to the original ritual ' and still subject the lottery winner ' to a slow and painful...