The Lottery by Shirley Jackson: A Haunting Narrative on Conflict and Human Depravity
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a narrative that contains haunting details on conflict, and human depravity. People in society, always exhibit callous traditions that people do not challenge and adapt freely. Shirley through a shocking setting and plot exposes the dark side of humanity and reveals themes, of terrorism conflicts, and cults.
Internal and External Conflicts
The narrative contains conflicts both internal and external between the characters. An internal conflict refers to the psychological struggle in the mind of the character while the external conflict is the struggle that exists between a character and outside forces like nature, life circumstances and other characters (Younis Hassan Idriss, 11-12). In this story, Shirley the internal conflict illustrates internal conflict in the mind of the readers in the square. For instance, when Mr. Summers ask for help, the villagers hesitate before Mr. Marti,n and his son Baxter come forward to help (Jackson, 1). The instance shows that the villagers are not okay with the events about to happen thus are not willing to give a helping hand, but still give in because they cannot challenge the traditions of the town. Tessie Hutchinson is internally conflicted while drawing a paper from the lottery box. She hesitates but finally draws out a paper and hides it behind (Jackson, 6). Even though the people in the town follow the lottery tradition, it is clear they do not like the custom but fail to protest against it actively. External conflicts take a central impact in the play for instance when Mr. Summers repeatedly reminds the villagers that they need to make a new box. However, the villagers held a different view about the traditions and chose to ignore the call about making a new box.
Themes of External Conflict
Additionally, Tessie Hutchinson also highlights themes of external conflict when she protests against the minimal time her husband had while picking the paper form the box. She states that it is not fair since her husband did not get enough time (Jackson, 5). Her statements attract conflict form her husband and other people. For example, Mrs. Graves and Mrs. Delacroix tell Tessie to be a good sport since they all had the same time to pick from the lotteran y box (Jackson, 5).
Cults and their Practices in The Lottery
MacHovec (13) defines a cult as a group or system of people that practice an excessive commitment to a belief system, an object or a figure. The groups of people participate in unua sual demonstrations and practices. Eichel, further affirms that cult groups contain leaders that dictate the ideologies, belief systems and the doctrines that bind the people in the cult. The members in the cult commit illegal and unethical actions that the doctrines and the leader of the group justifies. The actions portrayed in the narrative depict the activities of a cult. First, Mr. Summers is the leader responsible for conducting the lottery tradition in the square. The villagers participate in anarchic practices like stoning one of their villagers to death. Even though the villagers feel that the tradition is not good no one questions the lottery act. No one questions against the stoning of an innocent village member. They hesitate to undertake some actions but still go on with the ritual. When Tessie wins the lottery, she knows she is going to die and protest stating that it is not fair.
Conversely, no one listens to her, and Mr. Summers shouts urging people to be quick with the action with no remorse feeling. The lottery is quite similar to Aum Shinrikyo Cult founded by Shoko Asahara (Reader). When Shoko began the group as a religious entity that borrowed beliefs from Buddhism and Hinduism. However, Shoko lost track of the group’s purpose `when faced conflicting thoughts about the end of the world and the survivors would be the cult member’s only (BBC News). For instance, when Taguchi Shuji threatened to report murders in the group, Asahara ordered his death to cover up for his action. He justified his actions stating that rituals that an advanced spiritual person performed on people helped them transition safely into the next realm (Reader). The Aum Shinrikyo believed that killing innocent people cleansed the society from negative karma that would cause an apocalypse and the end of the world. The characters in the lottery believed that a sacrifice would ensure that they have a better harvest in the season (Suwardi, 94). Tessie winning the lottery also served as a warning to the village members to create social order against people who would rebel and question the traditions. Mr. Summers controls the lottery and the people in the town hence no one dares to rise against him to complain against the evil actions performed in the lottery. Suwardi (96) posits that Mr. Summers is at the top of the social ladder in the village, he owns one of the wealthiest businesses while still holds the mayor seat in the town. His assistants Mr. Graves is a postmaster while Mr. Martin is the village grocer. The three men hold powerful positions in the village and still hold and lead the lottery event ensuring that no one will challenge their authority. Everyone else follows their doctrines making sure that the village follows the rules and regulations of a cult-like event (Suwardi, 96).
Terrorism Themes in The Lottery
In addition, terrorism is another prevalent theme in the lottery story. Terrorism refers to the calculated criminal intentions to cause a state of terror in public, particular people or a group of persons for political, religious, ideological ethnic and racial justifications. The criminal acts may cause death, taking hostages, or serious bodily injury to the victims of the actions (Kiener-menu). In the Aum Shinrikyo cult, Asahara uses chemical weapons with the aim of killing innocent people; he later justifies his actions on religious grounds (BBC News). Asahara believes that his purpose on earth is to cleanse the society from negative karma. He believes that if he fails the world will come to an end through violence and natural disasters. The Aum Shinrikyo cult is similar to the arguments in the lottery by Shirley Jackson. The historical account of the lottery seemed to provide the people in the village with a better life and harvest through offering a sacrifice. The lottery took place on June 26th to 27th, and all the villagers convened at the central square to participate in the draw (Chen, 1). The winner in the lottery met their death on a fateful day through stoning. The lottery account conforms to the characteristics of a terrorist act. First, the perpetrators of the criminal acts justify their actions on social, political, religious or ethnic ideologies. In the lottery, the villagers justified the death of the village members on social ideologies. The people believed that they would have better lives and harvests. For instance, Mr. Adams states that the village in the North is talking of giving up the lottery. Old Man Warner answers that there was a saying, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (Jackson, 4).
When Tessie Hutchinson won the lottery, her win served as a warning to the rest of the village members and a scapegoat (Chen, 3). Before the draw, Tessie was protesting against the lottery saying it was not fair and her family did not have enough time to pick the paper from the box. Despite her protest, she chose the marked paper that sealed her fate. Other people in the village who saw the proceedings will not speak up against the lottery for fear of being chosen in the lottery like Tessie. Most terrorist groups follow a leader who issues commands and guides the followers similar to Mr. Summers who acts as the leader of the lottery and the one who places the Black mark on the lottery papers (Maccoby). The winners of the lottery die to save the village from problems and ensure that people have a better harvest.
In Conclusion
In conclusion, the lottery is a short story laden with themes of conflict, cult practices, and terrorism. The village performs a premeditated murder on a random victim chosen in the draw. Additionally, they justify the actions with a bountiful harvest showing that their actions are not wrong and serve a greater purpose for the community. The lottery is an ideological system that reinforces the hierarchical social order in the village by creating fear so that they do not resist the archaic traditions.
Works Cited
BBC News. "Japan Executes Sarin Attack Cultists." BBC News, 6 July 2018, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43395483.
Chen, Fuyu. "A Representative and a Scapegoat: Analysis of Tessie Hutchinson in The Lottery." Theory " Practice in Language Studies 2.5 (2012).
Eichel, Steve KD. "Cults, Extremist Movements, and the Child Custody Evaluation: Pitfalls and Strategies." Handbook of Child Custody. Springer, Cham, 2016. 273-289.
Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." The Middlebury Blog Network | Selected Posts from the Midd Blogosphere, 1948, sites.middlebury.edu/individualandthesociety/files/2010/09/jackson_lottery.pdf.
Kiener-manu, Katharina. "Counter-Terrorism Module 4 Key Issues: Defining Terrorism." United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2018, www.unodc.org/e4j/en/terrorism/module-4/key-issues/defining-terrorism.html.
MacCoby, Michael. "Why People Follow the Leader: The Power of Transference." Harvard Business Review, 1 Sept. 2004, hbr.org/2004/09/why-people-follow-the-leader-the-power-of-transference.
MacHovec, Frank. Cults and Terrorism. Lulu. com, 2009.
Reader, Ian. "Aum Shinrikyo's Spiritual Journey From Meditation to Mass Murder." Fair Observer, 13 June 2015, www.fairobserver.com/region/asia_pacific/aum-shinrikyos-spiritual-journey-from-meditation-to-mass-murder-70047/.
Suwardi, Albertus. "A Marxist Interpretation Of Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery." Prosodi Jurnal Ilmu Bahasa dan Sastra 3.2 (2009).
Yahya, Younis Hassan Idriss. Analyzing the Conflict in Thomas Hardy’s Novel “Tess of the D’Urbervilles”. Diss. Sudan University of Science and Technology, 2017.
