Subjects:
During the lottery, everyone is equal and the society is genderless. Although the men draw as the head of the household, the women partake in the final rounds and the stoning of the victim. This is evident when "Mrs. Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands"(200). This shows that even though women did not normally participate in town events, the lottery was an exception to the rule. Young girls were also equal to young boys during this event. Both the girls and the boys stoned the victim along with the rest of the community, regardless of gender. This suggests that the lottery serves as a great equalizer abolishing all forms of separation of gender.
. . .
It is evident that gender division exists due to the difference in expectations of young grils as opposed to boys. Contrary to the superiority of men, women were disenfranchised in this village. They were thought of as housewives and were not given the privilege of representing their family under most circumstances. Summers imposes his power upon the community, by determining who will draw from the box first. Gender is sexual identity of a person, specifically in relation to society or culture. Summers answers with astonishment, "wife draws for husband, don't you have a grown boy to do it for you"(196-7). Another disadvantage for the women is that when they marry, they must draw with their husband's famliy in the lottery. ALtough a lottery like this is unheard of in today's society, senseless violence like this still exists. This is due to the fact that in larger families, the chance of one person being chosen is reduced significantly with each additional member of teh family. This separation of the sexes is evident among the children when Jackson writes "The girls stood aside, talking among themselves, looking over their shoulders at the boys"(195).
Essay's Topics
All research is for reference purposes only.