“The Lottery” is Shirley Jackson’s implication that the world of her lottery is our world, scaled down for the sake of the economy. The town in which the Lottery takes place contains a post office, a grocery store, a bank, a school system, a coal business; its women are all housewives as an alternative to jobs in a real workplace; and its men talk about “tractors and taxes”. (pg 374) More importantly, however, the town exhibits the same socio-economic stratification that most people in our society today take for granted.
At the top of the social ladder in this town is its most powerful citizen Mr. Summers. Mr. Summers owns the largest business in town; the coal factory and is also its chief, since he has, as Jackson writes “time and energy to devote to civic activities”. (pg 375) Mr. Graves is the next in line he is the second most powerful government official; its postmaster. Bellow him comes Mr. Martin, who has an advantage in his economic position of being a grocer for a town of three hundred. These three men who are the most powerful economically as well as politically are the men who run the lottery. These were the men who kept control of the lottery box during the off time also. It is no coincidence that the lottery takes
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Third, the villagers believe undoubtedly that their commitment to a work ethic will grant them some magical immunity from being selected. The remaining rules show how the rest of the town is divided up by which round they get to draw from the lottery. Tessie yelled for her daughter Eva to take her turn, Eva however belongs to her husbands family according to the rules of the lottery. Women have a distinctly lesser position in the socio-economic chain of command of the town. In stoning Tessie the townspeople treat her as their scapegoat through which they can repress, since is conserved rather than eliminating their own temptations to rebel. Yet just as the lottery’s black box has grown shabby and reveals in places its original color, moments in their official democratic conduct of the lottery, especially Mr. After this comment came a nervous laugh from the crowd, that indicates the extent to the villages commitment to their work ethic and power structure. Her remark again prompted the crowd into a nervous laughter, which senses the taboo that she has violated.
Tessie’s rebellion begins with her late entrance to the lottery, a blunder that raises qualms of her resistance to everything the lottery stands for. When her family is chosen in the first round, Tessie Hutchinson objects that her daughter and son in law didn’t take their chance. Like Tessie, this people of the town cannot articulate their rebellion because the massive force of ideology stands in the way. She even makes a remark about if she didn’t finish the dishes it might have out her in violation of the towns worth ethic and neglect of her own job within the social division of the town. They make their first appearance “wearing faded blue house dresses…” (pg 374), this shows they did work, but because they work at home they men treat the women, and the women think of themselves as inferiors. Summers has to remind her, “daughters draw with their husbands’ families” (pg 378).
Approximate Word count =
1361
Approximate Pages =
5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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