Social Structure in The Lottery
"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
The first of these rules have been explained: those who control the town economically and politically control the lottery. 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. Her final social blunder is to question the rules of the lottery witch regulate women to an inferior status below their husband. Tessie yelled for her daughter Eva to take her turn, Eva however belongs to her husbands family according to the rules of the lottery. In capitalistic elections, businesses will support the candidates that will help business and be more in tune with their wants and needs. Summers has to remind her, "daughters draw with their husbands' families" (pg 378). Second, the fact that everyone participates in the lottery and understands knowingly that's its outcome is pure chance give it almost a democratic atmosphere that obscures its first codifying function. Tessie, however, rebels against this position she is forced into and such a rebellion is exactly what the orderly function of her town cannot stand. My final major point to make about this story is about Jackson's choice of Tessie Hutchinson as the town's scapegoat. Before the lottery, lists are "[made] up of heads of families [who choose in the first round], heads of households [who draw in the second round], [and] members of each household of each family [who choose in the last round]". Like Tessie, this people of the town cannot articulate their rebellion because the massive force of ideology stands in the way. Dunbar to show the reader unconscious connection to the townspeople's draw between the lottery and their work ethic. Women in the town seem to be disenfranchised because male heads of households, as men in the work force, provide the link between a broader economy of the town and the economy of the households.
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pg 374,
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Acceptance Essays
