The Capitalistic Nature vs. the Democratic Illusion
             Society as a whole, from the bottom of the food chain to
             the top, has always been a story of "survival of the fittest."
             The strongest and most powerful have usually dominated while
             the weaker and less fortunate have been left in the dust. This
             attitude even remains true in the capitalistic and democratic
             nation that we know today. Shirley Jackson's story, The
             Lottery, is a very good example of this. It should not be
             looked upon as a simply insane tradition, but rather as an
             ideological organization that will show its ugly face time and
             time again in places close to us like our own hometowns and
             maybe even our own homes. Jackson hits us with the harsh
             reality that this could be our world by personalizing the
             surroundings. She speaks of a bank, grocery store, and a
             school system which are all things that we see everyday.
             Through these commonalities, we can also see the division
             that takes place in the social order and class structure. The
             lottery's purpose is to strengthen the hierarchical social
             order while producing a fear that those that who might oppose
             this social order will be the next victim chosen for the
             "random" selection. This idea of selection, or scapegoating,
             will always be present as long as man is the ruler of the
             earth. It is man's natural tendency to want to blame another
             It gives man some sick pleasure to see the innocent being
             punished for something that he did wrong. A scapegoat serves
             as a guilt remover or conscience cleaner. These are all the
             cases in this mind-baffling and heart-dividing story, The
             One of the first places Jackson shows us this is in the
             choice of her main characters. Mr. Summers who owns the town's
             largest business, a coal company, is the man who presides over
             the lottery since he has the "time and energy to devote to
             civic...