Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, raises many questions in the back of a reader’s mind towards the destructive yet blind rituals of mankind. “The Lottery” clearly expresses Jackson’s feelings concerning mankind’s evil nature hiding behind traditions and rituals. She shows how coldness and lack of compassion in people can exhibit in situations regarding tradition and values. Jackson presents the theme of the short story with the use of symbols and setting. The setting of “The Lottery” supports the theme. Settings are constructed to help build the mood and foreshadow things to come. In the lottery though, the setting foreshadows exactly the opposite of what is to come. The story begins with a description of a seemingly cheerful environment. Jackson creates a comfortable atmosphere by describing the activities of the residents of the town. She describes children breaking into “boisterous play and their talk still of the classroom” (310). Men and women are gathered in the center of the town talking about farming and taxes or into gossip.
The date of the story is June twenty-seventh, which Helen E. Nebeker states in American Literature, has “symbolic overtones which alerts us to the season of the summer sol
Tessie Hutchinson’s character also provides considerable information on the theme of the story. Her name reminds one of the historical Anne Hutchinson not only because of the name but also because of the small town setting. Anne Hutchinson was a willing martyr who died for her religion and was exiled from her town. Tessie Hutchinson though may at first of the story appear to be a very good-natured and good human being by the way she comes in to the story. She comes in jokingly kidding with a friend of hers about how she almost forgot about the lottery but as soon as she remembered came running. Tessie seems to be a willing participant at the start but when her family’s mane is drawn she shows her true nature. Instead of trying to protect her children she instead demands that her married daughter take part in the drawing just to improve her own chances of survival. Mrs. Hutchinson is a perfect example of how evil exists in everyone and when pushed it can take a mother to risk her own child’s safety. The symbolism found in the black box is a key point in understanding the importance of tradition in the theme of “The Lottery”. The introduction of the black box into the story changes the mood and atmosphere of the crowd of people. The reason being that the box is what holds the key between life and death for each a
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