Humanity Exposed In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a short story involving senseless killings of innocent villagers. Each year an innocent soul is randomly picked to be a victim of the lottery. At the end, the one holding the paper marked with a black dot is stoned to death. The lottery shows how cruel the world can be when people are subjected to a certain culture. The villagers are exhilarated by performing these inhumane acts and are quick to abandon their loved ones by simply following a tradition. In the beginning of the story one can see the teachings of the children. The children are laughing and playing around collecting stones preparing for the brutal stoning to come. The story describes a cheerful boy, “ducked under his mother’s grasping hand

The title, “The Lottery” is significant because each villager’s life is at risk because there is no discrimination towards whom is chosen, nor is that person being punished for a crime. The story is about innocent victims involved in foolish traditions. Deaths of innocent people can be blamed on the culture a person is surrounded by. If we grow up in a society where violence is a usual occurrence, then it can be assumed that a person’s values are adapted to that style of living.

For example, the Boston marathon bombing and the Columbine shooting are events that led to the senseless killings of many. Due to the social pressure the assassins felt, innocent people were killed at random. Much like “The Lottery,” life is a gamble and each day proposes a new threat. There are humans in the world who are ruthless just like the villagers in the story. The villagers grew up familiar to this style of tradition, which controls the value placed on another’s life. The lifestyle we are accustomed to influences our beliefs just like the villager’s tradition influenced