Obedience To Authority In The Lottery

1233 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The use of symbolism in shirley jackson the lottery

The limits of obedience to authority is an overall good idea and. In the short story, “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, supports the thought that blind obedience will only lead to bad things. Authority does not have to be a person; it can be an item or belief. Obedience to authority can lead to the destruction of that group and groups should never blindly follow anything, especially when they feel as if it is wrong. Obedience should be regulated and only occur when the demand of authority is rational and reasonable.
The short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson shows what can happen if they instinctively obey authority. Every year that city participated in the lottery; however, it is not a lottery where they win money, it is a lottery to see who is getting stoned to death that year. The black box is used to pick who would be chosen for that year’s stoning. Over …show more content…

The townspeople do not want to stone someone every year; rather, the peer pressure they experience is why they do not go against the norm. Old Man Warner is one of those authoritative figures because he thinks that the tradition should stay even though in most places it is no longer being used. In the north, village people are talking about giving up the lottery, although Old Man Warner insists that they are just a pack of crazy fools and that nothing is ever good enough for them (Jackson 215). Old Man Warner is an example of irrational authority because the others in a way want to give up the lottery and with good reason; the interests of the people is ignored by the authoritative figure (Fromm 363). The authoritative symbol is the black box, which is used to do the lottery. Although it may not seem like a box can control people; it has a sense of tradition to it and for that reason, it manipulates the people in the town into thinking that they have to do the lottery or else something bad will happen to them all (Jackson

Show More
Related

  • Duality Of Human Nature In The Lottery

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the story, The Lottery, there are many signs of duality of human nature. Many of the characters appear to be affected by the lottery at first, but towards the end their feelings start to change. Tessie, Mr.Summers, and Mrs.Delacroix all show two sides of humanity and they all generally appear to be good natured people, but are they really?

    Read More

  • Differences In Kurt Vonnegut's The Lottery And Harrison Bergeron

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shirley Jackson describes the lottery being an annual event where someone gets randomly drawn to win the prize of getting stoned to death, Tradition which no one has ever questioned its purpose or opposed to it. “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones” (Jackson 7). People in “The Lottery” were so accustomed to the tradition that no kind of emotion or feeling was shown at the time of stoning, no matter if it was a family member or a close friend. Their blind acceptance to the lottery made murder become natural that time of the

    Read More

  • The Contrast of Two Great Short Stories: The Rocking Horse Winner and The Lottery

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Lottery” is a short story about an event that takes place every year in a small village of New England. When the author speaks of “the lottery” he is referencing the lottery of death; this is when the stoning of a village member must give up his or her life. The villagers gather at a designated area and perform a customary ritual which has been practiced for many years. The Lottery is a short story about a tradition that the villagers are fully loyal to and represents a behavior or idea that has been passed down from generation to generation, accepting and following a rule no matter how cruel or illogical it is. Friends and family become insignificant the moment it is time to stone the unlucky victim.

    Read More

  • Symbolic References in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

    1473 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, Jackson illustrates an average agricultural town that usually wouldn’t be given a second thought, but in this case the innocent appearance is holding a dark secret. Every year in the summer an annual tradition is held known as the lottery. The lottery is held in the small town in order to have a bountiful harvest. All the towns’ people gather and each head of the families must reach into an old black box to grab a white slip of paper. The lottery is then narrowed down to one family once all the white slips of paper are opened. The individual who is possession of a white slip of paper with a black dot has their family each reach into the box and grab a slip of paper of their own. Unfortunately the family member who has the slip of paper with the black dot is sacrificed in order to receive a good season of crops.

    Read More

  • Allegories In The Lottery

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Lottery,” written by Shirley Jackson in 1948, is a provoking piece of literature about a town that continues a tradition of stoning, despite not know why the ritual started in the first place. As Jackson sets the scene, the villagers seem ordinary; but seeing that winning the lottery is fatal, the villagers are then viewed as murders by the reader. Disagreeing with the results of the lottery, Tessie Hutchinson is exposed to an external conflict between herself and the town. Annually on June 27th, the villagers gather to participate in the lottery. Every head of household, archetypally male, draws for the fate of their family, but Tessie protests as she receives her prize of a stoning after winning the lottery. Jackson uses different symbols – symbolic characters, symbolic acts, and allegories – to develop a central theme: the

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Connotation In The Lottery, By Shirley Jackson

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    Typically, when someone thinks of a lottery they think of something positive and exciting but contrary to this idea in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, the connotation has an entirely different meaning. As the story begins, readers lean towards the belief that the town in which Jackson depicts is filled with happiness and joy. “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (Jackson 247) We soon realize that this notion is far from the truth. As the townspeople gather in the square for the annual lottery, which sole purpose is to stone someone to death by randomly pulling a paper out of a black box with a black dot on it, it is learned

    Read More

  • The Lottery

    535 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shirley Jackson's, The Lottery, has raised questions in the back of every reader's mind towards the destructive yet blind rituals of mankind. A reflection of ourselves is what we see when looking through the pond of Jackson's mind. The Lottery clearly expressed Jackson's feelings concerning traditional rituals through her story, opened the eyes of its readers to properly classify and question some of today's traditions as cruel, and allowed room to foretell the outcome of these unusual traditions. Jackson's feelings towards the misuse of tradition as an excuse to cause harm have triggered her creativity for the creation of The Lottery. Jackson obviously saw examples of this misuse of tradition and ingeniously placed it into an exaggerated situation to let us see how barbaric our actions are. The townspeople, in the story, all come together for the annual lottery; however, in an interesting twist, those participating stone the winner to death. Everyone in the story seems horribly uncivilized yet they can easily be compared to today's society. Perhaps Jackson was suggesting the coldness and lack of compassion the human race can exhibit in situations regarding tradition and values. The People who were stoned to death represented values and good being as the townspeople, who represented society, cold-heartedly destroyed them ( Jackson 79 ). Immediately after reading The Lottery, one can compare the ritual, in the story, to some of today's barbaric traditions in a new point of v...

    Read More

  • What Is The Inhumane Tradition In The Lottery

    795 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, there are certain traditions that are upheld by the characters in the story. These characters that Jackson created are not even sure why they are following the traditions. This story shows the reader how mankind will react to different situations that they are put into. Even when something is going bad or is wrong, people will not be a leader and stop it. The characters in this story should not have tolerated with the inhumane tradition that was held every year.

    Read More

  • The Lottery Symbolism Essay

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    Written by Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery” is a short story about a town that hosts an annual lottery that decides which person is stoned by the rest of the town. Jackson slowly and subtly builds the suspense throughout the story, only resolving the mystery surrounding the lottery at the very last moment, as the townspeople surround Tessie with their stones. The symbolism utilized helps demonstrate the overall significance of the story, such as the lottery itself. The lottery shows the way people desperately cling to old traditions, regardless of how damaging they may be. In addition, it can show how callous many will act while staring at a gruesome situation, until they become the victims. Jackson’s story presents the issue regarding the habit

    Read More

  • Trauma of Execution Yields Social Conformity: The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson

    1595 Words  | 4 Pages

    In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the people of the small community reveal the psychological effects of participating in public executions and how these effects lead to social conformity. The main characters Tessie Hutchinson and Old Man Warner reveal the varying psychological reactions one would have from participating in a public execution. Other townspeople have developed dissociative symptoms that explain their conformity to the lottery. Jackson herself shows psychological symptoms because of the way readers treated her after the 1948 publication of “The Lottery.” The psychological effects of participating in public executions lead people to conform to societal norms to avoid becoming an outcast or target.

    Read More

  • Discussion of Literary Techniques Used in The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson

    868 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a community that has a yearly lottery pull. The short story is set in a small town that is seemingly normal at first. Every year the town has a lottery pull, in which one person is chosen at random, to be stoned to death by all of their fellow townsmen. The lottery is a tradition that was started many years ago, and is kept alive by the current residents. By using symbolism, irony, and setting Jackson shows the true darkness within the entirety of the human race.

    Read More

  • The Dangers Of Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    846 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tradition is huge in small towns and families and allows for unity through shared values, stories, and goals from one generation to the next. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” carries that theme of tradition. The story follows a small town that performs the tradition of holding an annual lottery in which the winner gets stoned to death. It (tradition) is valued amongst human societies around the world, but the refusal of the villagers in “The Lottery” to let go of a terrifying long-lasting tradition suggests the negative consequences of blindly following these traditions such as violence and hypocrisy.

    Read More

  • The Lottery and Human Behavior

    1674 Words  | 4 Pages

    “The Lottery” is a story which shows the complexity and capability of human behavior. Something immoral, like stoning a person to death once a year, is a normal occurrence. The main character, Tessie Hutchinson, is the victim of the lottery. Tessie is a character with a number of seemingly good characteristics, yet her surrounding culture rejects these characteristics. The majority of the people in the village has opposite attitudes and beliefs in comparison to Tessie’s. These attitudes and beliefs reflect her personal desires which quickly struggle against the culture’s expectations. Tessie is unlike the other villagers; she is initially indifferent to the lottery indicating her desires are unrelated to the lottery. Upon winning the lottery, Tessie changes and her personal desires to survive and reject the lottery emerge in her selfishness and outspoken personality. These struggles against the village’s expectations are shown through the culture’s emphasis on tradition and small town ties.

    Read More

  • Essay on Shirley Jackson's The Lottery - Evils of Society Exposed

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Shirley Jackson’s "The Lottery," what appears to be an ordinary day in a small town takes an evil turn when a woman is stoned to death after "winning" the town lottery. The lottery in this story reflects an old tradition of sacrificing a scapegoat in order to encourage the growth of crops. But this story is not about the past, for through the actions of the town, Jackson shows us many of the social ills that exist in our own lives.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson

    390 Words  | 1 Pages

    In "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson, there are a series of traditions the story revolves around. The characters in the story don't seem to follow their traditions anymore. The story begins by explaining how the lottery works. The lottery takes place in many other towns. In this town it takes place on June 27 of every year. Everyone within town would gather at the town square, no matter what age. The black box is brought out and each head of the household pulls a small paper out of it. Only one of the papers will not be blank, it will have a black-penciled spot that is put on by the owner of the coal company. The black spot will send someone, from the family who chose it, to death. This is decided by a draw. The family member who pulls out the spotted paper will be stoned to death. After a long period of time, people forget the traditions by slowly disregarding as the years pass.

    Read More

More about Obedience To Authority In The Lottery

Open Document