Shirley Jackson is mostly recognized for her story “The Lottery,” for the story displays her emotions towards what she calls a “brutal rite, pointless violence, and general inhumanity” (Friedman 61). Critiques of the short story are mostly from a negative standpoint; however, there are a few who say the story is understandable, if seen from a religious point of view. In the story, the townspeople gather "on the twenty-seventh of June," to choose a lottery winner to stone to death in order to ensure an abundance of corn. While waiting for the lottery to begin, some of the townspeople start to question the meaning of the tradition, for they had forgotten the reasons why the lottery began. Just then, a gentleman named “Old Man Warner” speaks: “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (Jackson 110). Old Man Warner’s words are evidence that the tradition is a fertility ritual. The yearly ritualistic sacrifice of a scapegoat to appease a higher deity, as seen in “The Lottery,” reflects similar ceremonies practiced among societies such as Ancient Greeks, Mexicas (Aztecs), and Skidi Pawnees, to rid the community of sins, to assure fertility, or to praise life.
The ritualistic sacrifice of a scapegoat to appease a higher deity, to rid the community as a whole and to assure fertility mirrors religious ceremonies practiced among Ancient Greek society. Sarah Iles Johnston, a professor at Ohio State University and author suggests “Greeks [seek] fertility of crops, animals, and selves; economic prosperity; good health; and safety of self, family, and country,” basing the relationship between humans and the divine on “charis or favor, which [must] be repaid” with a scapegoat ritual (35, 215). The “so-call pharmakos (scapegoat) ritual” consis...
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...– Honors. Glendale: Phillip Roderick, 2014. Page. 108-112. Print.
Johnston, Sarah Iles. Ancient Religions. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Linton, Ralph. The Sacrifice to the Morning Star by the Skidi Pawnee. No. 6. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1922. N. pag. Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. .
Saunders, Dr. Nicholas J. "Mesoamerica." World Mythology. First ed. Richmond Hill: Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd., 1993. pp. 234-48. Print.
Read, Kay A. Time And Sacrifice In The Aztec Cosmos. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998. N. pag. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. .
Morford, Mark P.O., Robert J. Lenardon and Michael Sham. Classical Mythology 9th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
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
...popular. Shirley Jackson succeeded in writing a story that shocked the readers and gave them a new outlook on preserving traditions and imperfections of society. The human sacrifices that occur every year with the lottery show that some traditions are brutal and need to be reconsidered. Some of the symbolism such as the lottery, the black box, and the characters help bring about the theme of the short story. Ultimately, Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery shows just how individuals follow traditions and people in front of them by conforming to society.
There has been evidence of over two hundred human sacrifices in just one general area of Mesoamerica. Not just in an area of a city – but a “building”. Many pyramids, temples, and art forms such as sculptures were made and used just for the purpose of sacrifices and blood-letting rituals. Such violent rituals are shown in art and architecture to show the effect of symbols on the humans of Ancient Mesoamerica. The question that will be uncovered is, how far did the Mesoamericans go? To what extend do symbols effect Mesoamerican art and architecture? These effects could of course lead to the stronger subjects, specifically human sacrifices. The extent of symbols on the architecture and art therefore is reflected as the extent it had on ancient Mesoamericans. It will first be evaluated how Architecture is made to reflect their beliefs on the lives of their gods. Second, how architecture and art can depict symbols will be revealed, and lastly it will be discussed how architecture and art shows the effect of symbols on ancient human lives and interactions. Finding these things will answer the research question by revealing how much effort believers would make to please their symbols, how Mesoamericans believe their gods to be, and how far they would go with tradition or rituals.
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a chilling tale of a harsh ritualistic gathering conducted by people of a small village. The word lottery would typically remind someone of a drawing to win a cash prize. A better comparison to the story would be the lottery used to select troops for the Vietnam War; a lottery of death. Another would be the human sacrifices the Aztecs willingly made long ago.
Callery, Sean. The Dark History of the Aztec Empire. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2011. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and Scholars Woodrow Wilson International Center for. “The Mystery of Aztec Sacrifices.”
Houston, Stephen. “Classic Maya Religion: Beliefs and practices of an Ancient American People.” BYU Studies 38.4 (1999): 43-64. Print.
Shirley Jackson wrote “The Lottery” in 1948, not long after the second World War. The horror of the Holocaust was still fresh in everyone’s mind’s. Jackson wrote this story to remind everyone that we are not so far from this world of sadistic human sacrifice. She created a town, very much like any American town, with the gathering of the towns people to celebrate some annual event. She wanted to shine a mirror on contemporary society, a reflection of humanity, or rather, inhumanity. One would think that she was protesting against the shallow hypocrites that rule the world.
[Tylor, E.B. Primitive Culture: Researches Into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom. New York: Gordon Press.(1871) Reprinted in 1974]
Hultkrantz, Ake. Belief and Worship in Native North America. Ed Christopher Vecsey. NewYork: Syracuse University Press, 1981.
In “The Lottery”, Jackson wrote about a special tradition of a small village. June 27th was warm and sunny, and it gave the impression like nothing could possibly go wrong. Everyone knows the lottery as an exciting thing, and everybody wants to win, but this lottery is unlike any other. This lottery was actually the tradition of stoning of an innocent villager; that year it was Tessie Hutchinson. Though the horrific ending was not expected, throughout the story Jackson gave subtle hints that this was not an average lottery. Jackson foreshadowed the death of Tessie Hutchinson with stones, the black box, and the three legged stool; she showed that unquestioning support of tradition can be fatal.
Morford, Mark P.O., Robert J. Lenardon and Michael Sham. Classical Mythology 9th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Munn, Mark H. The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny in Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. N.p.: Berkeley: University of Califronia, 2006. Print.
Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery” is a short story about the annual gathering of the villagers to conduct an ancient ritual. The ritual ends in the stoning of one of the residents of this small village. This murder functions under the guise of a sacrament that, at one time, served the purpose of ensuring a bountiful harvest. This original meaning, however, is lost over the years and generations of villagers. The loss of meaning has changed the nature and overall purpose of the lottery. This ritual is no longer a humble sacrifice that serves the purpose of securing the harvest but instead is a ceremony of violence and murder only existing for the pleasure found in this violence.
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.