Evil in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

The word evil can have several different meanings, such as morally bad or wrong, the act of causing others to reevaluate their beliefs and assuming a completely new persona, or abusing an immense amount of power. One can only vaguely grasp the term evil given the definition of it. It takes one’s own experiences to thoroughly understand evil. Evil is when one purposefully outcasts a mass of people as a result of a common attribute. It is proceeding to do something immoral while recognizing its potential risks. Through the voice of Elaine Aron, Zimbardo claims that such qualities are embodied among ordinary people put under various pressures to create an evil situation. These traits repeatedly appear among characters in both American literature and history in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, and the events related to McCarthyism.

Authority gives one the right the apparent right to demand obedience and expect the norm from “their people”. They are expected to use beneficial judgment and lead society forward and on the right path, but given power, leaders’ minds are tainted. People of authority are often given “responsible sounding roles such as “guardian,” “teacher,” [or] “defenders of the law” (Aron 4). This results in the manipulation of peoples’ minds as they tend to trust those with a name of great significance and respect. The society in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson often faces the challenging task of distinguishing between immoral and moral to the point where they have lost the ability to recognize the nonexistence of the moral. The people “had done it so many times” (Jackson 296), yet they do not question their traditions, and simply abide by the ru...

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...he past and move on, as she uses this new found strength for the betterment of society. She transforms into a benefactor of society, being “so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted” (Hawthorne 111). Hester proves that she could overcome her society’s out casting of her actions and turns the A for adultery into an A for angel.

Being evil is unadmirable, however without it there is no definition of morality. Good without evil is like black without white, dark without light, yin without yang – one does not exist without the other, yet both exist in harmony. The good can exist in the evil, and the evil can exist in the good. There is no distinct line between moral and immoral, and hence they tend to crossover into each others’ territory as described in Zimbardo’s article. So long as mankind exists, good and evil will always coexist.