Underlying Themes In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

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Shirley Jackson raises numerous community issues in her story, The Lottery. Throughout the story, an underlying theme of unfair fortune concerning families is addressed along with conformity in society, creating great interest for readers. These issues are extraordinarily present in today’s society in varying means. They stand as tremendously pressing matters and highly examined at great length in the media and popular culture. Today, in the United States, we face an enormously large and mounting wealth gap and unaccepting attitudes. In the United States, many families face imbalanced wealth distribution and others face great shunning of their beliefs. In The Lottery, Jackson touches on this problem of unfair family fortune by presenting the adversity of the Hutchinson family. The family is selected in the lottery to have one of their members unjustifiably killed based purely on bad luck. Mrs. Hutchinson, who was selected as the unfortunate member of the family to get stoned, states in the story, "It isn't fair, it isn’t right" (Jackson 7). The lottery, which took place in the village, is not based on merit in any case. This is extremely similar to the problem of income inequality in the modern …show more content…

The story challenges the reader to grasp the lesson it is trying to convey, an idea that social norms do not always define what is right. Furthermore, socially acceptable ideas should not always shape the beliefs of a person, but rather help individuals create their own voice and form their own opinions. A person should be able to create their own role in society, a role which is equal despite gender or race and one that is accepted even if it defies social norms. The Lottery sheds a light on the need of today’s society to create righteousness, even if it means to stray from tradition, develop equality, and bridge the wealth

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