Conformity In The Lottery, By Henry Slesar

Everyone likes to conform to match the norm, and will blindly follow if it means that they are part of the group. This conformity is heavily present in ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson, and ‘Examination Day’ by Henry Slesar. In both short stories, people conform to the traditions and routines that have been dictated to them. In ‘The Lottery’, a small town has a tradition of annually sacrificing one of their own, who is chosen by a raffle. The winner, a woman named Tessie Hutchinson, pleads that it isn’t fair, when the townsfolk retort that everyone had the same chance. In ‘Examination Day’, a future dystopian government gives twelve year olds an exam, and if the government deems them too smart, they are killed. Twelve year old Dickie and his
This presence of post-World War II fears has an impact on ‘The Lottery’ and ‘Examination Day’. ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson was published in 1948, only three years after the end of World War II. The social context of the story provides another perspective on the events within it. “But in this village, where there were only about three hundred people.” This shows how the story takes place in a small village, who are very attached to tradition. Everyone in the townsfolk knows one another, and the village acts as a collective unit in what they do. This resembles the US after World War II trying to remain unified, and the citizens all in unison on decisions made by the government, no matter how ludicrous. Similarly, in ‘Examination Day’, the government controls who lives and who dies. When the government informs the Jordans of their son’s result, they say, “We regret to inform you that his intelligence quotient is above the Government regulation.” The government having the power of who lives or not is the norm in that society, and all the citizens follow it blindly, similar to how the townsfolk in ‘The Lottery’ blindly followed the tradition that was stated to them at birth. This is also similar to the power the US government had in the 1950s, when the government created programs to give people information that they would follow
That controversy has been created by two short stories, ‘The Lottery’ and ‘Examination Day’. In both short stories, the end result is not what most readers would expect, and can easily throw off unsuspecting readers. For instance, in ‘The Lottery’, the name of the story already signals to a reader that this story is probably about a raffle with a winner. Additionally, the first sentence states, “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.” The story illustrates a joyful setting, and that the winner of the lottery will get some prize. “And soft laughter ran through the crowd as the people stirred back into position after Mrs. Hutchinson's arrival.” The story further illustrates this joyful setting as the townsfolk seem very happy to be there. However, the story flips this attitude on its head when the true meaning of the lottery is revealed. The author foreshadows that the lottery isn’t what you may expect, as when the black box containing the slips of paper used to conduct the lottery, “The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool.” The townspeople are scared of anything that has to do with the lottery. In the end, the prize for winning the lottery was disclosed when the villagers stoned the winner of the lottery. “A stone hit her