Human Disconnect From Tragedy: The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Chris Hatfield
Dr. Wilfred Robles
ENGL 2030
05 October 2013
Human Disconnect from Tragedy: An Interpretation
Of the Theme in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a story of an anticipated yearly event where the all the citizens of a small town gather together to participate in. The author gives the impression through the light-hearted dialogue among the characters the lottery leads to an event bringing its winner good fortune. As the fortune of the one chosen by the lottery drawing is revealed, it also shows a potential problem of the human character. “The Lottery” reveals when exposed to violence routinely people can become desensitized to the outcomes of such acts. Throughout the story the narrator
Summers is ready to conduct the lottery the narrator once again reiterates how the people had grown accustom to the proceedings, “The people had done it so many times that they only half listened to the directions, most of them were quiet, wetting their lips, not looking around” (905). In the previous quote, the author reveals part of the theme she is trying to express on how people emotionally detach themselves when they have experienced something enough. While the drawing is taking place the narrator describes the dialogue between the characters of Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, and a fellow citizen Mr. Adams. In the dialogue between the two men the narrator relates how something that is tradition can be hard to give
From soldiers that have been involved in war to children of today that see constant images of violence through television and video games. There is a concern that such things lead people to become desensitized to and participate in such acts. “The Lottery” was published in 1948 shortly after the end of World War II when it was becoming known worldwide about the atrocities of the Jewish Holocaust. People found out the German friends and neighbors of the Jews had participated in the death of Jews. The story of “The Lottery” is perhaps a story written on how people that are friends and relatives can see such violence and become so desensitized to it they could possibly participate in it. Whether the author wrote “The Lottery” with the Holocaust in mind or just making an observation of how inhumane people can become to each other is not known. “The Lottery” explains how people can become desensitized and lose compassion toward each other when exposed to constant violence leading them to possibly participate in such