The Lottery Society

Written by Shirley Jackson, the short story “The Lottery” focuses on a village with a tradition that provides fate by random chance. However, in this particular allegory Jackson uses the title to elude the readers mind from the ending to come. Throughout the entire story Jackson uses themes that greatly parallel with American society such as, family, fiscal and social class, and religion. For example, Jackson demonstrates family hierarchy comparable to American culture when she writes, “Soon the women, standing by their husbands, began to call to their children, and the children came reluctantly, having to be called four or five times” (Jackson 133). Similar to American culture these families stand on traditions, in this case “the lottery”.
In the traditional American society, class tends to be separated by the assets someone possesses. However, in this society class is represented by the drawing of the lottery. One of the ways Jackson depicts this is when she writes that, “Mr. Summers had been successful in having slips of paper substituted for the chips of wood that had been used for generations.” (Jackson 133). The conversion of wood chips to paper slips represents the conversion of gold or silver to paper money. However, while money determines how well off someone may be in American Culture, the slips of paper determine how unfortunate someone may be in this village. Jackson demonstrates this when she
A society where family was important, but the execution from society as a whole was sub-par. For instance, the equality of women to men and the general anonymity we face in our society. Similarly, the villagers in the story faced the same issues. These families also face struggles with general well being as we do in our lives. Jacksons use of “the lottery” with the slips of paper helped relate this theme to the reader by eluding to American society’s fiscal classification. Aside from all that though, every family and community has a steadfast set of beliefs. This community believed in what “The Lottery” stood for, just as American culture believes in other various religions. However, Jackson eventually shows how a belief can shape a society negatively, whether religious or not. Shirley Jackson wrote this back in 1948. In that period of time the men were held up as the top of the ladder. Your fiscal class was almost randomly determined by whether or not your family suffered the great depression previously. And finally, the downfall of religious conformity and use of religion as a scapegoat in