Second off, besides the lottery being an annual tradition, it also comes off as being a human sacrifice for good harvest. As for the characters in the story, “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones,” even though some things have changed, the tradition is still alive and strong (Jackson). It is quite common in Islamic countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates (Davis). For example, stoning has been a tradition that’s been around since biblical times and has actually even been kept alive since then. The storyline behind “The Lottery” is in fact fictional however cultures all over the world have, and still do, practice their own traditions. The true reasoning behind the tradition of the lottery is never really mentioned, as if the whole purpose was lost. Old Man Warner has done with lottery seventy-seven times it has become a tradition for himself, as well as everyone else. Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore, live that way for a while” (Jackson). Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them.
When Old Man Warner hears that people in neighboring villages have stopped the lottery, he responds with “Pack of crazy fools. Using the aspects of Marxist Criticism, “The Lottery” can be analyzed by comparing the events in the story to the history of sacrificial traditions.įirst off, in “The Lottery”, the townspeople partake in the stoning of a member of society because it is tradition. Even though it is a fictional story, it can be related to factual historical events that have taken place throughout time. When a reader begins reading the story, the atmosphere seems happy and festive however it isn’t until the end of the story where the story shifts and it suddenly becomes somewhat nightmarish. Jackson was the kind of writer that could, “write a tenebrous horror story in the Gothic mold in which abnormal behavior seemed perilously ordinary” (NY Times) which is exactly how her story “The Lottery”, is perceived. “The Lottery” is a short story by Shirley Jackson it was published in 1948 and caused a large amount of controversy. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her” (Jackson).
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