Empathy is essential to society. Having the ability to care and understand what others feel helps the community thrive. Shirley Jackson, the author of The Lottery, used this idea to create a story about how people lack empathy which results in terrible actions, such as killings. In the story, the villagers did not care about what the outcome would be and what happened to the person that had been picked for the lottery. They had just wanted carry on with the process and proceed with their daily routine. Tessie Hutchinson was the unfortunate lottery victim. She was stoned to death by her friends and family, who were deaf to her pleas for help. This was the outcome, according to tradition, for the person who picked the slip of paper containing a black dot. Jackson presents how human beings fail to show empathy for people in situations that they have never experienced. …show more content…
One only realizes when he or she is the unlucky lottery “winner.” As the villagers gather in the town square, collecting rocks that they would use for the ritual, no one gives any thought about how they would feel if they were the victim. Instead, they go about as if it was just a normal day. “Mrs. Hutchinson reached her husband and Mr. Summers, who had been waiting, said cheerfully, ‘Thought we were going to have to get on without you, Tessie.’”(3) The people of the town are joyful and conversational even though later in the day, they are going to kill an innocent friend without even hesitating. However, there is no way that this would be tolerated in today’s society. The townspeople who are not chosen for the lottery continue their day to day lives as if nothing