Examples Of Fatalism In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Society’s Faults “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a short story that symbolizes human barbarism, unjust persecution, gender inequality, and the danger of heedlessly following traditions. In Jackson’s short story school boys are responsible for gathering stones for a tradition known as “The Lottery.” During the tradition slips of paper are placed into a black box. The men of each household are responsible for drawing out one slip of paper. Whoever draws the marked slip of paper faces ultimate persecution for themselves or a member of their family through the violent act of stoning. Tessie Hutchinson, a mother of three children, arrives late for the lottery and is the unfortunate persecuted villager. This violent, socially accepted, and male dominant tradition emphasizes the primary theme of

Stones represent the level of human barbarism. Mrs. Delacroix “selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands” (Jackson 7). Mrs. Delacroix’s behavior is an example of the desensitizing impact that this tradition has on the villager’s morals. The villagers are not aware of the evil they are doing. Little Davy Hutchinson was handed “a few pebbles” (Jackson 7). The villagers encourage him to participate and abandon his morals to kill his own mother. Mrs. Delacroix’s choice of the heaviest, most substantial stone in comparison to Little Davy’s small, feeble pebbles symbolizes the contrast in the level of barbarism portrayed in the two characters. The stones are collected by school boys while the girls “stood aside, talking among themselves, looking over their shoulders at rolled in the dust or clung to the hands of their older brothers or sisters” (Jackson 1). This act of male dominance proves girls rely on boys or their older siblings for comfort and labor. Today, in our society girls are refreshingly independent, verifying the need for male dominance is less of a