Examples Of Human Nature In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

The influential author Shirley Jackson is showing human nature and their tendency to become egoistic through “The Lottery”. The story unravels the annual sacrificial tradition of a village portraying the fact that human beings will blindly follow anything in the name of traditions. It is a twisted story that determines the fate of one of the villagers in the town every year by deciding which one of them will be ripped to death that particular year. Jackson makes the use of elements like the box and characters like Old Man Warner to convey egoistic, inhuman and harsh complexion of human along with social status prevailing in our societies. Shirley establishes the idea of humans clinging towards their past and not wanting change with the fear

In the story, when Mrs. Adams tries to explain to Old Man Warner how other places have quit the tradition of lottery it makes Old Man Warner angry. He expresses, “Nothing but trouble in that”, which is the reflection of how things work in our world (Jackson 7). Old Man Warner being stout about that symbolizes how traditions no matter good or bad are passed on strictly to younger generation by older generation. Human nature is to teach all their beliefs to their children and strictly imply it good or bad. When the younger generation tends to rebel, it often results in disappointment and disagreement among the older generation. This is also because Old Man Warner has believed in the ritual his entire life. He claims that it is his seventy-seventh time in the lottery. He also refers to the younger generation as “pack of young and crazy

When the woman expresses she wants to draw for Dunbar, Mr. Summers immediately replies “Don’t you have a big grown boy to do if for you, Janey?” which focuses on the fact that women are not given equal opportunities (Jackson 7). A woman who is older is still believed to be inferior to a much younger guy. It reflects the dystopia that exists in our world. It portrays how women have a very little say in everything and men make all decisions. There is not a single dominant female character in the story and men are only the ones in the top. The women of the village are also not treated with respect. In the story, Bill Hutchinson goes over to his wife and forces the slip of paper out of her hand; this is a reflection of how their relationship seems to be like, portraying the mistreatment against women. The women are also shown to be housewives with only job to care for their child, which is the symbolization of the social status that believes men is above