Social Beliefs In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

Yanagihara (2016) identifies that there are several reasons that the reader chooses fiction, which includes invoking唤起 emotion. Emotion does not necessitate a pleasant outcome. In fact, Yanagihara (2016) identifies that one of the reasons that readers choose fiction, in order to be upset and to have their values and society’s values to be challenged. Jackson’s The Lottery (1948) challenges social beliefs by identifying that just because there is an entrenched根深蒂固 social ritual社会惯例; it does not mean that it is valid. Rather, it is the role of society to challenge it. The description of the black box is important, because it is an illustration of the society that is following this tradition without proper understanding of its purpose. Jackson

Then the members of the family take a slip to determine the member. This is a grotesque奇异风格(absurd) story and it does not fit with the norms of society, which is entrenched with the use of Western names (i.e. stoning is still used as a punishment in some cultures, so not as shocking). The story indicates in the past that the stoning was deemed视作 to be a necessary evil, but the reason for it is lost (i.e. it predates the oldest person in society). This is supported by the fact that “the original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born” (Jackson, 1948, p. 1). A problem that arises with a necessary evil is that it loses its justification when it is no longer identified as a necessity. This is why the lottery is shocking, because the society are following through with it without determining if it is required (i.e. it has become an entrenched norm). For the outsider (i.e. the reader) there is shock and upset, because there is an unjustified death of a citizen in a grotesque manner. Nonetheless, the social commentary has to be based upon this shock to get readers to challenge social norms that are unjust, which is the very argument that is forwarded by