The Lottery by Shirley Jackson - Essay Example

To be specific, the villagers never try to realize that their belief in ‘the lottery’ is false. Instead, they blindly accept the tradition and happen to be the victims of the same. The speaker in the work by Shirley Jackson states that “Soon the men began to gather, surveying their own children, speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes” (6).

Besides, the lottery is used as a tool to sustain orthodoxy, but it brutally punishes individuals. Jackson Bill knows that the lottery is not a fortune for his family. Still, he never tries to act against this inhuman custom. As the community members are supposed to follow the orthodoxy, one cannot expect the protagonist (say, Jackson Bill) to act against the same. S.T. Joshi opines that “Certainly there is nothing supernatural about “The Lottery” (1948), whose impact rests on the very possibility of its occurrence” (13).

From a different angle of view, the author makes use of the helpless characters to expose the inhuman aspects of orthodoxy. On the other side, the villagers still believe that sacrifice can result in fortune (say, a good harvest). The need to discard orthodoxy The author makes use of Tessie as the tool to proclaim the need to discard orthodoxy. Tessie is portrayed as the victim of orthodoxy, but she does not try to subdue to the same. Instead, she tries to express her views on forced human sacrifice.

Still, this does not change the villagers’ attitude because their belief is blind. They never try to go beyond orthodoxy because their community never allows it. James Hugh Toner makes clear that “By custom, others in the family join in to kill the lottery “winner” (9). Bill knows that he cannot save his wife. Still, he does not try to save his wife. On the other side, Tessie tries to educate the villagers on their inhuman orthodoxy, but for no use. So, the author expects that Tessie’s fate will create awareness among the mass on the need to discard inhuman rituals related to orthodoxy.

Summing, Shirley Jackson makes use of the main characters to expose the inhuman aspects of orthodoxy. The villagers never realize that they are mere victims of orthodoxy. To be specific, the community never allows the members to keep themselves away from orthodoxy. This sort of orthodoxy is not based on reasoning because individual liberty is totally discarded. In short, the pathetic fate of Tessie proves that inhuman rituals based on orthodoxy must be discarded because it is against humane concern.