An Examination of Community Acceptance in Shirley Jacksons The Lottery - Essay Example

Thus, the entire community evolves into a monstrous entity consuming itself, the ramifications of which hinge upon the acceptance of the individuals involved, as will soon be examined. Yet a result cannot happen without cause. Therefore, one must examine both the origins of the lottery as well as its ongoing impact, as will be discussed through the course of this paper. To understand the full impact of the lottery upon the community, one must first understand what the ritual and the black box represent.

They symbolize, in a more modern from, the nature of society to hold onto ceremony beyond the origins of its purpose. This is comparable to the pagan holidays that survived the arrival of the Christian calendar by either being adopted under a new guise or tolerated despite disapproval. The former exists in such parallels of Christmas or Easter to traditional seasonal celebrations; the latter is found in the example of Halloween. The lottery itself falls more in the realm of Halloween - indeed, is held in the same area used for Halloween activities - as it seems an act of sacrifice whose origins no one can recall.

Yet the superstitious adherence is evident not only in the fact that it is still practiced, but also in the reverence with which the citizens hold the box, which despite its dilapidation, is believed to contain portions of the original box used by the founders of the village. Other aspects of the event the "tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly every year," as well as a "ritual salute" given by the official prior to each participant drawing from the box, only reinforce both the ritualistic and pagan aspects of the sacrifice.

Perhaps Old Man Warner's saying of "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon." is most exact roots of the process. Regardless, the fact that these social pleasantries, along with other traditional paraphernalia, have been abandoned indicates that whatever fear initiated the lottery originally made a strong enough impression in the collective psyche that the ritual is continued beyond its need. The lottery has become the appendix of the civic body: useless, its purpose obsolete yet still deadly.

Whatever the initial justification for this yearly atrocity, the true evil is its continuation, both in blindly following tradition without reason and the social pressure of conformity. Old Man Warner, as the eldest member of the community, seems to represent the general opinion of the community, calling the north village a "pack of crazy fools" for discussing a cessation of their lottery, prophesying a regression to dwelling in caves if the abandon this element of 'civilization'. The most frightening aspect of the entire event is the casual aspect of human nature regarding public execution.

Hangings have been cause for morbidly lighthearted social gatherings for centuries however, the blas attitude the villagers have about an event that may very well cause their own demise is chilling. It is a comment on the horrible feedback loop that the lottery has caused, for, once the necessity of the sacrifice is accepted without question, the community accepts it as just another "civic activity". Being selected by the lottery is then like jury duty, or rather being drafted, with the understanding that the individual