Dehumanization in ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson

Dehumanization is a concept that is often ignored in the society especially in cases where traditions are involved. Many times in the society People are deprived of compassion, civility and individuality that they deserve as human beings all because of traditions. A good illustration of dehumanization that occurred because of rituals and beliefs is with ‘Holocaust’, where innocent Jews were killed all because of perverted beliefs. ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson is a story that brings out the issue of dehumanization as a result of traditions, people in the small town made a choice to engage in inhuman act of killing one another, pointing to tradition as an excuse. Traditions and rituals are often used as an excuse for societies to engage in dehumanizing activities as is illustrated in ‘The Lottery’ and the case of the Holocaust. People do not take time to understand the truth behind these traditions and they get passed on through generations causing destruction and inhumanity in the society.

 ‘The Lottery’ is a story about an annual lottery draw that happens in a small town in rural America. The lottery is held every year and instead of the winners getting awarded with money or other tangible rewards, they are stoned to death by the rest of the community. This is tradition that has been practised in this town for more than seventy years and it has come to be accepted as a way of life. The residents of this town blindly follow this tradition without acknowledging the negative impacts that it has when it comes to matters of humanity (Whittier, p. 62). When the story begins, the small town is described using symbols that signify beauty and an idealistic community ‘flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green’ (Jackson, p. 1). as you begin reading the story, one does not expect that something as horrible as murder would happen in this beautiful town, given the way that it id described. It is only after you continue reading and learn about the lottery tradition that you discover the dehumanization that happens in the community.

 Tradition is used as a motivation of this dehumanizing tradition in the story. Jackson illustrates that the original manual that was followed during this tradition was lost years ago ‘The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago’ (Jackson, p. 1). Much of the tradition has been lost an illustration of how out-dated the tradition is (Ismael, p. 29). The black box that is used for this tradition is old and even though Mr. Summers has advised on getting a new black box made, the people do not like the idea ‘for fear of upsetting the tradition that the black box represented’  (Jackson, p. 1). The black box in the story is used as imagery; it is a symbol of death and darkness of the lottery tradition. The black box is what holds the key between life and death for all the residents in this small town and no one wants to go near it (Jackson, p. 7).

By touching on the concept of tradition, Jackson is trying to illustrate that traditions are sometimes the things that hold people together. Traditions as is illustrated in this story are what links generations of families for decades. However traditions as is illustrated by the lottery tradition can also be destructive if they are followed blindly (Whittier, p. 65). The lottery tradition can best be described as a ritual murder and the people have come to accept it as a normal act, assuming that they need the ritual for the survival of the town (Ismael, p. 29). They do this without considering that the people that are killed because of the tradition are innocent and that there is no truth to the traditional assumptions of the ritual. The black box that used for the lottery even though it is old and the original one was lost, people still use it as an excuse to stone and kill one another every year (Ismael, p. 30). Though the residents use tradition as excuse for their lottery, the true traditional purpose of the lottery has been lost. Every element of this tradition has been forgotten and the only thing that is left is the concept of murder.

The lottery is similar to the witch hunt that happened during the holocaust. In the holocaust, the Germans and their allies allocated themselves the power to decide who lived and died. The Jews were innocently killed because of a belief that the Germans were a superior race and so had power over the inferior races like the Jews (Robinson, p. 4). The Germans and their allies did not consider the morals of their actions and its effects on the Jews as human beings. The lottery and holocaust are both acts of violence against innocent civilians all because of barbaric beliefs. The actions in both situations are inhumane as innocent people are killed all because of barbaric beliefs. There are those people in the story that have tried speaking against the tradition like Mr and Mrs Adams who indicate that ‘Some places have already quit lotteries’ (Jackson, p. 27). The names of the resistors are significant in that they represent Christianity, meaning that the activity that was happening in this society was against God’s teachings (Robinson, p. 10). This story helps to illustrate how progress can be deterred by traditions.

 The residents in this story have not made any meaningful progress in their lives, instead of becoming more enlightened, they continue to be stagnated in a tradition that do not have any meaningful cultural elements (Robinson, p. 10). This tradition is out of place given that this story is given a modern setting, the residents understand that it is just rite but they still continue to engage in it. The lottery is continued not as a tradition but as progress, the young people are ignorant and regressive (Robinson, p. 10). This is why they do not give in to the idea of change that is suggested by Mr Adams. This story depicts enlightenment as a self-deception among people that are controlled by barbarism.

Jackson brings out the issue of patriarchy linking it to the theme of dehumanization within the story using Tessie. The character of Tessie who helps to illustrate the gender roles in this society, a woman is expected to conduct domestic tasks that cause her to be late for the lottery (Robinson, p. 6). Tessie is a representation of a rebel because she does not follow the rules that have been set for the lottery. For one she is late to get to the lottery, second she tries to force her daughter who is married to draw in the second round with the Hutchinsons (Robinson, p. 6). And lastly she protests and complaints of unfairness in the lottery instead of facing the prospect of death with dignity. It is hence the belief of the residents that Tessie won the lottery as a punishment for her defiance and her attempt to speak against the tradition (Robinson, p. 7). Mrs Delacroix on the other hand is presented as a selfless and independent voice that defends equality when she is just actually defending immorality and murder.

What is worse about the lottery is that children are included in it, they are taught right from when they are young to perform the tradition. Children are taught to collect the best round stones to commit murder, they are forced to watch and even participate in the stoning of innocent people. ‘As Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, the other boys followed his example, selecting the smoothest round stones’ (Jackson, p. 2). The concept of the children collecting stones highlights the concept of dehumanization among the people in this town even further.

‘The Lottery’ is a warning story of how traditions if followed blindly can lead to dehumanizing acts. In most cases as is illustrated in this society, traditions are followed without reasoning or stopping to question the ethics behind the tradition. All throughout the story, the villagers do not at any time stop to question why the lottery tradition is more important than human life. This is the same thing that happens in the modern society; sometimes people do things all because their forefathers did it even if it is unethical. It is important that people examine some of the traditions that they follow to understand the effects that they have on the society around them, in order for people to lead ethical lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Ismael, Zaid Ibrahim, and Sabah Atallah Khalifa Ali. “Human Rights at Stake: Shirley

Jackson's Social and Political Protest in ‘The Lottery.’” (2018). International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature,

Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. , 2008. Print

Robinson, Michael. “Shirley Jackson's ‘The Lottery’ and Holocaust Literature.” MDPI,

            Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 25 Feb. 2019,

Whittier, Gayle. “‘The Lottery’ as Misogynist Parable.” Women’s Studies, vol. 18, no. 4, Jan.

            1991, p. 353. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00497878.1991.9978842.

 

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