For centuries, particular elements of society have excused blatantly senseless crimes against their fellow man and seen them as appropriate because they were ordered by someone in authority over them. This is very evident in Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery". As the story opens, the people of a small town are preparing to hold a lottery. There is a feeling of excitement in the air, but the reader also senses a feeling of nervousness. The townspeople greet each other and make jokes while the preparations for the event of the day are completed. The lottery gets underway and soon the reader is hurled into the most unexpected turn of events. Instead of there being one winner and several hundred losers, there is one loser and several hundred winners. The shocking conclusion is the inexcusable cold-blooded murder of one of the townspeople by all of the others, including her own husband and children. There follows a sense of confusion by the reader; what is the!.
purpose of this yearly event? there is also a sense of wonder in trying to figure out what the author is attempting to say to the reader.
The actions of the characters in the story can be compared to several events in man's illustrious history. First, the town acting as a wholeto perform a senseless act of murder can be compared to the country of Germany acting as a whole in the events of the Holocaust. History has revealed that not only did the German people know what atrocities were being performed against the Jews,but that they allowed it to happen without organized protest. They were mesmerized by Adolph Hitler and followed his every word. While the Jewish people were led to gas ovens like sheep to the slaughter, the supposedly Christian Catholic Archbishop remained silent even though he possessed documents which have since proven he knew about Hitler's actions (Padgett 48). In comparison, the characters of "The Lottery" continue with the tradition of the yearly killing even though they know it is wrong and even though they know that they might be the loser of the lottery.
