Shirley Jacksons The Lottery Essay -- The Lottery Essays

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson has been criticized, but its longevity and durability take the stand it stands the test of time. In the article, Jacksons The Lottery, the author A.R. Coulthard finds a deeper means in the story which other critics have not. Coulthard believes the story is a fiction of the evil inherent in human nature rather than an dishonour on mindless cultural conformity, as other critics have suggested (Coulthard 226). Coulthard shows how something that roughly likely began as a primitive and ignorant way to guarantee prosperity, evolved into a complete need for sanctioned violence and murder. Coulthard offers valid points to take her argument. Coulthard finds that the actions and demeanor of the villagers argon evidence of an underlying enjoyment in the killing. Her psychoanalysis shows that the villagers mask their anticipation for the killing under false and thinly conceal social gestures. Coulthard points out the lineage between Mrs. Delacroi x and Tessie Hutchinsons social fellowship and how quickly the shallow friendship unravels when Tessie is chosen for the sacrifice. Mrs. Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands, which is in stark contrast to how a true friend would behave (Jackson 393). Participation in the draft causes the villagers to lose the ability to be empathetic and their bonds of family and friendship suffer for it. The draught encourages them to abandon ties of love and loyalty and tap into the deepest recesses of the darkness that hides in humanity. The drafting does not offer them prosperity, but strips them of all that is good in humanity. The villagers are masked behind the evil that awaits them each year on a sunny day in June. The other 364 da... ...kill too much to rue inconsequential losses like love, friendship and the bonds of family, community, and humanity. Works CitedCoulthard, A.R. Jacksons THE LOTTERY. Explicator 48.3 (1990) 226. Academic wait Premier. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2010. Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery The Story and Its Writer An Introduction to perfectly Fiction. eighth ed. Compact. Ann Charters. Boston Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 387-393. Print. Jackson, Shirley. The Morning of June 28, 1948, and The Lottery The Story and Its Writer An Introduction to Short Fiction. 8th ed. Compact. Ann Charters. Boston Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 950-952. Print.