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Cruelty In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

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“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, is a short story expressed through the theme of apathy, when the community feels no emotion for anyone, that a ritual is more important than a human being, mob mentality, and hypocrisy which is prevalent within the townspeople. It may help learning more about Shirley Jackson to better understand why she wrote such a horrific story like, “The Lottery.” Shirley Jackson moved into a small town, Bennington, Vermont, where she wasn’t accepted within her town which shows she was thinking how cruel people can be. Not being accepted is not the same as being stoned or killed, but it has the capacity for cruelty. Through this, Shirley Jackson is suggesting that we need to examine ourselves and our actions carefully and live our lives consciously instead of …show more content…

Even Mr. Hutchison shows no feeling towards his own wife, he does not plead or does not exhibit any sympathy. Instead, he becomes one of the executioners. What's the most horrific part of this small community, is the fact, after stoning one of their innocent townspeople to death, they go about their normal life as if nothing has happened, one would really start to think there’s something psychotic about these people. “The whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o’clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner” (Jackson 166). Then Mr. Summers said soberly, “All right folks, let’s finish this quickly.” What about the children, are they excused? No, even Nancy Hutchison, who is twelve years old, and her little brother Davy, must draw from the black box and have the same chances of being stoned. But also, children take part in the stoning. Little Davy is so small that he throws pebbles that are handed to him by his community to kill his own

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