Society as a whole, from the bottom of the food chain to

the top, has always been a story of "survival of the fittest."

The strongest and most powerful have usually dominated while

the weaker and less fortunate have been left in the dust. This

attitude even remains true in the capitalistic and democratic

nation that we know today. Shirley Jackson's story, The

Lottery, is a very good example of this. It should not be

looked upon as a simply insane tradition, but rather as an

ideological organization that will show its ugly face time and

time again in places close to us like our own hometowns and

maybe even our own homes. Jackson hits us with the harsh

reality that this could be our world by personalizing the

surroundings. She speaks of a bank, grocery store, and a

school system which are all things that we see everyday.

Through these commonalities, we can also see the division

that takes place in the social order and class structure. The

lottery's purpose is to strengthen the hierarchical social

order while producing a fear that those that who might oppose

this social order will be the next victim chosen for the

"random" selection. This idea of selection, or scapegoatin

that men will always hold power over women, and that man's

to us and in us the influencing power of leading by example.

underfoot in the post office, and sometimes it was set on a

The first is the drawing of the head of all the families. The

"productivity" equals the next victim, but one can also assume

natural tendency is to always throw the blame somewhere else.

Dunbar has a broken leg so he is unable to attend and draw for

businesses are the primary support of the candidates who in

them. The part when he leans casually on the box can be

that keeps the men above the women and people like Mr. Summers

lottery, all the men say, "Here comes your Missus, Hutchinson,"

the lottery since he has the "time and energy to devote to

right from Mr. Summers own place of business. Even during the

Some common words found in the essay are:
Tessie Jackson, Dunbars Watsons, Watsons Jack's, Shirley Jackson's, White House, Summers Graves, Lottery Jackson, Whenever Tessie, Bobby Martin, Illusion Society, lottery village, dunbar broken leg, labor division women, story lottery, lottery jackson, survival fittest, random selection, hold power, man's natural tendency, man's natural, natural tendency, arrives late, arrives late lottery, labor division,
Approximate Word count = 1789
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)