Feminism in Shirley Jackson’s “the Lottery”
Steven Heald
Mrs. Mills
ENC1102
2.18.13 Feminism in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” Modern criticism of Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery has focused almost exclusively on the issues of feminism and gender roles yet some recent reviews tend to classify the writing as feminist literature. They claim the story highlights the negative aspects of patriarchal societies through the telling of the lottery ritual. However many overlook the roles that the women play throughout this story. The purpose of this paper is to examine how Shirley Jackson uses feminism throughout her story and also to show the feminist attitude the women have towards the male-dominated society. Shirley Jackson’s story is trying to establish the facts around feminism and gender roles among the American communities as depicted in a yearly ceremony, which is marked by a ceremonial stoning of an individual who is picked from a random draw. The significance of the same tradition is that it does not have an outlook that makes the celebrations worthwhile celebrations. Feminism is so predominant in the whole festivity, for instance men have the final say to any action whereas women are used to carry out the lottery. At some point, the impression that is created by some of the top players in this ceremony leaves a lot of calls to end this sort of ceremony. Hutchinson displayed a protagonist character, which according to the standards of the ceremony is indicative of the notion that celebration suits not the upper quota of leaders in the society instead the lesser ones. When she complained that the process was hurried, she is given another chance to repeat the process of picking the slip. On the contrary, when his Tessie cries out of unfairness, nobody bothers to listen to her and instead she is stoned to death (Jackson, 260). Jackson (2013) on the other hand, says that anyone would ask why is it that the feminine gender so demeaned to the extent that they cannot stand in for their men and
Mrs. Mills
ENC1102
2.18.13 Feminism in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” Modern criticism of Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery has focused almost exclusively on the issues of feminism and gender roles yet some recent reviews tend to classify the writing as feminist literature. They claim the story highlights the negative aspects of patriarchal societies through the telling of the lottery ritual. However many overlook the roles that the women play throughout this story. The purpose of this paper is to examine how Shirley Jackson uses feminism throughout her story and also to show the feminist attitude the women have towards the male-dominated society. Shirley Jackson’s story is trying to establish the facts around feminism and gender roles among the American communities as depicted in a yearly ceremony, which is marked by a ceremonial stoning of an individual who is picked from a random draw. The significance of the same tradition is that it does not have an outlook that makes the celebrations worthwhile celebrations. Feminism is so predominant in the whole festivity, for instance men have the final say to any action whereas women are used to carry out the lottery. At some point, the impression that is created by some of the top players in this ceremony leaves a lot of calls to end this sort of ceremony. Hutchinson displayed a protagonist character, which according to the standards of the ceremony is indicative of the notion that celebration suits not the upper quota of leaders in the society instead the lesser ones. When she complained that the process was hurried, she is given another chance to repeat the process of picking the slip. On the contrary, when his Tessie cries out of unfairness, nobody bothers to listen to her and instead she is stoned to death (Jackson, 260). Jackson (2013) on the other hand, says that anyone would ask why is it that the feminine gender so demeaned to the extent that they cannot stand in for their men and
Cited: Cohen, Gustavo V. “Shirley Jackson’s Literary Discourse and the Allegation of Feminism as Socio-Cultural Subversion in Mid-Twentieth Century America. “Shirley Jackson’s Literary Discourse and the Allegation of Feminism as Socio-Cultural Subversion in Mid-Twentieth America. Academia.edu. N.p., 4 Dec. 2011. Web. 19. 2013 Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” 1948. Literature: An Introduction to fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 12th ed. Boston: Pearson Education, 2013. 262-268. Print. Mohammed, Seyed, Dr. “The Feminist Analysis of Shirley Jacksons The Lottery”. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences 3.11 (2012): 334-37. Mediterranean Center of Social and Educational Research. Nov. 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. Nebeker, Helen E. 1974. “The Lottery: Symbolic Tour de Force.” American Literature. Vol. 46, No. 1. Pp. 100-107. Oehlschlaeger, Fritz. “The Stoning of Mistress Hutchinson: Meaning and Context in the Lottery.” Essays in Literature 15.2 (1988): 259-65. Web. 17 Feb. 2013. “Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery’” Review. New Orleans Review 1986: 27-32. Print.