The Lottery and What a Thought by Shirley Jackson - Research Paper Example

''The Lottery'' and “What a Thought” By Shirley Jackson The two short stories on “The Lottery” and “What a Thought” are the works of Shirley Jacksonwho is regarded as a writer who is morbid. This is because her key goal when she is writing her stories is to shock her readers with the sad truth behind the nature of human beings. Shirley Jackson was born in the year 1916 in San Francisco to a middle class couple; Geraldine and Leslie. During her teenage years, the family moved to New York, where Jackson graduated in the year 1934 from high school. Jackson attended the Rochester University, but later dropped and graduated from another University; Syracuse University. It is at Syracuse University, where she perfected her skills as a writer while she was working for the school’s newspaper group. She also met with Stanley Edgar Hyman while at the University. After graduating, she married Hyman and had four children while residing in their rural home in Vermont. Shirley Jackson wrote various books that were based on children stories, most of which were humorous pieces whereas others were autobiographical. She is remembered mostly for her story on “The Lottery” and “What a thought”, where in the former story she portrays an average village with citizens who practice annual rituals where residents are sacrificed (Heilman and Robert 100). Both of these stories hold a meaning of the evil that exists in human beings. Jackson was highly inexhaustible especially in the year 1950 and her output was impressive throughout her career (Heilman and Robert 100). However, she may not as acclaimed critically today like some of the authors who are there today, but she still enjoyed a career that was highly rewarding. Jackson’s health was poor throughout her life because of being a heavy smoker and suffered from weight disorders. Jackson died from heart failure at the age of 49 years. Many of Jackson’s works have been adapted in form films and series on televisions. She dealt with the presence of evil in respect to people’s everyday lives. The two stories “The Lottery” and “What a thought” are both chilling stories where in the first story Jackson depicts of how cruel people can be, this is evidenced by what the crowd said “Then the voices began to say, "It is Hutchinson. It is Bill," "Bill Hutchinson's got it” (Jackson 8). In the second story shows the evils depicted in a woman had been married for so many years turning on her husband without the slightest warning. Both of these stories contain events that are strongly bent on portraying what a real society comprises of and how people perceive others. Both of these stories follow Jackson’s usual and known scheme to make her readers shocked by the unfolding events depicted. Most people got appalled by her stories and gave their reviews stating that the stories were shocking, but are a reflection of what a society undoubtedly holds (Shields 20). Themes and their Importance in the Stories: The themes in Jackson’s two stories are almost similar and they both take place in a setting that ordinary in the lives of Americans. Both stories demonstrate her apt affinity for suburban horror. This is clearly illustrated in “The Lottery” she begins portraying the town as a joyful place because of the existing lottery (Jackson 5). Mrs. Hutchinson a key character in the story was enthusiastic to identify who won in the lottery. She got shocked when she realized that it was her own family members. What is clear, is that her vision of horror is not only limited to houses that are haunted in locations that seem to be haunted. There is horror that is engraved in the minds of most individuals and like in the story “What a Thought” where this affects the wife and a husband. There is sheer dissatisfaction with the individual lives depicted in both stories. In both cases, this dissatisfaction leads to a fantasies and a reality that seems blurred. Horror and madness seem to come alive in the most unlikely settings as depicted in both stories. For example, in “The Lottery” a woman called Tessie Hutchinson is depicted as a normal housewife who died after being stoned by her own village members. She is also depicted as one of the most likely participants in the other annual stoning events that have passed. In “What a thought”, Jackson depicts the wondering thoughts of Margaret who invents numerous ideas of how to kill her husband. This is evidenced in the story where readers get informed about her actions. “The idea of smashing the glass ashtray over her husband's head had never before occurred to Margaret, but now it would not leave her mind” (Jackson 12). The other theme in Jackson’s stories is violence. In “The Lottery”, the act of stoning is in itself a brutal act that is seemingly enhanced by the author, when she made its setting in a society that was peaceful and with people who were enlightened. This is evident in the story; “Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her” (Jackson, Hyman, and Stewart 10) In “What a thought”, the numerous ideas that crossed in Margaret about how to kill her husband were not only absurd, but exceedingly shocking. It is ironic that in both stories people seem to result to drastic measures long before they think about their own wrongs or if the person is innocent. Both stories depict the society or the people depicted in them as judgmental and participants in games or rituals that are cruel. In “The Lottery” It was a cruel game because when women had a “fair game”, the men automatically had one too. The author depicted the whole scenario where women were thought to be privileged when they had the chance of participating as the first people (Heilman 100). The village’s harvest was also ironically dependent on the villagers’ malicious act of stoning a human being. The importance of this theme, in both stories is to show that appalling acts of violence can occur anywhere in the world, in any society, at any time. Additionally, they are acts that the most ordinary people in a society may commit. In “What a Thought” Margaret and her husband are in a setting that is considered secure and the most unlikely place to imagine people killing others. The author addressed the idea that was behind the occurrence of the mass cruelty in the depicted society. Another common theme in these two stories is that women are portrayed as lonely individuals who are unfulfilled in relation to their personal and professional lives. Jackson depicts how they are in the highest danger of being out of touch with what is real. For example, in the story “What a thought”, Margaret plays with the idea that if she kills her husband, perhaps his ghost will haunt her in future. This is depicted when she says; “The idea of a grown woman troubling herself with silly fears like that—it is like being afraid of ghosts, or something (Jackson 8). Both stories show that the married woman is not satisfied with her life, and she thus results to adverse measures to solve most of her problems. In both stories, the husbands are present but seem to be highly inactive and inattentive. The importance of this theme is to show that getting married in a hurry is not the key solution to solving issues related to unhappiness and individual contempt with his or her life. The character’s in these two stories are depicted by Jackson with a profound sense of dissatisfaction with their identities and seem to solve the situation by seeking new identities. Mrs. Hutchinson in “The Lottery” tries to solve her predicament by claiming that the ritual is not fair, only when the tables have turned against her (Shields 20). Margaret in “What a thought” does not attempt to solve her situation by facing the reality. Her marriage does not seem to work for her, but she decides to solve this through unrealistic measures. The importance of this theme is to show that underneath the human soul is the presence of evil whether this is depicted in the individual’s future or past. The whole idea in this theme is that people have the potential of being selfish and extremely greedy in every situation that is problematic. People are not as thoughtful towards other people as they would want others to believe. Conclusively, Jackson’s ideas in both stories is to inform people that evils in the society settings are real and need to be addressed before they cause more damages. This seems to be a reality that has been taking place in the society for many years, and it can be phrased as a tradition in the case of the lottery, that no one has bothered to question. Works Cited: Brooks, Cleanth, and Robert Penn Warren. "Shirley Jackson, 'The Lottery,'" in Understanding Fiction, Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1959, pp. 72-6. Heilman, Robert B. "Shirley Jackson, 'The Lottery': Comment," in Modern Short Stories: A Critical Anthology, Harcourt, Brace, 1950, pp. 384-85. Jackson, Shirley, Laurence J. Hyman, and Sarah Hyman. Stewart. “What a thought” in Just an Ordinary Day: New York: Bantam, 1996, pp. 1-388. Print. Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. Mankato, MN: Creative Education. 2008, pp. 1-39. Print. Shields, Patrick J. "Arbitrary Condemnation and Sanctioned Violence in Shirley Jackson’s “the Lottery”." Contemporary Justice Review. 2004, pp. 411-19. Print. Read More